Months had passed and Fred was working at a brewery near Frankfurt, Germany. He worked every day of the week, there at the brewery, making beer. Heating up a mash of grains and water in copper vats, stirring and mixing it till it turned into a liquid, separating the sugar-water, which is called wort, from the grain husks, boiling the wort for two hours or so and then transfering it into a wort chiller, and then into a fermenter where he added yeast to the mixture, then he poured the liquid into wooden barrels.
There he stood, going through his usual routine of making beer. When he first took up the job, he was ashamed of working at such a place, but he justified it, by it being a good-paying job, and he had to work to support himself! His conscious still haunted him, but he ignored it and always managed to think of something else...Fred was beginning to acquire a taste for the beverage. Not too bad, he'd have a half of a German beer once in awhile and he had only been to the saloon a few times and was planning to meet up with some friends on the weekend, but before he did that, when he got off work, he wanted to take his niece, Anna, out to the mercantile to get her something for her birthday...He reached a hand into his trouser pocket and pulled out 7 cents...All the money he had until he got his next paycheck...He figured he could at least get Anna a little something...
"I don't have much right now...Maybe I'll get Anna a few sacks of candy." Fred said to himself and he sighed. "Hopefully...,Oh, who am I kidding? What a stupid present!..." He said, kicking the wall. He walked the short walk home, with his head down and in low spirits. He cleaned up and changed his clothes and hitched up his horses on his buckboard and went on over to his brother's place. He thought to put on a happy face for his niece. He couldn't rain on her parade with his gloominess on her special day! He pounded on the door and stood there until Anna opened it.
"Uncle Fred!" She exclaimed and hugged him, and Fred picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Now lets see!...You're turning the old, old age of...what? Sixteen?" He smiled, looking into the girl's bright blue eyes.
Anna laughed, which made her eyes sparkle. "No silly! I'm six today!"
"Oh you!" Fred said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Whether you're six or sixteen, you're a pretty little thing!...Now c'mon! Your crazy uncle's taking you out for your birthday! Your Ma and Pa already said yes!"...Elisabeth was very jealous of her older sister. Fred got down on his knees so that he could be face to face with his niece. He gently held the little girl by the shoulders..."Now...Sis, today is Anna's special day...Don't worry, your Uncle Fred's gonna take you out for your birthday too...Okay?..." He said, winking and smiling at her.
"Okay..." Elisabeth said and smiled.
"C'mon kiddo!" Fred said, hoisting Anna up into his buckboard and then getting in beside her. They travelled into town, talking and laughing all the way to the mercantile. Fred kept teasing Anna. In a loving way, of course, but like any close relative, Fred loved to tease!
"So...Does my pretty little niece have a beau yet?" He smiled down at her and winked.
Anna made a face, "No! Boys are dumb!...And icky!"
Fred chuckled and put an arm around her. "You're only six...You've got all the time in the world, kiddo!"
"Johnnie Abeln likes me...He's eight..."
"Oh he does! Does he?" Fred smiled a crooked smile and looked down at his niece, dressed in a royal blue dress with a brown pinafore and brown shoes. She was swinging her feet, as they didn't reach the floor-boards.
"But I don't like him..." She said quickly.
"And why not? He seems like a good boy...I've seen him around some, and I work with his Pa..."
Anna quickly changed the subject..."You call Elisabeth, Sis or Sissy...Do I get a nickname too?"
"Hmmmm...I never thought of one for you,...have I? Well, how 'bout 'Anna banana!'..." Fred said laughing and turned his head quickly to see her reaction.
Anna laughed. "No way! That's too silly!"
"Well, lets see. Your middle name is Rose...How 'bout "Rosebud."
She smiled up at Fred. "I like it..." Anna grasped his arm with both hands and layed her head against him.
"Me too,...Rosebud.." He smiled. He stopped the horses, as they were at the mercantile. Fred jumped down and placed his hands on little Anna's waist. "Fly, my little songbird!" Fred said, lifting her up in the air as he helped her down from the buckboard. "...Please this young handsome gentleman with a special number!"
Anna laughed and walked into the mercantile arm in arm with her uncle, skipping and singing,
"Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip, skip, skip to my Lou,
Skip to my Lou, my darlin'.
There's a little red wagon,
Paint it blue.
There's a little red wagon,
Paint it blue.
There's a little red wagon,
Paint it blue.
Skip to my Lou, my darlin'..."
Anna was smiling as the song had ended, when Fred started to sing again...
Lost my partner,
What'll I do?
Lost my partner,
What'll I do?
Lost my partn...Hey! Too bad that Johnnie boy isn't here to switch partners!" Fred laughed after stopping in the middle of his singing...
"UNCLE FRED!" Anna shouted in embarrassment, and then began to turn red as people who were in the mercantile were staring at her. Anna glared up ather uncle and she was motioning to him with her pointer finger...Fred leaned down so she could whisper in his ear.
"Don't talk about Johnnie! Its embarrassing!" She whispered and Fred whispered something back.
"No I don't! I told you I think that boys are icky!" Anna said, a little louder this time.
Fred smirked and said to her..."I bet you're just saying that."
Anna stared up at him. "I don't like Johnnie Abeln!" She said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Whatever you say, Rosebud..." He said, smiling. They walked up to the counter and Anna picked out the candy she wanted...
"Can I get peppermint candies, Uncle Fred?...I like peppermint candies!"
"Why sure!...7 cents worth of peppermint candies, my good man!" Fred said to the man behind the counter and gave him the change. The young man at the counter put the money away and then he filled two sacks full of peppermint candy.
Fred spent most of the day with his niece and brought Anna home near suppertime. His brother and sister-in-law wanted him to stay for supper and he thankfully accepted.
...A few months had passed and Fred had moved back to America and was living in the state of Pennsylvainia. He told his brother Leonard that he felt that he needed to move on and move back to the States. He was a young, 20 year old man, and felt confident at being by himself and out on his own. He got a job, working at another brewery, and spent some of his evenings at the saloon...One evening, he pushed through the saloon doors and walked over and sat down on one of the stools at the counter.
"I'll have a beer...German beer...Make it a Starkbier..." Fred said, when the bartender waited on him.
"Gotta be at least 18 to drink, kid...You look a little young...I'd say about 16." The bartender glared at him, leaning on the counter-top.
"I'm 20..." Fred stated. "I look young for my age...I know."
"Well look, kid...We only sell whiskey here...Nothin' fancy...just straight whiskey."
"I'll have whiskey then..." Fred said quietly. The bartender set a whiskey glass on the counter in front of him and poured some whiskey into the small shot glass. Fred drank the foul liquid in one swallow and set down the shot glass next to the whiskey bottle, the bartender pouring more for him. He drank shot after shot after shot after shot, and Fred became drunk. No,...he wasn't the tough, mean, I-wanna-fight-with-you kind of a drunk,...he was a silly drunk! He was a silly, goofy, stupid, not making a lick of sense type of drunk...He was laughing at everything and saying stupid, silly things. He randomly blurted out, "I am the Pharoah of Egypt...and I am here to grace you with my presense!" and after awhile he was sitting in a corner whispering sweet nothings...to a broom...Then he heard swaying music starting to play and he picks up the broom and started dancing with it, though ridiculously drunk and still laughing at everything!
Fred was all giddy and laughing as he was dancing and talking...to the broom... "You're so thin! Loose anymore weight and you'll disappear!" He stupidly laughed. "But that's oooookkkaaay, I like my women ttthin!..." He said, slightly slurring his words. "You don't talk much, huh...That'sss okay...I'll talk enough for...for the two of usssss..." Fred suddenly felt someone wisk him away from his 'woman.'
"Hey Fred!...A real man's gotta be branded! Shows masculinity!" A man named Aaron Cassano told him.
Fred laughed stupidly once again. "Anyyything for my country, General Waaaashington!"
Aaron laughed and shook his head. "General Washington? The kid's so drunk he doesn't know what he's saying!"
Fred hopped up on the table in front of a whole bunch of tough-looking men. "I want one of a German Eagle! Right here!" He said slapping his upper left arm...and he went back to laughing again..."Hey, did I tell you, I've got two friends...Vengence and Hurt! They're right here and you don't wanna mess with 'em!" He said clenching his fists and holding up his arms in the air. Some guy yanked Fred's arm down and Aaron began to tattoo his upper arm. Fred could barely feel it and he was so drunk he didn't really know what was going on! After he had gotten his tattoo, Fred began to drink more whiskey again...And then he found his broom 'woman' again and was talking to 'her' over in the corner. He kept laughing stupidly until his friend whisked him away again...
"C'mon, lets get you home, Fred...You've had enough excitement for tonight!"
"I don't wanna leave my girl!" Fred whined.
Aaron looked at the broom, and rolled his eyes..."You need to get home, Fred." He said, guiding Fred to the saloon doors.
"But we were just starting to get to know each other!" Fred said looking back at his broom 'woman.'
Aaron rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you were..." He looked at one of the men picking up the broom and putting it into a broom closet. "...but I think 'she' has met someone else, Fred..."
"She's cheating on me!...Howww daaaarrrrrre shheee!" Fred said, slurring his words once again.
"C'mon buddy, lets get you back on home..."
Aaron got Fred home and into bed. He was out cold as soon as his head hit the pillow. Fred woke up in the morning with a very, very, VERY bad hangover. He sat up slightly and looked at his left arm and saw his tattoo..."Where did THAT come from?..." Fred put a hand to his forehead since he had a killing headache! "Oh God...What kind of a night did I HAVE last night?" He said to himself and fell back onto his pillow.
A/N: My great great grandfather Fred Lay, had gotten two tattoos done on both of his upper arms. My grandpa said one was a German eagle, just like in the story, and one was very faded and he couldn't remember what exactly what it was. He got the tattoos while he was in the German army.
Fred did work at a brewery near Frankfurt, Germany, and would buy sacks of candy for his niece, Anna Lay. I did not know what her middle name was, so I chose my mother's middle name, Rose. I like it. She does not like her name, Christel Rose.
Elisabeth was another one of Fred's nieces. She was Elisabeth Lay Hassenkamp. I believe she lived out her days in the country of Germany.