by Kitty Parker
We slipped into the sort of comfortable silence that only exists between best friends; we basked in each other's presence, assured and confident that no judgment was being passed and that sisterly love united our hearts. The sun was beginning to set in the west, casting an orangey-pink glow over the city, my city. In that moment, sitting in front of a graffitied wall on a hill in Berlin at sunset, I thought myself more content than I'd ever been before.
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"LIEBCHEN!"
I was suddenly smothered with old-lady kisses as Oma Irmgard captured me in her wrinkled arms.
"Ach, mein Schatzi, es ist zu lange gewesen, seit ich dein Gesicht gesehen habe! (Oh, my darling, it's been too long since I've seen your face!) Ich habe dich so vermisst! (I missed you so much!)"
I beamed at her. "Ich auch, Oma. (Me too, Grandma.)"
"Und wie geht es deinen Eltern? (And how are your parents?)" she eagerly inquired.
"Sehr gut. Sie vermissen euch, natürlich. (Quite well. They miss you all, of course.)"
There was a small coughing noise to my right. Not loud enough to be rude, but just loud enough for me to remember that I had companions. Eden was grinning at the cuteness of my interaction with my grandmother, but Bryce, whom I had dragged along at the last minute, seemed slightly uncomfortable with the fact that we were speaking in a language he didn't understand. He probably thought we were talking smack about him or something. Boys and their egos. Oh well. He'd just have to suck it up.
"Oma," I began, presenting the two strangers lingering on her doorstep. "Deise sind meine Freunde, Eden und Bryce. (These are my friends, Eden and Bryce.)"
Oma's face brightened even more, if that was possible, and she enthusiastically embraced both of her new acquaintances in turn. "Ach, so schön, euch beide zu treffen! (Oh, how lovely to meet both of you!)"
Bryce shot me a confused look.
I smiled apologetically. "She just says that it's wonderful to meet both of you," I translated. "Sorry guys, she doesn't speak much English, and neither does Opa Karl. The rest are pretty decent."
"Steht nicht so draußen in der Tür! Kommt mal drin! (Don't just stand outside in the doorway like that! Come on inside!)" With that, Oma led the way down the hallway.
I jerked my head after her retreating back and led my friends through the house into the living room, where I was pleased to see my relatives gathered.
Lukas, sitting on the floor playing with a set of wooden blocks, was the first to notice my presence. "LOTTE!" he jubilantly exclaimed, jumping up and streaking over to me. He promptly attached himself to my legs.
I bent down to hug the little six-year-old properly, planting a kiss on top of his soft, blonde hair. "Hallo, Lukas." I gave him an extra squeeze. "Wie geht's? (How's it going?)"
"Super!" he shouted, waving his arms in windmill-like motions as if to emphasize just how fantastic his life was.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Super, hm? Bist du gut gewesen, als ich in Amerika war? (Have you been good while I was in America?)"
He grinned. "Natürlich! (Of course!)"
I chuckled. "Na ja, natürlich."
„Echt (Really)," Tante Elsa confirmed, coming over to give me a hug. "Er hat sich benimmt. (He behaved himself.)" She ruffled her youngest son's hair affectionately.
"Mutti!" he whined in protest.
Tante Elsa chuckled at him, then turned her attention back to me. "Also, Lotte, wie geht's in Amerika? (So, Lotte, how's it going in America?)" She smiled mischievously. "Sammelst du Briefmarken oder sammelst du Jungen? (Are you collecting stamps or are you collecting boys?)"
I opened my mouth in shock. "Tante Elsa!"
She just giggled in response.
Bryce prodded me in the side. "What did she say?"
"She asked me if I collected stamps or if I collected boys."
He snorted with laughter, causing Tante Elsa to notice his presence.
"Aha!" she proclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at my (completely bewildered) friend. "Hier haben wir Beweiß! (Here we have proof!)"
I rolled my eyes and replied in English to signal that a change in language was necessary for my friends. "Tante Elsa, this is Bryce. He's just a friend."
Still grinning "knowingly," she extended her hand. "It is nice to meet you, Bryce," she greeted him in a thick German accent.
"Likewise," he replied, smiling warmly.
She moved on to Eden. "Und who is this?"
"I'm Eden," she replied, firmly shaking Tante Elsa's hand. "It's wonderful to meet you."
Tante Elsa beamed at her. "You, also." She turned her attention to Onkel Franz, who was in the process of being completely pulverized at chess by his twelve-year-old son, Wolfgang. "Franz!" she shouted. "Komm mal hier! Lotte hat Freunde mitgebracht! (Come here! Lotte brought friends with her!)"
Relieved at escaping what was sure to be a humiliating defeat, Onkel Franz happily came over and immediately wrapped me in a bone-crushing hug. "Lotte! Meine schöne Dame! (My gorgeous lady!) Wie geht's meiner Lieblingsnichte? (How is my favorite niece?)"
I chuckled. "Ich bin deine einzige Nichte. (I'm your only niece.)"
"Echt (True)," he admitted. "Also selbstverständlich bist du mein Liebling. (So obviously you're my favorite.)" He turned his attention to Bryce and switched into English. "Ach, my dear boy," he boomed, smacking my poor friend heartily on the back and causing him to pitch forward despite the fact that he was an enormous linebacker of Nigerian descent and therefore not particularly easy to knock down. "Velcome! And it is a pleasure to haff such a beautiful lady here as vell," he added, giving Eden's hand a smooch.
"Onkel Franz!" I reprimanded, smacking him upside the head. "Geifere nicht so auf ihrer Hand! (Don't slobber all over her hand!)"
He chuckled merrily, then meandered over to the attic steps, which had been pulled down from a trap-door in the hall ceiling. "Vati! (Dad!)" he shouted. "Lotte ist hier! Komm mal herunter! (Lotte's here! Come down!)"
A squeak of joy and surprise sounded from the trap-door. Presently, a pair of legs appeared and began to make their way down the ladder, followed by the torso and head of my Opa Karl. I noticed that he was holding something that looked suspiciously like a rather large photo album. I had been afraid of that.
"Lotte!" he exclaimed, chucking the album onto the couch and narrowly missing Wolfgang's head. "Mein schönes Engelchen! (My beautiful little Angel!)" He made his way over to me, his steps quick and energetic despite a slight gimp, which I had always assumed was a lingering by-product of the war.
Opa wrapped me tightly in his embrace and planted a big, wet kiss on each of my cheeks. I happily inhaled the scent of old books and peppermint that always seemed to linger around him. He was exactly what a grandfather should be like, I had always thought: as familiar and comforting as a favorite chair by the fireplace in a library. That's what he was to me, anyway. I also respected him tremendously for his outlook on life. Although he was old and had lived through some of the most terrible times Germany had ever seen, he had put his past behind him and was still enthusiastic and full of life, prepared to make the absolute best of however many years he had left.
I led Opa to Bryce and Eden. "Opa, deise sind meine Freunde. (These are my friends). Entschuldigung, aber sie sprechen kein Deutsch. (I'm sorry, but they don't speak any German.)"
Opa chuckled merrily, waving off my apology. "Gar kein Problem, solange du übersetzen kannst. (No problem, as long as you can translate.)"
"Natürlich, Opa. (Of course, Grandpa.)"
He beamed at me, ruffled my hair, and turned enthusiastically to my companions. "Hallo! Hallo!" he greeted them, pumping each of their hands up and down in turn. "Wie heißen sie, denn? (How are you called?)" At their perplexed looks, he altered his sentence to something he thought would be slightly easier to understand. "Was sind ihre Namen? (What are your names?)"
Due to the similarity, comprehension dawned on Eden. Bryce just looked even more adorably confused.
"I'm Eden," the fo
rmer introduced, pointing at herself and smiling warmly.
Opa grinned and nodded. "Ach, schöner Name. (Beautiful name.)"
"He likes your name," I clarified.
"How do I say 'thank you' in German?" she asked.
"Danke."
"Danke!" Eden chirped, beaming at Opa.
He chuckled, pronounced her use of German to be "sehr gut" (very good), and turned to Bryce expectantly, Eden and I following suit.
Bryce looked back at us, completely oblivious to the fact that we were waiting for him to introduce himself. "What?" he asked. He seemed slightly sketched out that his two friends and some random old German guy were staring at him.
"Introduce yourself!" I hissed.
"Oh! I'm Bryce." He smiled sheepishly at Opa, no doubt feeling slightly stupid.
"Gut, gut." Opa beamed, patting him on the back affectionately. "Lotte, irgendwann werde ich Englisch lernen! Wirklich! (Some day I'm going to learn English! Really!)"
I chuckled, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Und wie viel mal hast du das gesagt? (And how many times have you said that?)," I teased him.
"Aber diesmal meine ich es wirklich! (But this time I really mean it!)," he insisted.
"Ja, ja." I rolled my eyes (but in a loving way, mind you). "He says that he's going to learn English someday," I clarified, grinning at my friends. "Of course, he's been saying that since my parents and I moved to America back in the 90's, but apparently he really means it this time."
"It's true, coz," a lilting female voice affirmed. "He really does mean it."
"Ana!" I exclaimed, scampering over to hug my oldest cousin, who had just entered the room. She giggled and squeezed me tightly.
"How are you?" I inquired. "And what's this about Opa really learning English?"
"I'm alright," she chuckled. "And what I mean is that Opa actually bought a German-English dictionary. He keeps dropping random English words into his sentences."
I raised my eyebrows, surprised. "Does he use them in the right places?"
Ana grinned, her blue eyes twinkling. "Of course not."
We both burst into laughter, and Tante Elsa (who had been eavesdropping, of course) added her own tinkling giggle to the merriment.
My face still flushed with laughter, I turned around to call my friends over, only to find that Bryce had been involuntarily enrolled in "Leisch Family History 101," courtesy of Opa Karl and his gigantic photo album (Eden had only escaped this fate due to an impending bladder requirement).
"Und das ist der Heinrich, der Vater von Lotte, als Kind (And this is Heinrich, Lotte's father, as a child)..." Opa pointed to a spot on the laminated page. "Und da ist er mit seinem Bruder Franz in 1960 (And there he is with his brother Franz in 1960)...das ist er da. (That's him there.)" He indicated Onkel Franz, who had resumed his game of chess and had just lost his second bishop to Wolfgang. "Und das ist…"
"Armer Kerl (Poor dude)," muttered Ana, shaking her head sympathetically.
I nodded in agreement. Once Opa got going with the family photos, he could go on for hours.
"What did I miss?" asked Eden, returning from the bathroom.
I shrugged. "Not too much. Opa Karl is torturing Bryce with old pictures, but that's about it."
"Hi!" Ana greeted the newcomer cheerfully. "I'm Ana, Lotte's cousin."
Eden shook her hand, smiling warmly. "I'm Eden. Nice to meet you."
"Oh! I've heard so much about you. It's wonderful to finally see you in person."
Eden grinned at me. "You've been talking about me, Lotte?"
"Oh, totally," I replied jokingly. "You know how much I love to gossip."
A booming laugh sounded from the general area of the couch. "Lotte!" hooted Bryce. "I never knew that you liked to dump spaghetti on your head while naked!"
I blushed furiously, knowing exactly which picture he was looking at. A strange thought then flashed across my mind: "I hope Kurt never gets his hands on that." I felt a bizarre clenching sensation in my stomach as I recalled that he and I weren't speaking. Shaking off my regrets, I was about to berate Opa for showing Bryce photographic evidence of how weird I was as a toddler when Oma Irmgard poked her head into the room and announced that lunch was ready.
Heading into the dining room, we all sat down around the large wooden table while Oma and Tante Elsa carried plates and bowls of steaming food in from the kitchen and set them down on trivets. Onkel Franz made to swipe a piece of bread from the basket in the middle of the table, and Oma smacked him lightly upside the head.
"Wirst du nie erwachsen werden? (Will you never grow up?)" she scolded, albeit with an amused grin.
"Mutti…" he whined.
Onkel Franz's protests were cut short by a soft coughing noise. All heads turned to stare at the culprit, who stood in the doorway, shoulders slumped, hands in his pockets.
I smiled and gently approached my father's elder brother, giving him a warm hug. "Onkel Friedrich!"
His stiff body relaxed a bit in my embrace, and he rubbed his hand up and down my back affectionately. "Meine liebe Lotte (My darling Lotte)," he murmured in my ear.
Kissing him sweetly on the cheek, I led him to the table. He sat down in the free spot between Opa Karl at the head and Lukas, who smiled up at him with the pure, innocent love that only a child can muster. Onkel Friedrich smiled back at him. Lukas had always been one of the few people who could arouse something akin to true happiness within him. My mother had said it was something about "a child's innocent, wordless understanding," but I personally had always attributed it to Lukas's dimples. How could you not love those?
Bringing in the last serving bowl (which, incidentally, happened to be filled with sauerkraut), Oma Irmgard dropped a loving kiss on the top of her eldest son's head and took her seat at the foot of the table. "Sollen wir beten? (Shall we pray?)" she suggested.
We all bowed our heads, Bryce and Eden catching on quickly. Well, Eden caught on quickly, anyway. It took Bryce a second to figure it out, as usual. Sometimes, he was just too adorably clueless for his own good.
"Lotte, möchtest du vorbeten? (Lotte, would you like to lead the prayer?)" asked Opa Karl.
"Ja, Opa," I answered, then cleared my throat. "Lieber Gott (Dear Lord)," I began. "Wir danken Dir für dieses Essen, für unsere Familie, und für unsere alte und neue Freunde. (We thank You for this food, for our family, and for our old and new friends.) Wir danken Dir besonders, dass wir alle hier zusammen sein können, obwohl wir an entgegengesetzten Enden von der Erde wohnen. (We especially thank You that we can all be here together, even though we live on opposite ends of the Earth.)Vor allem danken wir Dir für Deine unbegrenzte Liebe und Dein gütiges Erbarmen. (Above all we thank You for Your infinite love and Your gracious mercy.) Bitte segne uns alle. (Please bless us all.) In Deinem heiligen Namen beten wir, Amen. (In Your holy Name we pray, Amen.)"
A chorus of "Amens" sounded from around the table, and the food began its journey from plate to plate.
Feeling a bit sheepish, I made a request on behalf of Bryce and Eden: "Can we speak in English?"
There was a general murmur of consent.
"That's fine," Ana replied, taking it upon herself to speak for everyone. "I'll translate for Lukas, dad can translate for Opa, and Mom can translate for Oma."
I looked around the table, noting that the parties in question were all sitting next to their designated translators already. "Great, thanks Ana."
"So Lotte," Tante Elsa began, a devilish glint in her lively green eyes. "You never finished telling me about the boys in America."
I didn't like where this conversation was heading, so I played dumb. "What about them?"
Eden passed me the bowl of sauerkraut after taking a spoonful for herself.
"Nimm dich mal ein bisschen mehr, mein Kind! (Take just a little bit more for yourself, my child!)" Oma insisted, looking at Eden imploringly. "Du bist zu dönn! (You are too thin!)"
I snickered. Typical Oma.
Eden prodded me. "What did sh
e say?"
I grinned at her. "She wants you to have some more sauerkraut, cause you're too thin."
Eden laughed and politely scooped another spoonful onto her plate. She was never one to argue with her host.
"Gut, gut, mein Kind," cooed Oma, beaming at her. She had a habit of calling everyone "mein Kind," or "my child," regardless of age. Heck, my father was fifty-six, and she still called him that.
With the distraction of Eden's apparent need to be fattened up, I was hoping that the topic of my escapades with those of the male persuasion would be forgotten. No such luck.
"Boys, Lotte, boys," Tante Elsa ventured again. "Let us hear about them."
"There's nothing to tell!" I protested, stabbing a piece of my kartoffelklose a bit more violently than was necessary. "Seriously!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Bryce countered, an evil smirk twisting his lips. "There is a certain guy who goes by the name of Kurt Matthews…"
My eyes grew wide. "Don't you even go there, Bryce Yates!" I objected, brandishing my potato-covered fork at him. "That is NOT something I want to talk about, and it has NOTHING to do with my love life!"
"This sounds interesting," Ana commented, neatly cutting her sauerbraten.
"I agree," her mother chimed in.
I shot them both a nasty glare. They only giggled in response. Onkel Franz began muttering a translation to Opa Karl, who gave me a "knowing" grin.
"Ach, meine Lotte," he teased. "Immer die, ach, wie sagt man... (Always the, oh, how do you say it...)" He snapped his fingers, trying to come up with the appropriate phrase. I assumed that he was about to drop in one of his newly-learned English words. "Ach, minx!" he thumped his fist on the table, proud of himself. "You are minx!"
The English speakers at the table burst into laughter. Well, everyone except for Onkel Franz, that is. He guffawed loudly instead. Opa Karl just grinned at us.
"Your grandfather is adorable, Lotte!" Eden cooed.
I beamed at Opa. "I know, isn't he?"
"You try to change the subject!" Tante Elsa accused. "Who is Kurt?"
"Yes, I vant to hear about him," agreed Wolfgang, speaking up for the first time. I was actually surprised that he was following the conversation, given that he was only twelve and hadn't been learning English for very long. Then again, he was more or less the epitome of a nerd. He had probably memorized the textbook or something. Not that I wasn't proud, of course.
