Immigrants

Feliks Łukasiewicz pointed out his head from main door and looked outside. The tenement-house was, in fact, three connected with each other four-floored blocks of flats. The left and the right wing of it were lightly slanting, which was making the impression that it was closed space. Dark brown walls, damaged and dirty windows of one-room apartments, smell of sludge and clouded sky would make everybody feel horrible. But Feliks was living here for five years and he got used to everything in this place.

He came out. The time was somewhere near four in the morning. At five o'clock workers of certain factory, who were living in this tenement-house, will be going to work, but for now Polish immigrant was alone with the silence and his own thoughts.

But not for so long. Soon the door had been opened again and Elizabeth came out. She smiled to him friendly and Feliks felt that he was blushing. The Hungarian woman in front of him always was making him shy all of sudden. It was partly caused by hers deep green eyes, light, smooth skin and long brown locks, and partly by the fact that he was always shy against everybody he had to talk to.

"Good morning, Feliks." She greeted him, still smiling.

"Good morning, miss Hedervary." He said too rapidly. She giggled and asked:

"Have you seen younger Vargas today?"

"No. I think, both brothers are now sleeping peacefully."

"I hope Feliciano will at least today succeed. It's so sad that nobody wants to buy his paintings. They are really nice."

"But I'm afraid that he will have to abandon his art and find some job. He can't live from canvases, when he can't sell it. I still don't know how they're managing to eat and pay the rent. Romano is unemployed after all."

"I also don't know it, Feliks. On the other hand, he's not very talkative. Maybe he has already a job, but he don't want to tell us?"

Feliks grinned.

"Maybe."

Suddenly door opened harshly and both interlocutors saw in them angry Ludwig Beilschmidt. They both looked speechless at German. His messy blond hair and tired blue eyes were the clear evidence that he just woke up.

"What the hell are you doing?" He hissed. "You can be heard on third floor. And I have to go to work soon."

"But you live on the highest floor, Ludwig, so you shouldn't hear it." Feliks smiled. "You're just overreacting."

"Still I want to sleep well, until I will get to work. I don't want to get late. Mister Kirkland is cutting the half of salary of workers that are getting late."

"This man has no mercy, don't you think, Ludwig?" Elizabeth asked.

"But where else I should go? His factory is the only source of work for people like me, who can't do anything, but ramming in the nails. So I have to work for him anyway, if I want to eat."

"That's true." Feliks said with sad expression. "I guess, we're all trying to survive."

Suddenly Pole's eyes stopped on the Ludwig's window and they saw in the corner of window frame someone's pale face. German had noticed quickly, where Feliks was staring, and he rapidly gone to his flat, leaving Feliks and Elizabeth alone. Hungarian smiled to Pole again.

"Really nervous those Germans, don't you think?"

Feliks didn't respond. He had cold attitude to Germans, since he heard what they were doing in his homeland. All this Kulturkampf was one big barbarity in his opinion. He had to abandon his homeland because of his low economical status. He didn't want to leave, but his mother bought him the ticket to America and gave him some money for the start of his future life. After few months of journey on the ship, he landed on the Ellis Island, where he was examined by doctors and officials. It was pretty embarrassing, when he had to strip in front of stranger man. In addition Feliks' English wasn't very good and many times he didn't know what all those people were telling or asking him. And when he was waiting few hours for the examination, he was seeing immigrants just like him – lost, poor people with bags and sacks, where was all their property. Mothers were hushing their crying children and saying the words of comfort in languages unknown to Feliks. Everybody were tired and broken, but he knew, they also hoped that everything will end happily in the America. Just like he was hoped, even if he terribly missed his family in Poland.

Soon his examination ended and he was transported alongside with other people to the New York. He was looking for the accommodation, until there was completely darkness and he felt endlessly exhausted. He sat on the side-walk and bowed his head with deep sigh. And when he thought that he will have to spend his first night on foreign land on the street, suddenly appeared from nowhere Elizabeth. She smiled to him, he blushed. She asked him something in English, he didn't understand and stared at her blankly. She kneeled before him and, looking into his eyes, repeated the question, this time slowly and with some gesticulation. And he understood. She was asking him: "Do you have anywhere to go?". He shook his head, she smiled softly, took his arm and stood up. Then she led him to this tenement-house.

First night he spent in her place, but right next morning, he came to owner and rent his own flat (luckily this small amount of money, he had, was enough to content old Vash Zwigli, the owner of the tenement-house). Soon he met with other residents – Vargas brothers, Yao Wang and his younger siblings, and – of course – Ludwig. He tried to avoid the German as much as he could. Every time, when he was thinking about Ludwig, he felt only despise. But Feliks loved to spend time with Feliciano and Italian was considering German as a friend. This hyper painter put a lot of effort to warm up relations between his two fellows. He was motivating them to conversations about random things. It did worked, but only a little. Feliks got to know Ludwig closer and the other man wasn't for him only a "bad German". Feliks knew that Ludwig was a good, hard working man, but he still couldn't forget what Germans were doing to his homeland. On the other hand Ludwig was treating Pole with cold distance. So they weren't friends, nor enemies. They were just two strangers with common friend.

The best thing about this place was that even if all those people were of different nationalities, they were so friendly to each other. After all, they all were immigrants, an outcasts in foreign country. They had their problems, but they were living in one household and in the end of the day, they met with each other in certain bar to talk. Weird, because normally immigrants gather near their countrymen and tries to stay away from other people, if it isn't necessary. Maybe because Feliks, Elizabeth and rest didn't have possibility to do so, they had to interact with each other.

"Miss Hedervary." He rose his head and stood up. His lips formed in light, nervous grin. "Would you like to accompany me to my work?"

Suddenly her smiled faded away. Now she was the one nervous.

"I… I'm sorry, Feliks. I have to go now. See you later."

And she left him. He wanted to say something, but he didn't have guts. He only rolled his eyes after her as she was disappearing in the valley.

Romano Vargas was walking on the crowded street and observing the people, who were passing him by. He was looking for someone, who seemed to be wealthy and careless. Some lady in fashionable dress, some gentleman with neat suit could be easily tell from all those filthy-looking people with patched cloths. Sometimes, when he was observing them, he was thinking that it was so completely unfair. Those rich bastards had too much capital to spend, when he and his brother had to live in tiny flat, eat only bread and vegetables, and look for some ways of making money. Romano tried many times to find some job, but nobody wanted to employ him, because he was Italian and he didn't seem to be any muscular. Feliciano also was trying hard to gain some money by selling his paintings, but generally he was ignored by passersby. Romano and Feliciano had to live somehow. If Romano couldn't get money in legal way, he had to do it in illegal. He couldn't let his sensitive, little brother die from starvation.

Romano's eyes finally found in the crowd tall man in elegant, dark suit and high hat, who was coming from the opposite direction. The chain of watch was hanged on the pocket in vest, which meant that his wallet was in the pockets in longs. Italian got ready to attack. Trying to act naturally, he approached the man and suddenly bumped into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir." He said with sincerely smile.

"No problem, son." The man also smiled, touching the edge of his hat, and left Romano alone, didn't even knowing that he also was leaving his wallet.

Fourteen-year-old Mei Wang hugged her two brothers – ten-year-old Yen and much older, twenty-year-old Yao. She didn't like to be left alone in the flat and wait for them, worrying that something bad will happened to them, but she knew there was no other way. Yao, as the eldest and first after their deceased father, ordered her to stay and she had to stay. Besides, someone had to take care of their house. Still, the world outside was pretty cruel for people like them – with yellow skin, different shape of eyes and funny-sounding language.

"Be careful." She said with sad look.

"You worry too much, Mei." Yao smiled.

Yen only nodded. Mei never knew what he was thinking in this little head of his. He also wasn't very talkative. Some people even was thinking that he was voiceless, but, in fact, he was learning pretty fast and already was understanding more English then his older brother.

Suddenly Yao's smile faded away.

"But you also must be careful."

"I will, brother."

They gave her one last look and got out from the flat, then from the tenement-house and soon they found themselves outside. One moment later Ludwig also came out. His blue eyes rolled from them to the slowly rising, orange sun and he rushed down the street. Yao and Yen went after him. After all, they were working in the same factory. They were used to this silence during whole way to their work place. There was nothing to talk about with white man and to Asians. So they were walking on the crowded street, passing by well-known, grey tenement-houses, so similar to theirs. Latvian boy Raivis was standing at the crossing of street and selling the newspaper. Seeing each other, he and Ludwig only exchanged greeting smiles and returned to their activities. German started to marching faster, two Chinese after him also had done it. They couldn't get late to work.

Just so you know:

Yen = Hong Kong

Mei = Taiwan

Kulturkampf - generally it's about the limitation of Catholic Church's influences in German Empire, but Poles always connect it with germanisation in Prussian part of Poland.

I absolutely don't know how to wirte foreign accents. And I've decided that I will be putting the words or sentences in other languages, when it will have some importance, not when, for example, Vargas borthers are talking with each other in their native language. And I need some heplful Italian to be my translator.

I was inspired by fanart Steamtalia by Mila Valentine from DeviantArt. It was showing Germany and Italy on the old motocycle and in the clothes from the end of XIXth, or the beginning of XXth century. And I suddenly felt an urge to write something during that period of time. Then in my head started to forming this plot about our fellow nations as a immigrants. I hope, you will like it.