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Chapter 11

by Larry Thompson

The next morning Dad came to Siegie's and my room to wake us for the big day. Mom and Dad had let me spend one last night at home before Schultz and his wife were to come and pick me up. Dad stepped into our bedroom and said, "Siegie, Manny, it's morning. Get up."

Siegie rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed. Dad said, "Siegie, wake Manny." He turned and walked toward the kitchen.

Siegie flipped back the covers on my side of the bed, blinked several times and said, "He's not here, Dad."

Dad stopped as if he had run into a wall. He looked back over his shoulder and asked, "What? What did you say?"

Siegie got up and looked under the bed. He said, "He's not under there either."

Dad exclaimed, "God in heaven. Where is he?"

Siegie ran to the window and looked out at the place where I kept my bike. He said, "His bike is gone;" and he repeated, "He’s not here."

Mom had heard the conversation from the kitchen where she was making breakfast. As Dad entered the kitchen to repeat his and Siegie's conversation, she left her dough, sat down at the table and covered her face with her apron. She began crying, and between sobs she said, "Oh, Oscar, I knew it. I knew he wouldn't be here this morning. He thinks we have betrayed him, and you know what? He's right. We never should have agreed to trade him for food. That was so stupid."

Dad stood in the doorway with his hand in his pockets looking at the floor. Be said, "You're probably right, Erna, but right now, that's not the big problem. The big problem is I don't know where he is, and I don't even know where to look."

He called Siegie into the kitchen as Mom sat at the table and cried. He asked, "Siegie, when Manny plays by himself, where does he go?"

Siegie scratched his head sleepily and yawned, "He goes to Totow airfield and plays in the bombers, sometimes. That's where we get the rubber for our slingshots."

"Wall, maybe he's there."

"I don't think so Dad. He goes there to play. He wasn't really in a playing mood last night when he went to bed."

Mom said, "Of course he wasn't. Couldn't you see the way he cried when he was chosen to be traded? Can't you see that we've made a terrible mistake?"

Dad looked at Mom with an angry expression. He said, "Yes Mama, we made a mistake, but the decision was the right one at the time."

“How can you say that? I'm sorry that I ever agreed to the trade even if it was the right thing to do at the time."

Dad said, "I'm not going to argue about it now. We need to find Manny. God! Where can I look?"

A knock sounded at the door. Dad answered the knock, and Herman Schultz and his wife were at the door. Dad let them in and said, "I have to tell you that Manny has run away, and we don't know where he is."

Schultz's wife said, "I knew he had spunk, but not that much. I didn't know he disliked us that much."

Mom said, "I don't think liking or disliking you had anything to do with his running off. He felt betrayed."

Schultz said, "Well, what are we going to do now?"

While they were discussing what to do with me I was fifteen miles away. I had sneaked out of Siegie's and my bedroom right after Siegie went to sleep. I rode hard for a little over two hours and arrived at Grandfather Kaiter’s farm after eleven. I had cried for the first hour of the trip and carried a painful lump in my throat the rest of the trip. The closer I got to Grandfather's farm, the more the lump hurt.

As I rode up to Grandfather's farm, I could see that he was working in his barn by the light of an oil lamp. I left my bike in front of his house and walked into the barn. As I walked, I felt old. My feet felt as if each one weighed fifty pounds. It was an effort to put one in front of the other. My face felt old and used up. I wondered if Grandfather would be able to see it. As I walked into the barn, his back was turned to me, and he was working on a plow.

 I stood behind him while I tried to make the lump in my throat go down. I took several deep breaths as I tried to speak his name. I couldn't say anything, so I just stood there. After a while, he became aware that I was behind him. He turned slowly and saw me. He looked behind me. He had an amazed look on his face. He asked, "Manfred, where's your father?"

I opened my mouth and a strangely youthful voice came out, "He's still in Jarmen, Grandfather."

"Well, what in the world are you doing here at this hour of the night by yourself?"

I was drained. To speak was an effort. I began "Grandfather, I..." I hesitated. The lump in my throat was getting bigger; then the words came out in a rush, "I've run away from home."

He put down his tools, walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He said, "What's going on?"

The whole discussion Mom and Dad had with Schultz shot through my memory. I blurted, "They don't want me." I shook my head. I could barely speak. My lower lip trembled, and I squeaked, "They don't want me."

"Whoa now, slow down and tell me the whole story."

I told him what had happened. I could see that it made him mad. His jaw muscles bulged and his mustache twitched. He said, "Come inside the house. We must tell Grandmother about this."

Grandmother had her robe on and she and Hilda were in the kitchen. When I got into the kitchen they gave me warm milk. After she and Grandfather calmed me down, I was able to tell them the story of what had happened. When I got to the part about Mom and Dad letting farmer Schultz talk them into trading me for a steady supply of food, Grandfather, who was already red in the face, stood up and said, "My God! My God! Why have they done this to you?" He struck the table with his fist. The noise went, "Crash!"

Grandmother cried and said, "This is unheard of in all of our family."

Hilda said matter of factly, "Well, let's just keep him. We can use him around the farm."

Grandfather was still mad. "This cannot be," he struck the table, "Bam!" "This will not be." He struck the table again, "Wham!"

Grandmother wasn't able to be as calm as Hilda, and she was more agitated than Grandfather. She started crying and asking, "How could they? How could they?"

After she calmed down, she and Grandfather showed me to my room, and Grandfather said, "Tomorrow, we'll go to Jagezo. We'll phone Jarmen and find out about this. Right now, we're going to rest and let them stew over where you are when they wake up and discover you're gone." I sat on the edge of the bed. The lump in my throat was smaller. His brow furrowed and he said, "Tomorrow we will set this matter right." He nodded an abrupt nod, and in my mind, I heard his fist hit the table.

The next day around mid-morning, Grandfather and I rode into Jagezo on the wagon. Grandfather went to the burgermeister's office because the burgermeister had a telephone, and Grandfather used it to phone the implement repair company where Dad worked in Jarmen. I didn't get to hear the conversation, so I don't know what was said or if Grandfather beat on the burgermeister's desk as he talked to Dad. When he came out of the burgermeister's, he climbed upon his wagon and said, "We're going back to the farm, now. We'll let your dad stew for a while, and then we'll go to Jarmen, tomorrow or the next day, to see what he has to say." Grandfather slapped the reins across the horses' backs, and we rode the slow-moving farm wagon back to the farm.

Two days later, we put my bicycle on the back of the wagon, and Grandfather, Grandmother, Hilda and I rode into Jarmen on the wagon. I was scared to death. I didn't know what Dad would say, and I didn't know what Grandfather was going to say to Dad. In a way, though, I felt pretty good. Grandfather was making a fuss over me, and Grandmother sat with her arm over my shoulder the whole trip.

Hilda said, "If we can't get this thing straightened out, we'll take you home with us. We'll feed you and we'll let you work on the farm with us."

I kind of liked the thought of that.

We arrived at the apartment, and everybody became tense. For me to enter the apartment was an effort. I wondered how I could look at my parents, and I wondered if they would look older because I felt older. As we entered, Dad wouldn't raise his eyes from the floor. Mom looked at me and started crying. Grandfather got right to the point.

He looked at Mom and Dad and said, "I want to hear the story of what happened. I've heard Manny's version, now I want you hear your version."

Dad told the story of what had happened from the time we arrived in Jarmen. When he was through, Grandfather said, "Manny, you, Siegie and Luther go outside while we talk."

I knew the interesting part was about to start. I said, "But, Grandfather...."

He interrupted my objection and said, "Go outside, now. We'll call you back in when we're through." He pointed a finger at the door. I knew it was useless to resist, so Siegie, Luther and I started out of the apartment. As we walked out, I looked at Siegie to see if he looked any different than he did before I ran away from home. He looked young. Luther looked like a baby. I couldn't see how they looked any better than I did; how they could be preferred over me. Luther cut in front of me, stepped on my foot as he rushed to be first out of the door. He shoved Siegie, and Siegie shoved him back. I just stood out of their way as they made a contest of leaving the apartment. We headed for a window from which we knew we could hear some of Grandfather's and Mom’s and Dad's conversation. I decided to wait. We couldn't see anybody when we got there because the window was much higher than we were, but occasionally we could hear Grandfather.

I heard him shout, "How could you possibly...." The rest was muffled, but I heard him hit the table with his fist. The sound went, "Whack!"

"Never in all of our family's history has anyone ever....” His hand went, "Bam," on the table.

"As long as I'm alive, no one in the family will ever...." "Bam" went his hand.

"I absolutely forbid you and Erna to...." "Wham" went his fist.

That went on for an hour or more as Siegie, Luther and I tried to understand what was being said. Finally, Grandmother came out of the apartment to get us, and we went back into the apartment. Grandmother took my hand and went to sit by Grandfather. She kept looking at me and shaking her head. She said, "You poor thing. How could they?"

Mom and Dad, with Siegie and Luther standing beside them, sat in two chairs across the room from Grandmother and Grandfather. They sat with their heads down, and Mom was crying.

Grandfather said, "Manfred, we've got the situation pretty much worked out. Your father and mother will not give you away."

Dad stirred and started to speak.

Grandfather corrected himself, "I mean they will not trade you for a steady supply of food.

"You're going to come and stay with Grandmother and me for a while...at least until your father can work out a way to feed the rest of the family and you too."

We all sat in silence, Grandfather, Grandmother and Hilda, Mom and Dad and Luther, Siegie and me. The silence was oppressive, and the situation made me feel even more uncomfortable. Finally, Grandfather broke the silence. He looked at Dad and asked, "Tell me again what the farmer said."

Dad said, "I said that we were on the skids of life and that we needed some way to grease the skids. Schultz that he had plenty of food, food that the government didn’t know anything about, and that the way to grease the skids to lighten the load was by letting him feed one of the kids as his own."

"What kind of food did he say he had?”

"I talked to him several times, and he said he had plenty of vegetables, meat and milk. He also said he had plenty of seeds."

"What kind of seeds did he say he had?"

"Rye, wheat, poppy, sunflower..."

"Did you say poppy and sunflower seeds?"

"Yes, poppy, sunflower and other seeds.

Why?"

Grandfather was deep in thought. Ignoring Dad's question, he asked, "When will Schultz return to Jarmen?"

"I don't know. He didn't say."

"Where does he live?"

"Several miles outside of town. Why?"

"Because, I think we should go see him."

Dad hesitated. He said, "There's no need to get mad at him and berate him."

"Wasn't my intention."

"Then why...."

"You said you needed something to grease the skids of life. Schultz said he had plenty of food, some of which were seeds. Out of certain seeds, you can get oil. With oil, loosely speaking, you can make grease for the skids of life."

"So, what are you saying?"

"I’m saying that we ought to go see Schultz to find out what kind of seeds he has, to see if there is something we can all use that will grease the skids of all our lives."

"Well, when he comes into town, he usually gets here no later than two in the afternoon. If he's not coming at all, then he won't be here after two."

"If he doesn't show up this afternoon, we'll go see him tomorrow morning."

Dad was thinking. He asked, "What did you mean when you mentioned seeds with oil?"

“What I'm saying is this. Poppy and sunflower seeds have a lot of oil in them. It shouldn't be too hard to come up with some kind of press to squeeze the oil out of them. Do you remember the brick making machine we put together in Oberhof? The one that squeezed bricks out of dirt and clay?"

Dad's eyes lighted up. He said, "Are you thinking of putting together a press like that to get the oil out of the seeds? Show me what you're talking about."

Grandfather and Dad went to the kitchen table and Dad gave Grandfather some paper. Grandfather said, "Look....It shouldn't be too hard to put them into a hopper, like so," he drew out a picture of a hopper, "then have a chamber, a pressure rod, a drip hole for the oil and an exit tube for the crushed seed cake to come out of. Something like this." He drew out his rough drawing.

Dad asked, "How much pressure do you think it would take?"

"Depending upon the size of the chamber, a ton, more or less.

"You know, I think you're on to something. I believe I can design a press that would fit on top of this table." They both became excited then and spent the rest of the day designing and drawing.

Every time Grandmother looked at me, she'd start crying and saying, "You poor thing."

I was beginning to get excited about what Grandfather and Dad were doing. Whenever Dad was creating something, it was exciting.

Farmer Schultz didn't come to town that day, so the next morning at the breakfast table, Grandfather said, "Manny, your Dad and I are going down to the implement company this morning to see if a machinist down there can put together what we think we need to make a press, and then we're going out to Herman Schultz's farm. I want you to come with us."

I trusted Grandfather, but when he mentioned that he wanted me to go to Schultz's farm, I became suspicious. I said, "I don't want to go to farmer Schultz's farm. I don't want to be traded."

  Grandfather was very patient. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Manny, you can forget being traded to farmer Schultz. It's not going to happen, so don't worry about farmer Schultz.

"Now, will you come with us or not?"

I said I would go, and we left shortly after breakfast.

The machinist at the implement company had been the owner of the implement company before the war. After the Russians took control of eastern Germany, they took control of his implement company from him. They let him serve as foreman of the company. He made the same wage as Dad and as was looking for an advantage, something to do that would bring in more money, or something that allow him to trade for food. When Grandfather and Dad described what they had in mind, he eagerly agreed to help them. He told Grandfather, "If Oscar can design a press, I can make it. I can make anything he can design. He's good."

We left the implement company and headed for Schultz's farm. We arrived about two hours later, and Schultz met us at his barn. Dad introduced Schultz to Grandfather, and after an uneasy first few minutes, Grandfather said, "Look, what's done is done. The boy came to me out of desperation. We got him calmed down. Now, let’s all stay calm about this."

He looked at Schultz and said, "Don't misunderstand me. I'm not threatening you. I'm a farmer too, and I know what we have to put up with in the new government. I have some overages at my farm as you do, but from what Oscar tells me, you have more than anyone else I know of."

Schultz was being cautious. He asked, "Your point?"

"If you have a surplus of poppy seeds and sunflower seeds, more than what you need to plant for next year, let us see what you have. Maybe we can all get enough oil to grease the skids of life."

Schultz stood still and looked at the ground. Finally, he said, "Alright, but only because of my friendship with Oscar. But, for God's sake, don't let anyone know about what I’m going to show you. The government would take everything I own."

"Don't worry. I face the same problem. I understand. Oscar understands too."

Dad nodded his head.

Schultz led us to the barn. Once inside his barn, we went to a haystack in one corner. He pulled the hay away from the corner and revealed bag upon bag of seed stacked almost to the ceiling. He pointed at the stack of bags and said, "I’ve got rye, poppy, sunflower and linseed and wheat.”

Grandfather's eyebrows jumped up on his forehead, and he said, "Lord! You do have an abundance of seed.

"With poppy, sunflower and linseed, you've got exactly what we all need."

Schultz asked, “What is it that you want?”

"Let me explain. I came up with the idea to use the oil that could be extracted from those seeds. We can all have the oil, share it, and use it to trade for whatever we need.

"Oscar has designed a press that will extract the oil and produce a cake from the pressed seed residue. The implement store manager can manufacture the press we need from Oscar's design.

"I came up with the idea, Oscar designed the press, the machinist can fabricate it, and you have the seed we need. It sounds ideal for a four-way split of the product." Grandfather paused and then asked Schultz directly, "Don't you agree?”

Schultz looked at the ground for a few minutes. He said, "It looks like all of the arrangements are already made, and I have very little to say about it."

Grandfather asked, "What would you want to say?"

Schultz laughed a nervous laugh and said, "I wouldn't have shown you everything I have hidden here, and I might have held out for a different percentage. But, it seems that everything is pretty much cut and dried.

"I understand your position, but the arrangement seems very fair to me."

Schultz nodded and said, "Given the circumstances, I guess I have no choice but to agree."

They shook hands. We went into Schultz's home, and Grandfather showed him Dad's drawings. He agreed that it should work. He asked, "What are you going to do with the cake that's left after the oil is squeezed out of it?"

Grandfather said, "We can split it four ways also. It can be ground up, and flour can be made out of it for baking. Or, a man could feed the cake to his farm animals."

Schultz shrugged and said, "That seems fair."

Grandfather said, "Let's all go back to Jarmen to see the machinist and repeat our understanding of the agreement in front of everybody so that there will be no misunderstanding among us."

Schultz agreed, and we returned to Jarmen. They all agreed to the arrangement. Grandfather stayed in Jarmen another four days arranging things and watching while the machinist worked out Dad's design. I left my bicycle for Grandfather to ride to the farm on, and Grandmother and I rode back to the farm on the wagon.

Grandfather watched the press being put together and stayed in Jarmen to see bow the press was going to work.

When he was satisfied, he put his share of the first run of the press in a bottle and took it back to Jagezo with him.

When he returned to the farm, we were waiting in the house for him. He came in and said, "I bring oil and news."

Grandmother asked, "What is the news, Eduard?"

"Oscar has made arrangements for Luther, Siegie and Manny to be enrolled in school. He wants Manny to go back to Jarmen to get started again."

Hesitantly, I asked, "Back to Jarmen?"

"Yes, for school."

"Gollee, Grandfather, I...I... don’t want to go right now. I… I'd rather just stay here if I can and help you and Hilda with milking and feeding the animals."

He put his hand on my shoulder and said gently, "Well, son, we have a few days before you have to go back. We'll talk about it some more later. Right now, however, I have oil." He grinned and showed Grandmother, Hilda and me the oil.

I asked, "What can you do with oil?"

He said, "You can cook with it. You can trade it for things."

"Like what things?"

"First for food, if any is available. Then for shoes and clothes. After that, you can trade it for anything you need that someone else has who is willing to take it for trade. It's pretty versatile, and it was just the thing to solve a very difficult situation."

We had been standing in the living room in front of the door talking when Grandfather heard a noise from out in front of his house. He looked through the curtain and saw someone tying his horse out front.

Grandfather said, "Oh Lord! It's the government inspector. He's not scheduled to be here until the last of the month." He paused and put a work hardened hand on his chin. He said, "I've got those five piglets in the barn, and he doesn't know I have them. If he finds them, he'll take them, and then he'll penalize me." He looked at Grandmother and Hilda and said, "You two wait here in the house while I talk to him. I'll try to get rid of him. Manny, you come out here with me."

We went outside and stood on the porch waiting for the government inspector to come up to the porch. Grandmother and Hilda stood behind the door to listen. Grandfather whispered down at me, "Don't say anything. Let me do the talking."

The man said, "Good afternoon, Herr Kaiter. I'm Peter Leuter, government inspector."

Grandfather had his hands in his pockets. He nodded end said, "I remember you from the last visit. What are you doing here today?"

"I have come to your farm today on an unannounced inspection of your barn and your livestock."

Grandfather stalled and asked, "Why are you coming unannounced?"

"This is permitted under paragraph 49 of the Berlin Directive."

"1 understand, but why have you come today?"

The inspector looked at Grandfather as if he were crazy and said, "Why, I've come unannounced, so that I can see if you're hiding something from the people. I want to see your barn."

Grandfather looked at the ground for a few seconds and said, "You've come at the wrong time."

"Come now, Herr Kaiter. Take me to your barn now."

Grandfather continued to look at the ground. I looked up at his eyes and could see them switching from side to side as he tried to think of a way to stop the inspector from going to the barn. He said, "I can't take you to the barn."

"Herr Kaiter, you must. I insist."

Grandfather shrugged and said, "You can't go to the barn." Be exhaled and the white frost of his breath drifted away.

Even though it was mid-November, I could see sweat forming on his forehead under his hat band.

 The inspector stopped and looked at him suspiciously. He asked, "What are you hiding? Why can't I go to your barn?"

Grandfather was coming up short. He said, "Eh. Well...you just can't."

The man said, "Unless you can give me a good reason, I'm going to your barn now." He turned to go.

Grandfather said, "Wait, ah...my wife..." He groped, "My wife is...taking a bath."

The inspector asked incredulously, "In the barn?"

"Yes...in...in the barn." He nodded his head.

Don't be ridiculous."

"No. It's true. She's in the barn taking a bath."

"Why would she do that? No one would take a bath a barn in this weather."

Grandfather groped again. He said, "Well...we have a rain barrel back there full of rain water, and she likes to take a bath in it."

The inspector looked at him for a second. I could see him weighing the possibility of any truth in the claim that a sane person would take a bath in rain water in a barn in November. For a second, he almost believed it. Then common sense got the better of him, and he said, "I'm going to the barn."

Grandfather said, "You can't. You'll embarrass my wife."

"I'm going." The inspector turned from the door and started toward the side of the house.

Grandfather shrugged and followed him.

I whispered, "What now, Grandfather?"

Be rolled his eyes from one side to the other, twitched his mustache and whispered, "We're going to have to look innocent, forgetful, astounded, amazed. I don't know."

I asked, "How about pathetic? I looked pathetic in Popenteen."

He shrugged and whispered, "Get ready."

As the inspector neared the side of the house, we heard a large splash from the barn, and Grandmother shouted, “Whoop!”

The inspector slowed his pace.

Grandmother shouted again from the barn, "Whoop! Whooee! C-c-cold! Whooee! This is great!"

The inspector peeked slowly around the corner. He jerked his head back from the corner.

Grandmother shouted, "Hilda, bring me the soap!"

The inspector turned slowly on his heel. He looked at Grandfather and said, "I don't believe this."

Grandfather grinned and said, "I told you. She's taking a bath in the barn."

The inspector said, "I don't want to embarrass your wife." He stretched the back of his head. He said, "This is the type of problem I don't need." He shook a finger at Grandfather and said, "I'll he back, and when I come hack, I'm going to look at your operation very closely."

Grandfather grinned and said, "Sorry, Inspector."

The inspector went to his horse and left.

Grandfather watched him until he had ridden out of sight. He said, "Wait here for a minute while I check to see if Grandmother really is taking a bath.

I stayed where I was while he walked to the corner of the house.

He got to the corner and stopped. A look of amazement came on his face. He motioned to me to come to him.

I ran over to him and looked around the corner. I saw the large wooden rain barrel sitting in the barn. Sticking up out of the barrel, I saw Grandmother's head. Water overflowed out of the barrel.

When she saw us walking toward her, she asked, "Has the inspector gone?" Grandfather, still stuck dumb with amazement, nodded his head.

Grandmother started to stand inside the barrel.

Grandfather said, "Whoa! Hide your eyes, Manfred."

Before I could, Grandmother stood up. She was fully clothed in her black working dress and soaked from head to foot. Hilda brought a blanket to Grandmother and, shivering, Grandmother looked at Grandfather and said, "You had better find someplace else to put those piglets, or the next time, you'll have to jump in the rain barrel yourself."


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