Authors: Joseph Kanon
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #Historical, #Thrillers, #General
The Good German (67 page)
“No misunderstanding.” Jake opened his mouth to speak again, then glanced at Professor Brandt and instead just turned away.
“We certainly don’t want that,” Breimer said, genial. “Not after what you two have been through.”
“No, we certainly don’t want that,” Shaeffer said pointedly to Jake, a signal to take Emil’s hand.
But the moment had passed, because now Emil had turned too, toward the edge of the gate area, where Lena was coming around the corner with Erich. She was bent over, talking to him. When she glanced up and saw the waiting party, she stopped, slowly raising her head. Another second and then she began walking again, shoulders back, determined, the way she’d come into the Adlon dining room. Not in her good dress this time, a cheap print with tiny flowers, but beautiful, catching the light just by walking in it.
“What’s she doing here?” Shaeffer said as she approached.
“That the wife?” Breimer said. “Well, why the hell not? Say goodbye to her husband.”
Within earshot now, standing in front of Emil.
“No, you’re mistaken,” she said to Breimer, but looking at Emil. “My husband died. In the war.”
She moved past him, leaving a silence. Jake looked at Emil. The same flustered expression he’d given Professor Brandt, a confused despair, as if he had finally glimpsed the missing piece, then seen it float away before he could tell what it was.
“In the war?” Breimer said.
Lena took Jake’s arm. “They’re boarding. Come, Erich.”
Rosen put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and they moved toward the stairs behind the GIs with duffel bags.
“Now, remember to hold hands, yes?” Lena turned to Rosen. “You have the lunch?”
Rosen held up the bag with a tolerant smile.
Lena knelt in front of Erich. “Like the mother hen, that’s what he
hug. A hug from my chick. Always so good. I’ll write to you. Shall I do that in English? Dr. Rosen can read, then you. You can practice, how’s that for a plan? Jake too. Come,“ she said to Jake, standing up, ”say goodbye.“
Jake hunched down, one arm on Erich’s shoulder. “Be good and listen to Dr. Rosen, okay? You’ll have lots of good times. And I’ll come visit someday.”
“You’re not my father?” the boy said, curious.
“No. Your father’s dead, you know that. Now Dr. Rosen is going to take care of you.”
“You gave me your name.”
“Oh, that. Well, everybody gets a new name in America. That’s how they do it there. So I gave you mine. Is that all right?”
Erich nodded.
“And I’ll come to see you. I promise.”
“Okay,” the boy said, then reached up and put one arm around Jake’s neck, a quick hug, but careful of the sling so that the thin arm was almost weightless, light as a loose strand of yarn. “Geismar,” he said. “That’s English? It’s not German?”
“Well, it used to be, before. Now it’s American.”
“Like me.”
“That’s right, like you. Come on, you’d better hurry if you want a window,” he said, shooing him to Rosen.
“Don’t forget to wave,” Lena said as they started down the stairs. “I’ll be watching.”
She turned, acknowledging Professor Brandt for the first time by touching his sleeve. “So it’s good you came. We can see over there,” she said, turning from the group toward the big window.
“You watch. I said goodbye. Now to you too, it seems,” he said, glancing toward Emil. He raised his hand, stopping her before she could say anything, then leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead. He looked at her for a second, then nodded, a mute goodbye, and started back toward the amber hall.
Shaeffer had checked their names on the list and was now waiting for Emil, who still stood motionless, his eyes on Lena. “Come on, Emil,” he said, impatient, then turned to Breimer. “I’ll see you in Frankfurt. Thanks for everything.”
“Died in the war?” Emil called to Lena. “That’s how we leave each other?”
She turned back, looking at him angrily. “No, I’m leaving you with Peter. Now go.”
“With Peter? What does that mean? What do you mean by that?” Frustrated, his voice louder.
Jake looked over at Lena, her face still hard, and for an instant he thought she might do it, as easily as Gunther’s waitress asking for a check. Then she glanced at Professor Brandt and lowered her head.
“Nothing. Like the rest of it. It means nothing. Go away.” She walked over to the window, not looking back.
“Come on, Emil,” Shaeffer said, leading him down the stairs.
“Well, that’s a hell of a thing,” Breimer said to Jake. “You ought to talk to her. Acting like that. Who the hell does she think—”
“One more word and I’ll flatten you. I won’t even wait for the next election to vote you out.”
Breimer looked at him, startled. “Now, don’t get all hot. No disrespect meant. I suppose under the circumstances— Still, that’s no way to act. After everything he’s been through. Hell, after everything you’ve been through. Joe told me what you did for us. I know, you like to think you’re a wise-ass—you are, too,” he said, glancing up. “You’re a hard man to like, you know that? But then we get down to the short hairs and you came through. I take my hat off to you for that one.” He stopped, the words sounding hollow even to him. “Anyway, we got him, that’s the main thing. But these people—” He looked toward Lena. “I’ll never understand them if I live to be a hundred. You do everything for them—”
“What are we doing for them?” Jake said quietly. “I’d like to know.”
“Why, we’re helping them, that’s what,” Breimer said easily. “Got to, now. Who else is going to do it, the Russians? Look at this place. You can see what they’ve been through.”
Jake looked down at the runway. A faint clunk of propellers, Emil and Shaeffer hurrying past the ground crew to the plane. Across the field the light had come up, pale and dusty, hanging over the miles of broken houses.
“Do you have any idea what happened here?” he said, half to himself. “I mean, any idea?”
“I suppose you’re going to tell me. Well, I know all about that, so let me tell you something. I like to look ahead. What’s past is past. All these people want to do is forget. You can’t blame them for that.”
“So that’s what we’re going to do,” Jake said, suddenly tired, his shoulder starting to ache again. “Help them forget.”
“You want to put it that way, yes, I guess we are. The good Germans, anyway.”
“Like Brandt,” Jake said, watching him board the plane.
“Certainly like Brandt. Who else?”
“One of the good ones,” Jake said, moving away from the window and glancing over toward Lena, standing with her hand half raised, ready to wave. He turned to Breimer. “Is that what you think?”
Breimer looked at him, eyes steady. “He has to be, doesn’t he?” he said smoothly. “He’s one of ours.
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About the Author
Joseph Kanon is the author of two previous novels,
Los Alamos
, winner of the Edgar Award for best first novel, and
The Prodigal Spy
. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a book publishing executive. He lives in New York City.
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Copyright Information
Henry Holt and Company New York
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
115 West 18th Street
New York, New York 10011
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2001 by Joseph Kanon
All rights reserved. Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kanon, Joseph.
The good German: a novel /Joseph Kanon.—1st ed.
p. cm. ISBN 0-8050-6422-2 (hb)
1. Germany—History—Allied occupation, 1945-1955—Fiction. 2. Berlin (Germany)—History—1918-1945—Fiction. 3. Americans— Germany—Fiction. 4. Journalists—Fiction. I. Title. PS3561.A476G66 2001 813‘.54—dc21 2001016968
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