The Reikers
The Reikers townhouse was small, a little slice out of one long brick building. It was quaint, even from the outside, with white lace in the windows and window boxes holding white, yellow, and red flowers.
Even this pretty picture, however, could not calm my nerves. Be brave, I commanded. You hid a Nazi from your own country, why should this be any more terrifying? I took a deep breath to steady myself, and the door opened.
An old man, wrinkled and thin but obviously strong of mind, greeted me with a melancholy smile. "Hello, Ms. Bergen. Please, come in." He moved aside and I entered.
He led me to a small but cozy living room, where his wife was already waiting. I shook hands with both of them and we all sat down.
"Coffee?" Mrs. Reiker asked.
I nodded. "Yes, please."
She poured me some and placed the cup in my hands. "There's no need to be nervous, dear." She gave my hands squeeze, and I heard her suck in a breath. Her finger traced over my ring. No, not my ring. Anton's ring. Immediately I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks.
Mrs. Reiker saw this, and gave me a shaky smile. "Never mind, dear. Why don't you tell us about our son." She looked to her husband, and he nodded. I took a deep breath.
I told them everything. Well, except for the part where Anton kissed me. That was something I would never tell anyone. When I told them I was a Jew, Mr. Reiker let out a bark of laughter.
"Truly?" he questioned. I nodded. "Ha! The irony! Oh…" he trailed off, chuckling. "I'm sorry, my dear, continue, continue." So I did.
I had told myself I wouldn't cry, but I had known then that that was a lie. When I spoke of Anton leaving I felt the first tear glide down my cheek. When I told them about my conversation with Mr. Pierce, when he told me of Anton's death, I began the wet sniffling that is always so unflattering.
At this point Mrs. Reiker sat down next to me on the couch and wrapped a comforting arm around me. "There, there, dear. Now, would you like to stay for supper?"
Yes! I wanted to scream. YesyesyesyesYes! But instead I said politely, "No, I couldn't intrude-"
"Nonsense! We never have enough guests in this house! Now come, you can help me cook."
'You can help me cook.' As if I was her daughter. As if I was family. She smiled warmly, and I smiled back, and she gave my shoulders a squeeze.
And that is how I ended up eating dinner with the family of a Nazi soldier. If only the family had been mine. The Reikers were intelligent and warm and loving. By the end of the night, they felt more like my parents than my real parents did.
Mrs. Reiker gave me a strong hug goodbye when I finally left them. I was just beginning to walk out the door when I remembered-
"Oh!" I turned back to them. Sliding Anton's family ring off of my finger, I held it out to them in my palm.
Mr. Reiker shook his head, and so did his wife when I tried to give it to her. Instead, she closed my fingers back over the ring. "Keep it," she said. "Anton gave it to you; it's yours." Then she hugged me again as I desperately tried to hold back my tears.
"Thank you," I whispered.
And with that, I left.
A/N: Alrighty. I'm not very pleased with the way this chapter turned out. But oh, well. I have the next chapter almost completely finished, too. However, I seem to have a problem with making these chapters the proper length, at least in my mind - they are too short.
And many thanks to Isirindig1lo, who is my only reviewer so far. (But that's okay, because how many people have even heard of this book, much less choose to read fanfiction on it? My guess is not very many.)
Welp, Summer of My German Soldier and all of its characters, belong to Bette Greene.