Chapter Six – The Past Caught Up
It was a little past midnight, when I was awoken by a certain noise. I slightly lifted my head to see Derek; he was sitting by the hut's window in a white shirt and his army pants, looking out into the camp. I sat up and I stared at him, he looked exhausted and sad, I slowly got up off the cot and walked over to the window, he was in some kind of trance because he did not even notice me approach beside him, I put my hand on his shoulder and accidentally startled him. He then turned a smiled, "Hello, You couldn't sleep?" he stood up and shut the window and closed the curtains, "Not exactly" I leant against the wall. Derek went over to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of Asbach Uralt Brandy and began to swig it back. He slowly lowered the bottle and looked around the hut "You want a glass?" he offered and found a cup under a newspaper. "I do not drink" I said Softly, Derek then placed the cup on the table and began to continue drinking. "Derek! What is the matter? Why are you?" Derek looked at me, his eyes all glazed "I am tired of this, Of My uncle" "what did he do?" Derek slumped down the wall and sat on the floor with the bottle in his hands "Tonight, he did the worse thing I have ever seen him do, Usually, the kids were never harmed in any way usually they just died in time, and he has never killed one, Until today" I gasped, I knelt beside him " it was not…" Derek looked at me "No" he said "It was no one you had known" "Well, Regardless to whether or not, I knew this young child, He still did a wrong, an incredible wrong, it was not the child's fault who his parents was or his religion, It is not anyone's fault, we should not be different" "Exactly, Abegayle but it is not that way, you are different, I am also…" "What do you mean you? You are not different" We both rose, Derek walked away and sat on his bed and held his head in his hands and looked up at me
"Trust me, I am. Let me tell you the truth about me, the reason I have never truly forgiving my uncle and why I have never agreed with Hitler and my Uncle. First, I must introduce you to my past and tell you about my mother and my father in 1918, they met and they fell in love, one problem, my mother was Jewish and my father was a German, I think it was really due to jealousy that my uncle killed them, but to him it was greed and hatred. It was one stormy night, and my parents were spending time together under the tree the one were my dad carved his known affections for my mother; my uncle followed them, and shot them. I found this out a while ago, my uncle never knew, I have known all this time and each day it bottles inside me more and more, I just can't get the anger to stop." "You have the right to be mad, how could he do that, if I had known that the day I meet him, I would have killed him," "Abegayle, Don't talk like that, there was nothing holding me back from doing that myself, but you see, I cannot, because it would not make a difference there will still be that anger after it has been done, I hold my anger back, not for myself, but for my mother and my father, I know you may not understand but it makes all the sense to me." I slowly over and sat beside him, "I understand, Derek" I whispered, and I really did. Derek then stood up again with a look that he had something important to say, he then turned and stormed out the door, "Derek..." The thud of the slamming door silenced me; I walked over to the window and peered out of it in hopes to see Derek. The door opened and I jumped, it was Derek, he rushed over and stood in front of me, he placed his hand gently on my check and pulled me towards him and our lips touched, he went to pull back, I drew him closer and kissed him again, this time for longer, his lips were warm and comforting.
When we pulled apart from one another, Derek smiled "I have wanted to do that for a while" I grinned "Me too". We then talked for what seemed like hours about before Hitler, Hobbies and hopes, and we slowly drifted of to sleep, beside another, wrapped in each other's arms, I had fallen in love with a German solider.