The Secret of Lions (9 page)

Heinrik would have continued to beat Adolf
with his rifle if it weren’t for Gracy interfering. She grabbed him
by the arm and pulled him back. She was far more cautious of people
than Heinrik was. Living with discrimination every day, Gracy felt
threatened by many of the Germans that crossed her path. She could
sense their judgmental, hateful eyes gawking at her.

Heinrik looked back at her. He realized he
could lose his job for this. He rested the rifle back against the
log and slowly walked over to Adolf.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” Adolf said. A trickle of blood ran
down his forehead. He struggled to stand up but slowly made it.

Heinrik bent over to pick up the pencils and
sketchpad, but Adolf leapt over to them.

“No! Do not touch my sketches! I shall
retrieve them,” Adolf said, enraged.

Heinrik backed away from the sketches.
Instead, he stood idle while Adolf collected them from the ground.
It was an awkward moment for Heinrik and Gracy to wait while Adolf
recovered all of his dropped materials.

Gracy began to approach Adolf; she felt
responsible. She thought she should help him gather up his items,
but Heinrik halted her by raising his hand in the air, motioning
her to stop. He waved her off.

He did not want her to approach his
prisoner. Adolf finally recovered all of his sketches and returned
to his feet. Heinrik focused on Adolf’s features; he noticed that
Adolf’s forehead bled.

Concerned for his job, Heinrik took a closer
look at Adolf’s head. He didn’t seem to need any medical
attention.

Abruptly, Adolf stood at attention like a
soldier.

“No! It is fine. I apologize to you,
Heinrik. I did not mean to be so intrusive. I hope that you accept
my apology,” Adolf said while gazing at Gracy. He reached his hand
out to Heinrik as a gesture of good faith.

Heinrik, reluctantly, shook his hand. He
felt it best to accept the apology.

A stream of blood ran down Adolf’s forehead.
He did not react to it. He turned and walked toward the small,
desolate trees that made up one corner of the yard.

Heinrik sat back down with Gracy. He shook
his head at her and they continued eating their lunch.

He never let Adolf out of his sight.

Adolf never let Gracy out of his mind.

29

The morning sun crept peacefully up over the
trees outside of the Kessler home; its somber light scarcely shone
in through the curtains. This was unlike the whirling mind of my
father. His mind tried to fight off the potent image of Adolf
staring at his wife. It was as if he hung off the edge of a cliff
and no matter how much he tried to pull himself back up, he could
not. Adolf pulled him over, clenching heavily at the bottom of his
boots. Heinrik feared that Adolf was over the edge and he would
take anyone with him.

Heinrik’s eyes squinted under the morning’s
presence in his bedroom. A glimpse of Gracy’s naked backside
overtook him. She lay facing the window. He assumed that she was
still asleep and dreaming of the life they wanted.

Together, they had spent many afternoons
planning for the future, and it was a beautiful future. It was a
future without steel bars, cages, and guns. And there was no Adolf.
Heinrik was a prison guard by trade, but he wanted to be a
carpenter. Often, he wondered who was truly the prisoner inside
Landsberg prison¬¬¬—the inmates or himself.

He and Gracy saved every penny they could
muster. She taught piano lessons to the children of her Jewish
friends. She would have gladly taken on German pupils, but most
German parents either couldn’t afford piano lessons or they didn’t
want their children being taught by a Jewish woman. So she stuck to
the children of her Jewish friends. She did not make an
extraordinary amount of money teaching piano, but it was enough to
help buy groceries for Heinrik and her.

Heinrik quietly sat up, trying not to wake
Gracy.

The cold steel of a silver chain she’d given
him for their anniversary last year fell across his chest. He had
slept all through the night without realizing he’d left the
necklace on.

Heinrik got out of bed and made his way to
the bathroom sink. He poured a glass of water and drank it. The hot
water soothed his throat. He swished the final gulp around in his
mouth. Then he spat it back into the sink. The water disappeared
down the dark drain. He stared at the hole for a moment. His eyes
and thoughts were sucked into it along with his spittle. Again he
imagined back to that day when Adolf had confronted him and Gracy.
He could not get it out of his head, even now. The way that Adolf
had looked at his wife made him cringe.

Something sinister and austere dwelled in
Adolf’s eyes. Whatever it was, it invaded Heinrik’s thoughts. He
thought of Gracy. He wondered if she still thought about it. She
had not mentioned it, not once. Since that day, neither of them had
talked about it. But it still lingered in both of their minds. No
matter how Heinrik might pretend to ignore it, the image of Adolf
speaking to his wife was more prevalent than anything else he tried
to focus on.

When Heinrik returned from the bathroom, he
found Gracy wide awake and staring out the window.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, curling up
behind her.

“Heinrik, I don’t want to go back to the
prison,” she said.

“Oh. All right,” he responded.

“I mean it, Heinrik. I just don’t want to
see that man again. There is something wrong with him,” she
said.

“Okay, darling. You don’t have to come up
there again,” Heinrik said. He massaged her neck and shoulders.

“You need to shave,” she said.

He reached up and felt the rough underbelly
of his chin. She was right. He would have to shave before work. He
got up and returned to the bathroom.

“Heinrik?” Gracy called from the
bedroom.

“Yes?” he answered.

“I don’t want you to go back there either,”
she said.

Heinrik stopped in front of the sink. He
didn’t realize how much Adolf had affected her. He stared at
himself for a moment in the mirror and then returned to the
bedroom.

“Darling, I have to go back. It’s my job.
Besides, we have all kinds of bills to pay and there is our savings
account. You know that we almost have enough money to make a down
payment on that lake house we want. I can’t quit now,” he said.

“Heinrik, I don’t want you to be around that
man. Please don’t go back there,” she begged.

“Gracy, I have to return to work,” he
said.

She looked down in disappointment and
sighed.

“Look,” he began, “I will put in for a
transfer request. Okay? I will go back to walking the halls at
night or working watchtower duty. Anything other than tending to
that maniac, all right?”

“Okay,” she said.

30

Archaic plaster and rock lined the walls of
the corridor that led to the warden’s office. Heinrik walked down
the hallway. Crumbling tiles littered the floor. Heinrik couldn’t
help but take note of this.

His shirt collar was perfectly starched and
straight. He wanted to look presentable for his boss. As with most
Germans, Heinrik was proud of his heritage and heartbroken by the
losses they’d sustained in the Great War.

Many German families raised their children
to have a strong work ethic. And even though much of Germany was
ashamed for losing the war, still they gave all of themselves to
their jobs. This was especially the case when there wasn’t a lot of
money to go around. It helped to distract them from being underpaid
and out of money. Most Germans, Heinrik included, sank themselves
into their work.

The Treaty of Versailles required that
Germany pay twenty million dollars to the countries of Europe after
they were defeated in the Great War. This was an enormous amount of
money, not to mention, it was tremendously embarrassing for
Germany. They lost the war, plus they had to pay the cost of
it.

In fighting the war, Germany had also racked
up debt. They did not have money to spare to pay for these debts.
They were conquered, defeated, and given the bill as further
punishment.

Heinrik actually agreed that Germany owed
Europe reparation money; however, he kept this thought to himself.
He accepted the price they had to pay because that is the price of
peace. He also realized just how precious a good job with a good
wage was. He didn’t want to lose face in front of his boss, but he
would do anything Gracy asked.

She wanted him to get away from Adolf. It
didn’t matter whether he quit or not. Being honest with himself,
Heinrik wanted to be away from Adolf as well. He knew the hatred
for Jews that Adolf expressed. He experienced it secondhand because
of his wife. Even before the war, a seed of hatred had long since
sprouted in the hearts of many Germans, Austrians, and other
Europeans.

This was especially true among returning
soldiers. Many soldiers were bitter about their defeat. They
peddled Jew-hating propaganda as much as anyone else. Heinrik was a
German and married to a Jewish woman. He experienced persecution
for his feelings for Gracy. It used to be a little safer for
Germans and Jews to date or marry, but the war changed all of
that.

Upon their homecoming with a defeated spirit
and a sense of lost pride, the German soldiers had no work to
return to. Jews owned much of the land and businesses, so naturally
they became the focus of bitter hatred and animosity.

Normally, Heinrik’s friends and coworkers
said nothing about it. Even the true anti-Semites kept their mouths
shut. Whether it was out of respect or the fact that Gracy was
barely distinguishable as an Austrian Jew, neither answer made any
difference to Heinrik.

But Adolf had a way about him. Heinrik could
not tell what it was, but something drew him near the man and
something else made him want to escape Adolf’s presence. So today
he would abide by the wishes of his wife, as well as his own. He
would request a transfer away from Adolf.

“Heinrik Kessler? You can go in now,” a
young woman said from behind a small desk.

“Thank you,” Heinrik said. He drifted into
the warden’s office.

Inside, a husky man sat behind a large,
metal desk. A typewriter and a metallic, black telephone rested on
the surface. A ceiling fan twirled. Heinrik could make out
particles of dust swirling through the air as he looked over the
desk at the warden.

“Good morning, Kessler. What can I do for
you?” the warden asked. He didn’t bother standing to shake
Heinrik’s hand.

“Yes, sir,” Heinrik said.

“Damn, Kessler, have a seat,” the warden
said.

“Thank you, sir,” he said.

“What can I do for you?” the warden asked
again.

“Well, sir, I was wondering if I might
request a transfer to another section of the prison or maybe a
different detail.”

“Why, Kessler? You have a good thing going
right now. You’re one of my supervisors. Why leave such a desirable
detail?”

“I just want to go back to walking the halls
or watchtower or something else,” Heinrik said.

“Why would you want to do that?” the warden
asked. His hand finally appeared from under the desk. He pinched
the bottom tip of his chin.

“Well, it’s my wife. She doesn’t want me
watching Adolf. He frightens her as well as me,” Heinrik said,
impulsively. He felt more relaxed than before.

“Heinrik, this is a prison. All of the men
in here are prisoners. They scare a lot of good people. That’s why
Mother Germany wants them locked away,” the warden said.

“Yes, sir,” Heinrik responded.

“Besides, Kessler, wouldn’t she rather that
you are on special prisoner assignment instead of being back
guarding the general population? The general population is much
more dangerous. Tell her about that fight that broke out last week.
Remember some prick stabbed Stockhelm? Shit, Kessler. The man died
in the infirmary. His wife and kids were in my office, crying.
Crying, Kessler,” the warden said.

“I know what you are saying, sir,” Heinrik
turned to walk out of the office.

“Wait, Kessler.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Your wife is part Jewish, right?”

“Yes, sir. Why?” Heinrik asked.

“Come back in, Kessler,” the warden said.
“Look, Heinrik, I’m not sure why a man of German descent would want
to get mixed up with a Jew anyway, but you can do as you
please.

“I don’t know much about Adolf’s background,
and I can’t predict where he is headed, but I can tell you
something. He is a dangerous enemy to have. And worse yet, he has
dangerous friends. He is important in the Nazi party.

“Look, I don’t have anything against you,
but you married a Jew, which makes you a Jew. I am going to give
you this transfer. We will find something else for you. In the
meantime, you will have to stay with the Nazi. All right?”

“Yes, sir,” Heinrik said, nervously picking
at the seams near the bottom of each front pocket of his trousers.
He felt his nails digging into his legs. It greatly upset him that
he had to endure racial slurs from his boss. Yet, he didn’t want
his boss to see his rage, but somehow he sensed that the warden
knew anyway.

“Heinrik, I don’t mean any disrespect, but
these are scary times we live in.

“I heard that you have already experienced
Adolf’s hostility when you and your wife ate lunch out there in the
yard. And maybe it’s my fault for not taking that privilege away
from you. But it’s too late for that now. So just tell her to stay
at home for now and we will move you when we have a slot open,” the
warden said.

Heinrik waited until the warden had finished
his last words and then thanked him for his time. He walked out of
the office and made his way down the corridor. He stopped dead in
front of the stairwell. Heinrik shut his eyes tight and leaned
against the bottom rail of the stairs.