Valente nodded. “If you ever need me. You have my address…”
“Yes. Thank you. I will mail the money to you.”
Anna watched Valente straighten his back and walk away. Then she reached down and took Alex’s hand. “Let’s go home to that apartment you were talking about.”
“It’s not as nice as I would like it to be, but as soon as I can I will get us a better place to live.”
Chapter 64
The first day at the World’s Fair, Alex sold his entire loaf of sandwiches before ten o’clock. From where he stood, just outside, he could see many of the exhibits. Right inside the gates there was a Bavarian village that was so reminiscent of Germany it made him long for home, and a Hall of Nations that gave him a glimpse into countries he had never seen. There were automobile exhibits, futuristic refrigeration, and a big poster of a black and white cow that said, “It sure makes you proud to be an American.” But of all the exhibits, the one that he most longed to enter was the Jewish Palestine Pavilion. Ever since he was a little boy, he’d heard talk of a Jewish state, a place somewhere far across the seas, in a land called Palestine. For the Jews, this land represented hope, dreams…a future where Jews would live in safety.
On the second day, Alex invested his entire share of the money that he’d made the previous day and bought several loaves of bread. Anna helped him to prepare the sandwiches.
Abe was right. Many of the mothers bought his sandwiches for the children because they were far less expensive and much less rich than the food at the fair.
By the end of the week, Anna was baking cookies to sell and she and Alex were making up several loaves of bread each day.
Abe was pleased with his share, and even offered Alex another opportunity to earn some cash.
“Listen Jew boy, I have a couple of ideas,” Abe said when Alex paid him for the week. “Why don’t you and your wife make up lots of sandwiches and cookies for all the other fellows too. They can pay you a percentage, and that will give you some extra dough. Of course you’ll have to give me a little for a finder’s fee.”
“Yes, Abe, we can certainly do that,” Alex said. He knew Anna would help him. Together they would do all right, and they would manage.
At night after work, Alex studied his English. He’d become fluent in writing and reading, as well as speaking the language.
When Alex was at work, Anna cleaned the apartment. She opened the windows and tried to air the musty smell from the flood out of the tiny rooms. However, she knew that the first hard rain would bring another flood. So, as soon as possible, she and Alex hoped to move. The water when it worked ran ice cold. In order to bathe, Anna boiled water on the stove and added it to the tub until it was lukewarm. The neighbors Anna spoke to warn her that in the winter the entire population of the building frozen from lack of heat. They kept the ovens on in their apartments all day, in order to stay warm.
Every day, Anna thought of Max and Edith. They had been kind to her and Alex, and she missed them. She missed her parents too, but they never answered her letters.
One night after they finished their evening meal, Anna was tired and went off to bed early. Alex couldn’t sleep. It had been years since he’d felt the urge to write, but tonight it came back to him. He wanted to put down in words all of the things he’d seen at the fair. And so he began to pen articles.
Alex missed having a typewriter, but even working manually with pencil and paper he felt as if he’d come home. He was a writer. Before he’d been arrested in Germany, he’d been a journalist. It was in his blood, and now that he was writing again, he began to feel the depression he constantly battled begin to lift a little.
One morning as she was sipping coffee and wrapping sandwiches, Anna happened to read one of the articles Alex left on the table. It was about the Jewish Palestine Pavilion at the fair.
“This is very good,” she said as he Alex walked into the room. “Did you write this last night?”
“Yes, I’ve been writing little articles about the different exhibits. I want them as reminders of what I have seen. Besides that, it makes me feel good.”
“Alex…”
“Yes, love?”
“Why don’t you submit this to the newspaper?” Anna said.
“Oh, I couldn’t. It isn’t that good.”
“But it is…”
“No, I don’t think so. This is America. My English is not good enough. And, besides, who wants to read about Jews here? People are demonstrating their hated for us in the park. It’s just a little article about Palestine, for my own enjoyment,” he said, kissing her cheek, then gathering the sandwiches and putting them into a basket.
“Here,” she handed him the bag for the other sellers. “And here are some extra cookies too.”
He took them and left.
It had rained lightly the night before, and a quarter of an inch of dirty water and sediment had seeped in to the apartment through the foundation. There was always the smell of mold and sewage to contend with in this filthy place. Anna looked around her on all sides. It would take another day’s worth of heavy cleaning to make this hole in the ground even moderately livable.
She looked out the window and sighed as she saw Alex walking quickly toward the subway. He was doing his best. She couldn’t fault him for that. But perhaps he needed a little help.
As soon as Alex was out of sight, Anna got dressed and went to the corner, where she bought a newspaper. Although she was not as advanced in English as Alex, she could read and write enough to understand. The address of the newspaper office was right on the inside front cover of the paper.
She did her best to construct a letter of introduction. Then she went through Alex’s papers and chose the best articles she could find. They were all about the World’s Fair. And right now, the World’s Fair was the most exciting thing going on in New York, and everyone wanted to know more about it.
After folding the articles neatly, she carefully addressed the envelope, walked downstairs and purchased a stamp at the post office, then sent them off to the newspaper.
Alex never missed the articles. He never realized that they were gone until he received an answer from the paper three weeks later. They wanted him to come in for an interview.
Chapter 65
“You sent these articles to the newspaper?” Alex asked.
“Are you angry?” Anna looked into his eyes.
“No, I just didn’t expect this.”
“Well, you are an excellent journalist. This is what comes naturally to you.”
He nodded. “What would I ever do without my Anna?” he asked and smiled at her. Then walking over, he kissed her lips lightly. “Anna, my Anna…” He smiled.
“So you’ll go for the interview?”
“Of course I will go.”
The paper bought Alex’s articles and asked for more. He wrote freelance for the next six months while Anna continued to prepare the cookies and sandwiches for the other sellers.
A blast of heavy snow fell upon New York City that November of 1941. As the neighbors had promised, the heat hardly worked. Alex and Anna wore coats even when they were inside, and Anna felt as if she would never be warm again. Then, like a blessing and a curse, the weather warmed up for a few days, giving them a break from the bone-chilling cold. But it was just enough time for the snow to melt, leaving Alex and Anna with two inches of dirty water on the floor of their apartment.
“Let’s move. We can afford it now,” Alex said. He was doing fairly well with the paper, earning almost fifty dollars a month, and even though the fair had ended and that source of income had dried up, they had saved enough to move to a decent flat.
The new apartment was furnished, overlooking the street, on the second floor of well-maintained building just a few miles from the newspaper offices. The hallways and vestibule smelled a little like boiled cabbage, but other than that, it was a fine new home. The neighborhood was better and the apartment much cleaner.
Every nigh
t Alex and Anna studied until they passed the test and became citizens of the United States of America.
Alex began writing news articles and the editor of the paper loved them. He offered Alex a salaried position with the paper, which paid him well enough to keep him and Anna comfortable.
“Can I go back to school now that things are better for us?” Anna asked.
She had always wanted to further her education. Alex knew this, and he put great value on learning, so he was pleased at her request.
Before she could attend college, Anna had to finish high school. She didn’t mind. She loved every minute that she spent in the classroom. It was then that she decided that some day she would like to be a teacher.
Chapter 66
On a very cold morning a few weeks before the Christmas holiday, Alex dressed for work. He wore heavy gray wool pants, and a white shirt with a black jacket and black tie. After wrapping a heavy wool scarf around his neck, he kissed Anna goodbye and left.
Most of his colleagues at the paper were Christians and they were looking forward to the coming holiday. The offices would be closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so they could enjoy time with their families. In celebration, the newspaper had put together a small office party, a luncheon spiced with a little alcoholic holiday cheer that would take place that afternoon at a nearby restaurant.
At eleven forty-five, the office closed for the day so that everyone could attend the gathering. They walked in groups of two or three for half a block, sliding on the slippery pavement to the restaurant. Icicles hung from the awnings of buildings and the branches of trees. It had snowed the night before, dusting the city with a thin white powder that had turned to black slush where the cars had driven through the streets.
The waiters brought out steaming and delicious platters of roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. A piano player crooned old-fashioned holiday songs while everyone joined in.
Alex was talking with a man who he’d met a few times at the office. They sat across the table from each other, discussing cigars, as the man puffed like a locomotive on a thick Cuban cigar. He said name was Mike and told Alex how surprised he was that Alex knew so much about Cuban tobacco.
“You’re not from Cuba. Your accent doesn’t sound Spanish to me,” Mike said, prying a little, wanting to know more.
“No. I’m not.” Alex tried not to tell anyone that he came from Germany. It saved the aggravation of explaining.
“You immigrants never cease to amaze me,” Mike said.
Once lunch was over the party began to break up. The boss came around the tables and handed out envelopes containing Christmas bonus checks.
“Merry Christmas,” he said as he handed Alex the envelope. “I wish it could be more, but the economy has been so bad…”
“Thank you, sir.” Alex had never received a gift from his employer, and he appreciated whatever he might find in that envelope.
Just as everyone was saying their goodbyes and wrapping themselves back into their winter coats, scarves and boots to head for the subway, the owner of the restaurant came in to the room. His face was as white as a funeral lily.
“We’ve been attacked,” he said. “The United States has been attacked. The Japanese just bombed Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii.”
It was December 7, 1941. Japan and Germany were allies.
Alex imagined Nazi flags hanging from the buildings in New York, pictures of Hitler inside his office, all of his friends turning on him when the discovered his Jewish heritage. He felt his entire body grow hot and clammy. The room turned dark. He felt dizzy and lightheaded.
Alex fainted.
When he awoke, Anna knelt there beside him. Next to her stood his boss and all of his fellow employees.
“You gave us quite a scare, Alex,” his boss said. “I telephoned your wife and she took a taxi right over. Come on, let me help you up.”
Alex stood on wobbly legs and leaned on Anna as they walked outside to flag a cab. The cold wind sobered him, and he remembered what had happened.
“Have you heard the news?” Alex asked Anna.
“Yes. I know. We have been attacked. Come on, Alex. You must try not to upset yourself. We’ll discuss this further when we get home.”
All the way to their apartment in the taxi, Anna heard Alex’s labored breathing. She was worried that he might pass out again. When they arrived, she helped him up the stairs to their flat. Then she laid him on the sofa and put up a pot of water to boil for tea.
Alex sat up and turned on the radio. He’d purchased a secondhand radio just a few months prior. As he listened, he could hear the shock in the voices of the announcers. No one had expected this.
Hitler, Alex thought. Did Hitler have something to do with all of this?
Anna sat beside Alex and gave him a cup of tea. Neither of them slept. They barely spoke as they listened through the night, anxiously awaiting news.
At 12:30 the following day, President Roosevelt came over the radio and declared the United States officially at war.
“This is a day that will live in infamy,” the President said.
Alex looked at Anna, his eyes glaring, his face white as the snow that fell the night before.
“Don’t disappear on me, Alex,” she said, shaking his arm when she saw the look in his eyes. “I can’t cope with that again. You promised. Please, Alex. I don’t need the extra worry.”
He nodded. Then he took her hand in his and put it to his cheek. “I won’t disappear. I am here. We’ll see this through together.”
She brought his hand to her heart. “Alex. Oh, Alex… Don’t worry. We will be all right,” Anna said. She had a secret that she had planned to tell him on Hanukah, but now she didn’t know if she should tell him at all. He was so delicate, so unstable, and she couldn’t be sure how the news might affect him.
Chapter 67
Anna couldn’t say exactly when Alex started drinking heavily. All she knew was that he seemed to bury all of the demons that followed him in the bottom of a whiskey bottle. She worried about him constantly. However, as much as he drank, he never allowed it to interfere with his work. And for that at least, Anna was thankful.
Once she conquered the English language, school became fun. Anna enjoyed the challenge of learning new things, and although she was much older than the other students were, she made friends.
When he was not at work, Alex listened to the radio obsessively. Each night when he arrived at home, he didn’t even take the time to change his clothes; instead, he immediately flipped on the radio and sat down with a grave expression on his face. When President Roosevelt gave his fireside chats, Anna dared not interrupt. She knew not to say a word.
“I feel terribly guilty every day,” Alex said, “I am here, living well, eating good food, and sleeping in a warm bed. I am safe, while other American boys are fighting overseas, and Jews are being persecuted in Europe. These American soldiers are dying for me… I should be there. I should be with them. They are keeping Hitler from coming, sending his troops to the United States.”
Anna had been preparing dinner, but she stopped to sit down beside him.
“Do you ever feel guilty?” Alex asked
“Of course I do. I feel guilty because I left my parents, and my friends. But what can we do Alex?”
“I think of Manny all the time. I see his eyes in my dreams and wonder if he is suffering somewhere.”
“I know. He did a lot for us. If not for Manny we would be in Europe, probably under Nazi rule.”
“Yes, and we might be dead. He gave us our lives. And me? I have done nothing, nothing for anyone except for being the cause of the death of my whole family,” Alex said. His hands were balled up in fists on his lap as he leaned forward, shoulders slumped and head down.
“You have to stop thinking about that. There is nothing you can do to change the past, Alex, nothing.”
“I know. I know, and that is why it bothers me so much.”
�
�Perhaps Manny and Elke got married. Maybe they went to England,” Anna said.
“The Germans are bombing the hell out of London. If they are in England, they are in constant danger.”
When Alex fell into one of his depressive states like this, Anna had learned that there was nothing she could say or do to pull him out of it. It just had to run its course.
He filled the shot glass with golden brown whiskey, which he poured down his throat in a single swallow.
“You have been drinking quite a bit lately.”
“It’s the only thing that makes me feel better.”
Anna glared at him. She gritted her teeth. All of their married life, he had been so damned much work. Then she poured herself a shot and forced it down quickly. The bitter taste burned her throat, but the effect was good. It calmed her nerves and quelled her anger, at least for a moment.
The following day, Alex did not return from work on time. Anna began to worry. He had been very depressed the previous day, and she always feared that he might disappear again. The sun set, and it was almost bedtime before Anna heard Alex’s key turn in the door. She sighed with relief.
“Anna, I am sorry I’m late. But there is something I must discuss with you.”
Chapter 68
It was a good thing that Anna had not told Alex about her surprise. All day long she had been having terrible stomach cramps. She’d missed school, and then Alex had been very late coming home, so she hadn’t had a chance to tell him. Perhaps the constant worry over Alex had gotten to her. Perhaps she just could not carry a child full term.
“Anna…” Alex called again. “I’m home I need to talk to you.”
“I’m in the bathroom. I’ll be right out,” Anna said.
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