I do not own Inglorious Basterds or any of the characters other than the Kurtz family.
Please enjoy!
Donny Donowitz stared at the small black and white picture cupped in his large hands. There was an unreadable look in his eyes as he gazed intently at the image as though to burn it into his memory permanently. He was so enthralled with the picture that he didn't hear Hirschberg approach until the young man was sitting next to him. The men were seated around a blazing fire, each man lost in his own thoughts, so when Hirschberg spoke quietly to Donny, all the men turned their heads.
"Who is she?" A seemingly innocent enough question, posed by young, naive man who had never been out of his hometown before the war, that sparked everyone's interest.
Donny turned his head away from the picture as though it caused him physical pain to do so and it was then that Hirschberg realized the gravity of the situation. None of the men had even considered that the brutish Donny Donowitz might have a woman back home in Boston and now their interest was piqued to the point that there was no way Donny would be getting out of this one.
Donny seemed to realize it not long after Hirschberg did and sighed deeply, running a hand down his face before passing the photograph to Utivich slowly. The young man's eyebrows shot up as he looked at the image then quickly back to Donny as though surprised.
"What?" Donny asked defensively.
"Nothing, it's just she's...goddamn. How'd you get her?" Utivich asked in awe.
"If ya shut the fuck up 'n pass the picture like you're supposed ta, you'll find out," Donny snapped, leaning against the tree for support. Utivich stared at the image for another moment before passing it on to Wicki who looked over the image appraisingly. It was a picture of a young woman in bed, the covers pushed down to her feet as she read a book intently, a look of concentration on her face. She was dressed in only a pair of panties and what was clearly one of Donny's t-shirts as the end of sleeves came down to her elbows. Her dark hair was in a messy bun and she was biting her bottom lip in concentration, making her the perfect picture of studious curiosity.
Once the picture was returned to him, Donny held it in his hand and stared down at it for a long moment before he opened his mouth, the words seeming to come to him out of thin air.
She was gorgeous. Stunning. The most perfect creature on the entire planet. No, the entire universe. The whole galaxy.
Granted, he was eight at the time and she was six, but still. Ava Katz was the most captivating girl he had ever seen and he knew he was gone from the moment he had met her. So naturally, like every other eight-year-old boy who was experiencing his first love, Donny Donowitz decided that the only way for him to ever get her attention was to tease and mock her endlessly. However, this original idea of Donny's never came to fruition considering that the Katz family was moving from Germany and only the parents could speak English fluently; the two sons able to speak passable, conversational English and Ava could barely say 'hello'.
"Hold on, hold on here," Hirschberg interrupted, shaking his head in confusion. "Your girl is a Kraut?"
Stiglitz and Donny both growled at the man in unison and Raine rolled his eyes at Hirschbeg in annoyance.
"Let him tell the goddamn story, Hirschberg!" Raine snapped, hitting the young man in the back of the head.
As they were immigrants from a country that Americans had been told to despise during the World War, gossip about the family soon filled the streets of the close-knit community. Her father, Leopold, was a doctor and had served at a military hospital in Germany before being offered a job at Massachusetts General as a surgeon. The fierce mother Caroline came next, a woman known for instantly striking fear into anyone who dared insult her children, her heritage, her lifestyle, or her gender. Over the next fifteen years, Donny would see her chasing someone away from her stoop with a baseball bat at least once a week. The eldest boy was an all-star soccer player, her second oldest brother a mathematical genius. At just six years old, little Ava hadn't come into her own talent yet, but Donny's mother told his father that she would be a great beauty regardless of what brilliance she would possess. Mrs. Donowitz decided upon meeting the charming, intelligent, and headstrong Ava Katz that she would be the perfect companion for her brash, energetic, and loyal son.
Said meeting took place the evening after the Katz family moved in when Mrs. Donowitz marched her family across the street to meet with the cause of so much chatter. A basket of freshly made cookies in her hands, she led the starstruck Donny and his father across the street dressed in their best clothes. As her husband moved ahead of the two, Mrs. Donowitz pulled Donny aside, ordering him to be on his best behavior for what seemed like the hundredth time. No son of hers was going to upset a new fresh-off-the-boat family if she could help it.
Knocking on the door, Donny was almost instantly greeted by a tall, lanky teen and another boy who appeared to be a carbon copy of the first boy, only a few years younger and wearing a thick pair of glasses.
"Can we help you?" The taller boy asked politely, his accent thick and it took a moment for them to understand what he was asking as his clear blue eyes took them in slowly.
"We live across the street," Mrs. Donowitz replied cheerily as a tall, imposing man approached quickly. "We wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."
Her words seemed to confuse the man who looked bewildered for a moment as he stood behind his sons. "That is very kind of you, ma'am. Come on inside, sit down. I must apologize for the mess, we are still putting things away. I am Leopold Katz and these are my sons, Felix and Adrian."
The Donowitz family entered, taking in the nicely decorated apartment as the man led them into the living room area. A woman emerged from the kitchen a few moments later, a little girl at her side staring at the Donowitzs with big blue eyes. She whispered something to her mother in German and the woman smiled before ushering the girl to sit down next to her brothers. Which, incidentally, placed her directly in front of Donny on the couch.
"It's wonderful to meet you, I am Caroline and this is my daughter, Ava. I'm afraid she doesn't speak English yet," the woman, Caroline, stated. She was a truly imposing woman, not much shorter than her husband and she emitted a look that dared one to try to go against her. She had aristocratic features like her husband which her children had clearly inherited.
"It is truly very kind of you to stop by," The woman told them, offering the Donowitzs tea. "We know that outsiders moving into such a tight-knit community can be quite a change."
"Many of us have lived in the area our whole lives," Mr. Donowitz stated. "It will be a good chance for everyone to be exposed to people with other cultures. To remind them that not everyone is exactly like us."
"That is very refreshing to hear," Leopold stated, sharing a look with his wife. "Boys, why don't you show Donovan around the place?"
The boys stood at once and little Ava followed, taking her oldest brother, Adrian, by the hand and allowing him to lead her from the room, Donny and Felix following closely.
They ended in the boys' room, admiring the posters Adrian had hanging from his side of the room and the watercolor pictures hung on Felix's side.
"So vat is there to do around here?" Adrian asked, sitting on his bed beside his baby sister. He was at least twice her height and age, clearly the oldest of the three boys. Donny admired the fact that he wasn't using his age to bully or boss his siblings around, rather they both appeared to be in complete awe of him.
"I play baseball with a bunch of the guys on the weekends," Donny replied, realizing that he really didn't do much compared to what he imagined was a very exciting German life the Katz' had left behind. "There's a really good library if you're into that kind of stuff. Sometimes I go to the movies a couple streets over and watch them, but they're silent so ya gotta be able to read the subtitles."
Ava asked Adrian something in a language that sounded like gibberish to him but he was fairly certain it was just rapidly spoken German. Felix snorted and rolled his eyes as Adrian fought back a laugh in order to answer the doe-eyed girl.
"She wanted to know if all the men here have such thick eyebrows," Felix told him and Donny felt himself flush.
Unsurprisingly, the pretty little girl slowly blossomed into a strikingly beautiful teenage girl with half of the south side of Boston chasing after her. However, she had little interest in what said young men thought of her as she always had her head stuck in a book. Considering that she lived just across the street from him, Donny thought it part of his daily ritual to look out his window when he was in his room to make sure that she sitting contentedly on her stoop thumbing through a newspaper or book. She was usually alone during these times but as she aged, there was usually a petite blonde girl she had met at the library beside her. Donny felt red hot jealousy for the blonde girl considering that Ava spoke to that girl more in one day than she would to him in an entire month.
"Hey Ava," He greeted her as he passed by her on his way home from playing baseball, his bat in one hand and glove in the other. She was so immersed in her book that she jumped at his voice but nonetheless lifted her head to smile sweetly at him.
"Hi Donny." Her voice still had a surprisingly strong accent and Donny found it to be the most beautiful sound in the world. "'ow vas baseball?"
"You oughta come to watch us some time, get ya outta the books," Donny teased, loving the way a light blush covered in features as she rolled her eyes at him.
"If I do that, then you have to read a book," she told him for the thousandth time and Donny grinned at her, taking a seat on the stoop beside her feet.
"What is it today?" He asked casually, already knowing the answer having watched her reading for a few minutes before leaving for practice.
"A Tale of Two Cities," She replied, handing him the well-worn book. "It's my favorite."
"If I read this, then you'll come to a baseball practice?" Donny asked, turning the book over in his hands.
"Of course," She replied, clearly surprised by the turn of events.
x
"How is this your favorite?" Donny asked her angrily two weeks later, tossing the book to her in disgust. "It's depressing! Lucie should've ended up with Carton, not Darnay-"
"Life isn't fair, Donny," She told him softly, biting her lip to keep from grinning. He had actually read the book and Donny could tell she was elated. "And Darnay's a good man too."
"Why'd Carton have to die?" Donny asked suddenly, sitting down beside her. She put her head on his shoulder to comfort him and took his hand as he began to rant. "Couldn't he have come up with a plan to get out of there?! He got his way in there, he couldn't figure out how to get everybody out? Why'd he have to sacrifice himself?"
"He didn't think that far ahead, he knew they needed blood and decided to give it to them to protect Lucie," Ava explained softly, a small smile on her face. "It's romantic."
"No it's not! It would be romantic if he figured out a way to escape and he met up with Lucie in London! Then they could've been together!"
"Well, Donny, if you're ever in such a position, promise me you'll be cleverer than Carton," Ava teased him, laughing at the suddenly noble look on his face.
"I'll come back to you, Miss Katz, I promise you that," Donny responded, suddenly lost in his thoughts and Ava sensed she needed to change the topic before Donny got any big ideas of chivalry and adventure.
x
He hadn't thought his plan through. While he was ecstatic to have Ava sitting on the bench at the field, so was the rest of his team and the opposing group of boys. It was a mistake to have brought her here, he knew that, but there no way to get her to go home without her realizing why or offending her. As he listened to his teammates murmuring about her, he was filled with rage but also a feeling of smug satisfaction. She had come here for him, not any of these other boys and she only seemed to pay true attention when he was up to bat. She cared about him. She came out her comfort zone for him.
When the game was finally over, he accompanied her home rather than causing trouble with the rest of the boys like usual. They took the long way home together as twilight began to fall, her walking closer to him than she usually did.
"What'd ya think?"
"American games are silly," She replied, grinning at him. "Football is a better sport. Soccer, I mean."
"Hey!" He mocked being offended but she refused to back down.
"I would watch it for you only, Donny Donowitz. And when you're playing in Fenway Park, I hope you'll get me a good seat."
"Only the best for you," He responded absentmindedly, running her words over in his head.
"Donny!" Her surprised voice broke through his thoughts of the unfairness of the world as he returned to his house fuming, his nose gushing. Her voice had a hint of fear in it and when he turned angrily to see her sitting on her stoop, as usual, her book closed tightly in her hands, Donny saw that her eyes were wide with concern. He didn't answer, watching numbly as she put her book down quickly and dashed across the street to him. His nose had been broken badly and blood coated his mouth, chin, and throat. He could feel a black eye coming on and the dull pain in his head seemed to increase as his heart rate rapidly grew. Of course she would see in him in this shape. With his luck, he should've anticipated she would be on her stoop. She was touching his face gently, her dark eyes filled with anger and worry as she took in his appearance.
"What happened?" Her voice was quiet but Donny was certain he could hear rage in it. "Who did this to you?"
"Couple of older boys," Donny replied, suddenly embarrassed of her close proximity. "You should see them though, they're worse off than me."
"Why?" She asked but Donny knew that she had already figured it out and that her heart was breaking for him.
"I'm a Christ Killer apparently," Donny replied, trying to pass it off as nonchalant but failing miserably. The worry in Ava's eyes was gone instantaneously, replaced with a look of pure anger and rage that he had only ever seen in her twice before. The first time was when the neighborhood's flirtatious playboy Johnny Malcolm had tried to win her affections and upon failing miserably, had thrown her prized book on the human anatomy which she had received for her birthday into the gutter, ruining it instantaneously. The flirtatious Malcolm hadn't realized her rage until it was too late and she had thrown him into the street with more strength than Donny would have thought she would have possessed and he landed in the gutter alongside the book. The second time was when her cousin James had insulted her intelligence when he had visited the previous year. Ava had been thoroughly embarrassed, angry, and affronted, and as a result had escalated the fight to unseen proportions. The incident had ended with Ava and the man getting into a shouting match in German and her throwing a glass of wine at his face, the glass breaking his glasses and the wine ruining his new suit.
This time, however, Ava's anger had no immediate target and so she bustled Donny to his family's apartment as fast as she could, sitting him down in a chair and getting a washcloth out of the drawer, wetting it with cold water immediately.
"How do you know where we keep our stuff?" Donny asked, watching in awe as she expertly began to clean his face and neck lovingly.
"I know the inside of every woman's kitchen on the block," Ava replied softly, suddenly looking ashamed. "And they all know the inside of mine."
"Ava-"
"It's part of being born a girl, Donny," She cut him off immediately, refusing to meet his eyes as she scrubbed at a particularly sticky part on his chin.
There was something wrong with Donny. He couldn't breathe and his heart ached like it never had before. There had to be something physically wrong with him because he was certain that it had nothing to do with the scene in front of him. Ava was holding her schoolbooks to her chest as she walked to her door beside a handsome young man that Donny had never seen before. He was well dressed, wearing pants and a nice shirt that probably cost as much as Donny's entire wardrobe. Ava was blushing prettily, a shy smile on her face as the man whispered something in her ear and took her hand in his. Donny felt bile rising in his throat but he couldn't bring himself to look away as the man chastely kissed Ava on the lips after they reached her door. She smiled dreamily at the man and turned to go inside after saying something quietly to him.
Donny stewed around his room for the remainder of the afternoon, trying to think of reasons to go across to the Katz's townhouse without looking like a creep. When he came up with none, he simply threw himself on his bed and listened to the radio numbly until his mother announced that Ava was coming over and this was his one warning to be dressed considering the last time his mother had company over. It had been after a long day of work and he had stripped down to his underwear and had, having awakened from a nap, went into the kitchen to get a glass of water and ended up giving the knitting circle a good eyeful.
"I promise ya, I'll be dressed," He replied, running a hand over his eyes. He had hoped all day for an excuse to see her, but now he couldn't help but wish that she was doing anything other than coming over. Nonetheless, he dressed in his typical outfit: a pair of trousers, a white undershirt, and suspenders. He sat waiting at the edge of his bed, head in his hands as he tried to calm his breathing and keep from acting like an idiot. It worked until he heard the knock on the apartment door and he couldn't help himself but immediately leave his room and stand leaning against the wall in the living room, arms crossed across his chest.
"-it's really nice of you to do this for me, Mrs. Donowitz," Ava's voice was muffled by the few walls of the apartment, but it grew clearer as they exited the foyer. "Hello, Donny."
"Ava," He regarded her with what he hoped was nonchalance but knew he failed when she gave him a slightly bewildered look.
x
She was crying. Sitting in his bedroom crying into his chest as he held her close to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked for the thirtieth time, growing more and more panicked with each passing second. Someone was dead, he was certain, and it was only a matter of time before he found out it was someone he cared about. "Ava, stop crying and tell me what happened!"
She pulled away from him, rubbing her eyes as she sniffled. "I'm sorry, Donny."
"What happened?"
"It's stupid," She mumbled, suddenly embarrassed and she ducked her head so he couldn't see her.
"If you're this upset about it, then it's not stupid," He whispered to her, reaching a hand out to hold her chin and turn her head to face him. "Tell me."
"He has a steady girl," She mumbled and it took Donny a minute to process what she was saying. "He was just using me."
"That fuckin' asshole! I'll kill him!" Donny sprung to his feet but it was her hand on his wrist that stopped him from grabbing his baseball bat.
"Don't," She whispered, her voice thick. "If you hurt him, they'll kill you or lock you up. He's got influence, Donny."
"Ava-"
"You don't have to defend my honor all the time," She told him quickly, tugging on his wrist to get him to sit down again. "I'll be okay, I just didn't want the rest of my family to see me like this. They'd pity me too much. You're the only one who wouldn't. Don't make me regret having come here."
"You deserve better than that, Ava," He told her a few moments later and she smiled slightly at him.
"Thank you, Donny," She whispered but he could tell she didn't believe him at all.
He had finally managed to convince Ava to go to a Red Sox game and he went as all out as he could. He bought the best tickets he could afford and had treated her to dinner beforehand and a promise of going out for drinks after the game. The Red Sox had won, thankfully, and it kept him in great spirits. They left the ballpark, Donny thinking about how lucky he was to be holding hands with the Ava Katz (even if they weren't together together) outside of Fenway Park, the Red Sox having clenched another win.
"I love you," It slipped out without him even thinking about it as they joined the throngs of people milling about outside Fenway Park.
"What?" Her voice was cautious and she furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at him with big eyes. His heart dropped down to his feet at the look on her face and he was suddenly certain she was going to burst out laughing at him without a second thought.
"I'm in love with you," He repeated, throwing caution to the wind, though there was an edge to his voice as he prepared himself for what was almost certain rejection. She seemed to mull it over for a few seconds before she suddenly smiled brightly at him, her blue eyes sparkling at him.
"I love you too, Donny Donowitz," She had never sounded better to him in all the years he had known her and he took the time to grin at her before putting one hand on the back of her head, intertwined with her hair, and crashing his lips onto hers. He didn't know how long they stood there, wrapped up in each other as passing people cheered and laughed at the handsome young couple kissing in the dusk. When he finally pulled away, he rested his forehead on hers as they caught their breaths, both of them looking at the other as though starstruck. "It took you long enough, Donowitz."
They were lying together in the heat of the summer, bodies intertwined as Donny listened to her breathing as she listened to his heart beating. He was holding her tightly to his side as if afraid to let her go and she let him, resting her head on his chest and pressing a kiss to his chest every few moments.
"Donny," She whispered as the sun began to set out his open window. "We need to get going."
He mumbled something into her hair but made no effort to move other than to tighten his grip around her waist. He was happy. Probably the happiest he had ever been in life. Everything had finally come together for him and there was nothing that could make him any happier than he already was.
"Donny, we really have to go," She told him, giggling as he kissed the tops of her breasts. "Donny! We're so late!"
The thought of how angry his mother would be if they were actually as late as Ava claimed they were got Donny moving and he released Ava to allow her to get ready. After another round in the shower, they were finally getting ready, Ava and him crammed together in the tiny bathroom. It was a comedic affair as Ava curled her hair and did her makeup while Donny shaved and dressed. His suit was old, from a wedding of his cousin's half a decade ago, but he pulled it off with his rugged good looks and his aura of confidence. Ava's mother had bought her her dress only a week ago, a beautiful navy blue dress that went just below her knees and had a cinched waistline, accentuating the curves of her hips and breasts. A string of pearls around her neck contrasted her tanned skin beautifully and she looked simply ravishing with her hair curled. It took all of Donny's restraint to keep himself from jumping her and kissing her as passionately as he could with all his might.
They left for the wedding twenty minutes late and ended up barely making it there in time for the ceremony, which was so boring that Donny found himself drifting off several times only to have Ava elbow him in the ribs roughly. By the time it was over, he was regretting having worn the suit jacket, as he was reduced to a sweating mess whereas Ava was groaning about how hungry she was.
"What can I say, I burned a lot of calories today," She murmured in his ear as they crossed the street to the the restaurant here the reception was being held. Donny wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing her on the jaw as she giggled.
"You volunteered," she muttered, her voice low and her blue eyes were overflowing with tears.
"Ava-" Donny tried but she shook her head, backing away from him.
"Are you trying to kill me? Trying to give me a heart attack?" She yelled at him, tears flowing down her face. He grabbed her arm but she shook him off furiously. "Donny Donowitz, you're an idiot!"
"They're doing bad things to my people over there, Ava," he told her, stepping towards her cautiously. "I gotta go."
"Donny, please," she whispered, begging him.
"I can't ask people to fight for Jews if I'm not willing to do it myself," he told her and she nodded, allowing him to wipe her tears away. "Besides, I've been called to some special team, your man's gonna be a star."
"If you die, Donny, I'm going to kill your ass," she told him, allowing him to take her into his arms. "I hate you for making me love you Donny Donowitz."
x
He was taking a baseball bat overseas. A baseball bat. She had scoffed at his stupidity, declaring him utterly foolish, but she carved her name into the wood regardless, her name the first thing on the bat, right in the sweet spot as Donny called it. Standing on the train platform in his uniform he looked serious for once in his life and Donny couldn't stop looking at her, drinking her in as he would be leaving all too soon. Twenty minutes if he was to be believed.
When they called his train, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her passionately, there on the train platform in front of half of Boston. As he went to go onto the train, she slipped something into his pocket, telling him not to look at it until he got on the train. Sitting in an empty compartment, he pulled a pair of red lacy underwear out of his pocket and looked out the window to see his girl smiling at him through her tears. She mouthed 'I love you' and he did the same, more than ready to be in her arms again.
"That's it?" Hirschberg asked, his voice filled with disappointment.
"That's when I saw her last," Donny told him, turning the bat over in his hands. He traced her name with his finger gently, glad to see that her name was as clear as the day she had carved it. "I'll tell you more when I see her next. When the war's over."