SS Outpost

By: Jeff B
(© 2012-2013 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

DER EPILOG:

THE EPILOGUE:

28 November, 1989.  Brandenburg Gate - Berlin, Germany.

We had been watching the news about the re-unification of Germany and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.  We’d caught a flight out of Buenos Aires on the morning of the 27th to witness this momentous occasion.  This is the first time any of us had set foot on German soil in forty-seven years.  We were standing about 20 meters from Brandenburg Gate and remembering the last time any of us had stood in this spot.  It was pretty much the same time for all of us; the day before we all met in Berlin on that March evening in 1942.

A lot had changed for all of us in that time.  Our family had grown to proportions none of us had ever imagined all those years ago.  We’d had weddings, births, one death and many new friendships, and through it all we had remained close and committed to each other; we had remained brothers.  It seemed like yesterday that we all met in that office at the Reich’s Chancellery all those years ago, but we were old men now; so far removed from the five young men who were sent on a mission to that small village during the worst war in history.  We had met as soldiers, became friends and lovers, and escaped the death and destruction that surrounded us; but through it all we had remained brothers.  We established a brotherhood of five men who had been constant for almost half a century.

I looked up at Brandenburg for a moment and then turned to look at the four men standing around me.  I was looking at four old men, but the pictures in my mind were of the four young, handsome soldiers in field grey uniforms that I first met all those years ago.

I was standing next to my lover and life partner of 47 years.  Wolfy and I still lived in the house in Villa General Belgrano that had been built by the five of us; and ten sailors from the Graf Spee.  We’d had several family members share our home with us over the years, from our brothers to their children, to their children, but we had the place to ourselves now.  We always welcomed guests into our home, but in the last few years it had been kind of nice to be two again.  We had opened a small restaurant on my 36th birthday in 1944, and now having just turned 81 several weeks ago, it was hard to imagine the changes that had taken place.  We still had the restaurant, but we had built a 15-room bed and breakfast in the summer of 1971.  When we had moved to the villa, we had never dreamt it would become such a huge tourist destination.  It took us eight months to build that place, but in the time since it had always remained a favorite spot to the many people who came to our little piece of Germany in South America.  Wolfy and I had both gone into semi-retirement two years ago, and left the daily running of the place to Peter’s first son, Manfred; and his wife and two beautiful daughters.

My still best friend, and morning coffee buddy, Peter, and his wife Greta have enjoyed forty-six years together as man and wife.  They had their second child, a daughter, Cathrin, fourteen months after their son Manfred was born.  They now have five grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren; with a sixth grandchild on the way.  I’ve never met a more proud grandpa, or a great grandpa that had managed a high-five with me 20 cm off the ground at the birth of his first great-grandson.  Peter and Greta had finally purchased their little general store in 1950, and had gone to great lengths to keep it in its original form.  You can still walk in that store today and feel like you’ve stepped back in time to the 1940’s.  We still have our morning coffee there about three times a week when I go into town to check on the restaurant.  The rest of the time he stops at the house and shares a cup of his favorite Diesel brew with me while Wolfy sleeps.  Greta and Cathrin run the day to day operations of the store, and are there now.  Greta told Peter that it should be just the five of us to come to Berlin on this occasion, and she and Cathrin would keep the home fires burning.

Our sweetest and kindest brother, Alex, was the only one of us to experience a death in his life.  His lover and life partner of thirty five years, Kaleb, died of lung cancer ten years ago.  Alex moved back in with Wolfy and me for a year while he grieved, but his brothers and extended family had all rallied around him and got him back on his feet.  He moved back into the little house he shared with Kaleb, and five years ago married for the first time in his life.  Alex and Kaleb had become our little village’s two of four police officers in 1961, and one day while making a traffic stop, he met his future wife.  Beatrice is a fifty-three year old, beautiful Argentinean woman from Cordoba who had the good fortune to be pulled over by the town’s most eligible bachelor for speeding.  They started dating about a week after the traffic stop, and eight months later married at our family home.  It seemed our family home had become the place to marry; every marriage in the family had taken place there over the years.  Alex retired as chief of police last year and went on his third sea voyage with his beautiful wife for a two week cruise to the Bahamas.  Kaleb had spent ten years trying to get him on a ship, and finally managed it in the summer of 1955, when they made their voyage to America for a three week vacation.  Alex was sure to return with an autographed picture of Marlene Dietrich for Wolfy after seeing her perform in Las Vegas.  Wolfy has that picture hanging in our bedroom.

Our youngest brother, Jan, finally came to his senses and married Amelie in the spring of 1949.  They still lived with Wolfy and me until 1952, when they built a house about a block from their pub.  The little pub is still the local favorite, but has grown to twice its original size over the years.  They had their first of four children in the fall of 1953, a son given the name of Wilhelm Dieter Richter; Wolfy and I were overwhelmed at the honor.  And as you can imagine, little Willy, is the house favorite; though we all still carry a special place in our hearts for our first nephew, Manfred.  Jan and Amelie had two more sons and a daughter over the next six years, and their first grandchild arrived three years ago.  It’s still hard for me to imagine Jan as a grandpa, but he’s a wonderful one.  He’s still a kid at heart, and you can find him having tea parties with his granddaughter several times a week.  I even caught him with a dolly in his arms a couple of times the last few months, holding the little plastic bottle to her mouth while his granddaughter told him he was doing it wrong.

<><><> 

Peter looked over at me and smiled.  “I was standing in this very spot once in ’39 when Hitler was driving through those two middle pillars in his Mercedes.  The crowds just went wild when they spotted that car.  Little did we know….”

“No doubt.  I saw him once in ’41 when I was at the Chancellery; he was walking down the hall with Himmler, on their way to Himmler’s office.  Everyone snapped to attention as they walked by but he didn’t even acknowledge any of us.  I remember I wanted to walk up to him and rip that stupid mustache off his lip.”

They all laughed.  Alex turns to me.  “Did you ever go to one of the rallies in Nürnberg?”

“No.”

“It was a trip.  I went to four of them while I was in the Youth, and I was always amazed at the number of people at them.  I’d never been surrounded by that many bodies in my life, and all of them just went wild when he’d walk up to the podium.  It was kind of funny actually; he’d just stand there, looking at us, waiting for everyone to shut up before he uttered a word.  And even then, once he’d completed his first sentence the crowds would go wild again.  It was so loud you couldn’t even hear your own voice.”

“I can imagine.  Even though he turned out to be so evil, I’ve always been amazed at his ability to capture an audience.  I think that’s what blinded all of us so much; he was always a great orator.  He told us all what we wanted to hear and we followed blindly.”

“Yes we did.  And look what it cost us?  We’re standing here, a few meters away from a cement wall that has been standing for more than 30 years, dividing us.  It’s taken forty-four years to repair was what was destroyed in just thirteen.”

I looked over at Jan, who was just looking at the Gate, lost in his thoughts.  “Jan?  Are you OK?”

He turned to look at me, grinning.  “Yeah, Willy, I’m fine; just thinking.  This is only the second time I’ve seen this thing.  The first time was the day before we all met.  I arrived in Berlin that morning on the train and just went exploring.  I stood here and looked up at the horses on the top, and the big red swastika flag draped below it, and was just in awe.  I guess I still am.  It still seems kind of weird to be back in Germany, I guess; it’s been so long.”

I smiled at him.  “Yes it has.  I always thought that since your Grandfather had been so high-ranking that you’d been here several times.”

“He never brought me with him when he’d come here.  He’d leave Stuttgart and tell me to take care of my mother and sister, and be a good little man.  I always wanted to knee him in the balls when he called me that.”  He chuckled.  “I’d just give him a fake smile and nod my head.  He’d shake my hand and do an about face and walk out; the cold-hearted fuck.”

Wolfy laughed.  “This from the man who was going to sic Grandpa on us.”

Jan laughed.  “Blow me, old man.  It was a different time; a different place.  He’s the one that had started telling me when I was only five that you funny fellas were all the scourge of the earth.  He even ranked you higher on the list than the Jews.  I’ve learned a lot since then.”

Wolfy smirked.  “That’s no lie; you became a true cocksman, with a little help from your brothers.”

Jan gave him a silly grin.  “Maybe; but I retired a long time ago.”  He turns to me.  “Do you think that apartment building we first talked in would still be here?”

“I doubt it, but we can walk over and look.  If it wasn’t destroyed in the war, the Ruskies might have torn it down.  Let’s go find out.”

We took a last look at the Gate and turned to walk over to Lehrter Bahnhof, just short of a kilometer away.  We strolled along, looking around at everything, our memories of what it used to look like conflicting with what we saw now.  There were still building shells along the way; places that had never been fixed after the war.  It took us close to a half-hour to reach the site.  We were in no hurry, and had stopped several times to look at something.  We arrived at what was once the station we’d departed from only to find that it was gone, and had been replaced a few meters away with Lehrter Stadtbahnhof.  We stopped and stared at it, wondering what the hell had happened to Lehrter Bahnhof.  We decided it must have been taken out in the war, and just turned and walked down the street that the apartment had been on.  Our memories of the exact location were all a little fuzzy; we’d only been in that apartment for about an hour total.  Jan stopped and looked across the street, and then walked over to what he was looking at.

“This is it!  This is the apartment building that the Gestapo guy met us in front of when we got back from dinner.”

Wolfy looked at him and scowled.  “I don’t remember crossing the street to get to the train.”

“We didn’t have to; it was the other station, on this side of the road.  This is it; I’m telling you.”

Wolfy walked past him and opened the front door to the building and looked at the stairs.  He started walking up, the rest of us behind him, and stopped at the third floor landing, looking around.

“I’ll be damned…  He’s right; this is the right place.  I can’t believe it’s still here; and it doesn’t even look that much different to me.  I wonder if anyone lives in that apartment.”  He pointed to the door across from us.

“Knock and find out.”  Jan shook his head, grinning.

“You can’t just knock on someone’s door and ask them to look inside.”

“Why not?”  He walked over and knocked on the door.

“You goof; what are we supposed to say?”

“Follow my lead; I’ll get us in.”  Wolfy rolled his eyes.

Jan knocked again but there still wasn’t anyone answering.  We stood there like idiots for about two or three minutes before he finally gave up.  Peter and I turned to head back down the stairs when I heard a door open.  We stopped and looked back up, finding a lady of about 70 standing in the doorway, looking at Jan and Wolfy like they were about to sell her something.

“What are you selling?”

Jan gave her one of his best smiles.  “We’re sorry to disturb you, Fraü, but we’re not selling anything.  We were in this flat once during the war; we were just curious if it still stood.”

“You were soldiers?”

“Yes, Fraü.  The five of us met in this flat in 1942 before boarding a train.”

“You weren’t SS, were you?”

“No, Fraü; we were just soldiers.”  The little liar.

“I moved here in ’51; I don’t know who lived here before me.  The back of the building was damaged by bombs or something, but they restored it sometime in ’66.”

“I’m glad they got it fixed for you.  I don’t suppose you’d let us come in and look around?”

“No.  I’m not letting five strange men in my home.  You’ve seen the building; you can all leave now.”  She closed the door.

“Old bitch.”  Jan said under his breath and then smirked.

Wolfy turned to him.  “Who the hell are you calling old; you old fart?”

Jan looked at him, grinning.  “You; you geezer thug.  Let’s get out of here.”

When we all got back outside, we walked back across the street and looked over at the building.  It was starting to come back to me a little.  I turned left and started walking down the street; the others were falling in behind me.  I kept walking for about eight blocks before I stopped and stared at the empty ground in front of me.  I turned to them.

“This was the restaurant we ate at; where that tired woman waited on us.”

Peter laughed.  “Some restaurant you took us to; it’s nothing but an empty lot with a bunch of rubble.”

I lauged.  “Talk to Wolfy; he picked it out.”

“Hey, there was a building here when I saw it the first time.  Find your own damn restaurant next time.”

“I did; we own it.  Do you remember what we ate here?”

“Yes; I had pork sauerbraten and three sausages, all washed down with dishwater that was being passed off as coffee.  I don’t pay attention to what others eat; you’re on your own.”

Jan laughed.  “Yeah, I remember that woman looking at you like a pig when you told her you wanted three sausages with your dinner.”

“Hey, I was a growing boy back then.  And shut up.”

We all lauged.  I’d kept the weight off him as much as I could, but he was a little bigger now; probably about 10 kilos heavier.

Alex chuckled and looked at me.  “I remember asking you if I could have a beer, and you told me not this close to Himmler’s office.”

“I should’ve let you have the damn beer; Wolfy’s right, the coffee sucked.”

“Yeah, I vaguely remember it; it did taste something like dirty dishwater.  So what do we do now; go back to the hotel for a little while, and then do some more sightseeing?”

“Are you getting tired; old age catching up with you?”

“Well, no, but I was thinking of you, old men; you just turned 81.  I wouldn’t want to have to carry you back.”

“Blow me; I can keep up with you any day of the week.  Let’s go see some more; then we can stop and have lunch at a real restaurant.  I also wanted to ask you guys about maybe hiring a car and driving down to Drausendorf.”

Alex smiled.  “Hey, yeah; it would be a real trip to see it again.  Maybe the bakery is still open, Wolfy.”  He grinned at Wolfy.

“I could still take Gertrud from you if I wanted to.”  He turned to me.  “Let’s do it.  I’ve been thinking about it, too; that’s where this all started; we should go see it.”

“Peter?  Jan?”

Peter smiled.  “Sure, why not?”

“Hell, yes; I want to see if the farm is still there.  Maybe it has nicer people living in it than that old bitch, and we can go inside and look around?”

“OK.  We’ll get a car tomorrow and head south.”

Jan smirks.  “Are you sure you’re up to that kind of long trip, old man?”

“Kiss my ass, boy.  I can get my walker and cane in the damn thing and then scare the hell out of you on the autobahn.”  I grinned at him.

“Yeah, yeah, grandpa; I’ve ridden with you, it'll take us days to get there.”

“Who are you calling 'grandpa', Grandpa?”

Jan smiled.  “And damn proud of it!”

I smiled at him.  “Me, too.  Let’s go; I’m getting hungry.”

We spent most of the day just walking around Berlin; sometimes catching an S-Bahn train when we remembered something we forgot to see on the other side of town.  We stopped for lunch at 1230 and had a great meal, though at twice the price we would’ve charged at our own restaurant.  We spent about thirty minutes standing in front of the old Reich’s Chancellery site, just remembering the horror that had come from it, and also talking about the day we came down the steps to the waiting truck.  We were all getting tired by around 1800 so we stopped and had dinner, and then returned to our hotel rooms.  Wolfy and I had a room together, as did Jan and Alex; Peter got a room to himself.  The rooms were all next to each other along the corridor, but once we bid each other goodnight, after dinner, we didn’t see the others until breakfast the next morning.

It was a little after 2130 and I had a hot bath, trying to get my legs to relax a little.  I hadn’t walked around this much in years, and my legs and feet were letting me know about it.  I still had the scar from my shoulder wound, but it only ever bothered me when it got really cold outside; it was a good thing we lived in a fairly mild climate.  Once I was done with my bath, I jumped into bed while Wolfy took his.  I was half-asleep when he crawled into bed next to me.

“Hey, sexy, want to fool around?”

I smirked and grinned.  “Not tonight, dear; I have a foot ache.”

He laughed.  “Isn’t that supposed to be headache?”

“I’d trade for one.”

“Are your feet really bothering you?”

“Not enough to keep me from sleeping, but yeah; they’re a little sore.  I’m actually waiting for my calf muscles to cramp sometime in the middle of the night.”

“That’s always an eye opener.  Would you like a massage?”

“No thanks, bärchen.  I’ll be OK by morning; I’m just not used to walking so much anymore.”

“I know what you mean.  I’m really glad we decided to do this, though; it’s been nice being back home.  I never lived in Berlin, but you know what I mean.”

I smiled.  “I do, baby.  I’ve never lived here either; but this is our home country.  I’m glad we came, too.  I can’t believe how different most of it looks.  There are places that haven’t changed at all, but most of it is so different from what I remember.  It’s almost like I’m looking at black and white photos in my head.”

“We’re still going back home in three days?”

“Yes.  It costs too damn much to change the flight anyway.  Well, actually our flight leaves at night the day after tomorrow.  I guess because of all the time changes from here to there; we’re leaving here at 2230.”

“OK.  I wonder if Peter remembered to call Greta and tell her we made it?”

“I’m sure he did; he never forgets to call home.”

We’re both lying on our backs, staring up at the ceiling.  Wolfy rolls over onto his side and brought his hand onto my stomach and started moving his fingers around.

“You’re sure I can’t talk you into playing?”

I smiled.  “You can play all you want; I just don’t guarantee I’ll stay awake for it.”

He smirked.  “I’ve never had trouble keeping you up before.”

“Well, no, that’s true enough.”  I turned my head and kissed him.  “If you really want to play, I’ll play with you.”  I smiled at him.

“Nah, I’m doing fine just like this; I was just talking.  I still love the feel of your body under my hands.”

“That’s good to know; I still love yours, too.”

“You promised me once you’d tell me that when we’re 90; do you think we’ll make it?”

“I sure hope so; I’m not ready to go just yet.  We have a whole new generation of nephews and nieces to teach about life.  And I’ll never be ready to say goodbye to you.”

“Me, either.  The last 47 years with you have been better than anything I could’ve ever imagined, liebe.  We all seemed so young back then; it’s hard to believe we’re right back where it all started.”

“Yes it is.  I never would’ve believed on that night I met you that I’d fall in love with you and never stop.  I’m greedy, I want another 47 years with you.”

He smirked.  “If you can figure out how to make it happen; I’ll be here.”

I turned on my side, facing him, bringing my hand up to his smooth face.  “I wouldn’t trade a moment of our time together for anything.  I love you with everything I posses, bärchen.”

He smiled.  “I love you; always and forever.”

He leaned his head in and kissed me again, holding it for about 10 seconds.  We were not quite as passionate as we used to be, but he still knew how to make me melt.  And our sex life has waned over the years, but we’re still good for at least once a week, though mostly just oral now.  Having that fat cock of his in my ass anymore is just a little too much.  And we’re still as spontaneous as we can be.  I told him several years ago that we would never have just a night; like some couples we knew that did it every Saturday night, or something, just because the day had arrived.  I pulled my head back a few centimeters after his kiss and looked at him, smiling.

“Damn, boy; you’re trying to get me going, huh?”

He smiled.  “I just like knowing that I can.”  He reached down and grabbed my cock, finding it starting to fill a little.  He grinned at me.  “Yep; I still got it.”

I smirked and laughed.  “You’ll always have it, baby.  Nobody has ever turned me on like you do.”

“Even Jan?”

I smiled again.  “Even Jan.  He’s cute, young and packing, but he doesn’t have my heart and soul; you’re the only one in possession of those.”

He grinned.  “I’m in possession of something else right now, too.”

I laughed.  “Smart ass.  Do with him what you will; he’s always been yours anyway.”

He smiled.  “I know…”  He let go of me and grinned.  “I’m too tired to make him really happy, though; I’ll be good.”

“Cock tease.”

“And you’re not?  I long ago lost track of the number of times you’ve made me hard and just left me hanging.”

“Yeah, but I always make it up to you.”

He smiled.  “That’s true.  I’ll make it up to you, baby; but I’m going to go to sleep now.  That walking around all day wore my ass out.”

“You and me, both.  Sweet dreams, bärchen.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Sweaty dreams, stud.”

I leaned forward and kissed him, and then rolled over onto my other side, so he could spoon up behind me.  We'd been sleeping in this position since the first night we slept together; there was no reason to change it then.  I heard him start to snore before I even got comfortable.  I smiled to myself and closed my eyes; falling asleep before I knew it.

29 November, 1989 – 0530

I heard someone rapping on the damn door and looked at my watch.  Jesus! It was only 0530.  I pulled away from my sleeping, drooling little bear and walked to the door, throwing my robe on.  I opened the door and saw a smiling and wide awake Jan and Alex standing in the corridor.  I scowled at them and they laughed.

“What the hell are you doing banging on our door so freakin’ early?”

Jan laughed.  “Freakin’?  Grow some fucking balls and cuss like a real man.  Where’s your other half; still sleeping?”

“Duh.  Most people are.  Why are you two so awake?”

Alex answered for them.  “We passed out a little after eight; we’ve been up since 0430.  We got bored so we thought we’d come hang out with you guys.”

I laughed.  “That’s funny; the two youngest ones are the first to pass out.  Fuckin’ light weights.”

“Keep talking, old dude; we had four beers to your old-dude-one.”

“Blow me, boy.  You still passed out before we did; we made it to a little before ten.”

“Good, it’s time to get your lazy asses up; you’ve had 7-1/2 hours.  Let’s get Peter up and go rent a car; I want to get on the road.”

“Fine.  You two go rent a car and we’ll get up.  You know damn well Wolfy’s not leaving this hotel without breakfast, right?”

“Yeah, we know.  What should we get that five old men would be comfortable in?”

“I don’t know; something with a wheelchair ramp.  Just pick something.”

“You’re still a fucking grouch when you wake up.  Go jump in the shower and drag that tired ass man of yours in there with you.”

“Yeah, yeah; go find a car.  Maybe a small van or wagon would be best; more room to stretch out.”

“OK, Boss; we’re on it.”

I smiled.  Alex hadn’t called me 'boss' in forty years.  “Thank you.  And good morning to you both.”

They both grinned.  Jan answered for them.  “Good morning to you, too, Willy.  We’ll be back in a minute.”

They both turned and walked down the hall to the elevator.  I closed the door and walked back over to the bed, really wanting to climb back in.  I looked down at Wolfy; he was looking up at me, grinning.

“I heard.  Hell, who didn’t?  How’re your legs and feet?”

“Better.  I was just happy my calves didn’t cramp in the night; I hate that.  I’m going to go take a piss.  Would you get some coffee going, please?”

He smiled.  “Yes, Boss.”

I smiled big in return.  “You heard that, too.  You should’ve seen the smile it put on my face.”

“I’m seeing it now.  Good morning, baby.”

“Good morning.”

I turned and headed to the bathroom while Wolfy got some coffee started.  I’m going to have to call Peter and tell him the coffee’s on.  Wolfy and I both get dressed and I picked up the phone to call two rooms down.  It rang four times before he picked up.

“What?”

“Grouch.  Get up; I have coffee ready.”

“Good.  Those two morons were already here banging on my door.  I’ll be there in a few.”  Click.

I turned to Wolfy, grinning.  “Peter’s not a happy camper this morning.”

“Maybe those two hit his room first.”

“I think they did; he said two morons were banging on his door.”

Wolfy laughed.  “He’ll cheer up; I made his special number 2 Diesel blend.  Did I hear them say they were going down to rent a car?”

“Yes.  I told them something with a wheelchair ramp.”

He busted up laughing.  “God! You are a grouch when you first wake up.”

“Only when it’s before 0630.  I wonder if we’ll make it back here tonight, or find somewhere to stay overnight down there?”

“We still wouldn’t have to check-out, would we?”

“Well, no; but I was thinking of taking an overnight bag with some necessities in it.”

“Oh.  Maybe we should, just in case.”

[Bang, bang, bang.]  I grabbed the cup of coffee I'd been fixing and walked to the door with it, holding it up as I answer the door.  I handed it to him before he even got a word out.  He scowled at me and I grinned, while he took the offered cup.

“Come in; we don’t have enough for the neighbors.”

“Fuck the neighbors.”

“Maybe later.  Good morning, Peter.”

“Yeah.”

I closed the door behind him and follow him into the room.  I’ve known my best friend long enough and well enough to realize that further conversation is pointless until he’s half-way through his second cup.  I sat on the bed next to Wolfy and we just looked around the room.  Peter finished his first cup and filled the next one.  He turned to look at us.

“Morning.”

We smiled and nodded.  He rolled his eyes and started drinking the second one.  He must have been in a particularly foul mood that day; he finished the second one without another word.  After he’d poured the third, he turned to look at us again.

“Why do they put such small coffee makers in hotel rooms?”

“We don’t.”

“You don’t put any, wise ass.”

“Sorry.  We’ll add coffee makers to all the rooms when we get back.”

“Good.  I might actually stay in one of them.”

“We’d be honored.”

“Yeah.”  Wolfy smirked.  “Laugh it up, dough boy.”

Wolfy and I laughed.  I looked up at Peter, grinning.  “Wake up on the wrong side, today?”

“Woke up to those two morons banging on my door.  Why are they up so early?”

“You’ll like this.  They both passed out at a little after eight last night; they woke up at 0430 and didn’t know what else to do.”

“I miss the old days when they would’ve found something to do with each other.  So the two light weights passed out, huh?”

“Yep.  Four beers and they’re out cold.  You would think the owner of a pub would have a higher tolerance.”

“Eh, they’ve always been light weights.”

Wolfy smirked again.  “Says the man who drinks wine because beer knocks him on his ass.”

“What’d I tell you, dough boy?”  He grinned.

“I got your dough boy hanging, old man.”

Peter laughed.  “I got your old man hanging, dough boy.”  We all laughed.  “That still doesn’t explain why they decided to bang on my fucking door.  Did they hit yours, too?”

“Yes, that’s how we know what happened.  Have another cup, Peter.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

He drank half of his third cup and looked over at Wolfy.

“Did you know this place has the same kind of coffee I have at home?”

Wolfy grinned.  “Only when you’re here; Greta sent it with me for you.”

He smiled.  “God, I love that woman.”  He grinned at Wolfy.  “I’ll be sure and show her just how much when I get home.  So where are those two Neanderthals now?  They just go around waking people up and then go back to bed?”

“No, they’re down renting a car for us to drive to Drausendorf.”

“You let those two rent a car?  We’ll end up with a damn 2-seater Porsche.”

Wolfy laughs.  “Willy told them to get something with a wheelchair ramp.”

Peter laughed.  “I don’t think we’re ready for that yet.  Some kind of MPV would probably be a good idea though.”

“That’s what I told them to get, if they could.  I wanted something with enough room for the five us to stretch out a little.  If they show up with an Escort, I’ll send them back to Argentina in it.”

Peter chuckled and looked back at Wolfy.  “Do you have more of that coffee my beautiful wife sent?”

“Yes.  Would you like me to make you another pot of coffee?”

“Please.  I wonder why she just didn’t send it with me?”

“I’m guessing because she knows you, and wanted it to last more than a day.  She only sent a little over half a kilo.”

“That’s it?”

Wolfy smirked again.  “That’s more than enough for one normal man to drink in four days.”

“Oh, you two aren’t having any of it?”

“We had one cup each.”

“You’re welcome to more.  Christ, you make me sound like an ogre.”

“Only with your coffee.  Hand me the pot and I’ll go get some more water.”

Peter was in a good mood and had finished his fifth cup of coffee when the boys returned from their car rental adventure.  Yes, they are 68 and 70 years old, but they will always be the boys to Peter and me.  We got in the elevator and headed downstairs to have breakfast.  Once we were seated and Peter had number six on route, he turned to Alex.

“Please tell me you didn’t rent a goddamned Porsche.”

Jan laughed.  Alex just grinned.  “We did, but we got a VW Polo for you three.”

“Very funny; what did you really get?”

“A Transit mini-bus; it has three rows of seats in it.  We asked, but they didn’t have one with a ramp.”

“Good job.  When do you want to leave?”

“As soon as we’re done feeding the Wolfy.”

“Blow me.”

Jan grinned.  “Whip it out.”

Wolfy smiled.  “That’s OK; you probably lost all your talent, anyway.”

“You never know.”  He grinned again.

“Really?  Did you and Alex find something to do this morning before you woke us up?”

“No…  I’m just saying, some things you don’t forget.”

“That’s OK; I’ll pass.  Besides, Amelie scares me sometimes; I don’t want to be messing with her man.”

“You’re right, she scares me, too; you’re on your own.”

I looked over at Peter.  “Do you think we’ll be back tonight, or do you want to find a place to stay the night down there?”

“I looked on the map last night; it’s only about 3-1/2 hours to get there; without any stops.  We should be able to do this whole thing in a day; don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I guess we should.  Wolfy and I were talking earlier, that maybe we should take an overnight bag; just in case.  I guess I was remembering the overnight train ride to get there.  I guess things move a little faster now.”

“God, I hope so.  I could’ve run faster than that stupid train.”

I started laughing, and the others just looked at me like I was on the first stage of senility.  I pulled myself together and looked at Peter.

“I have to ask.  I haven’t thought of this in forever, but you just reminded me when you mentioned the train.  When you came to wake me up to tell me we’d arrived and saw Jan asleep on my shoulder, you got a weird look on your face.  Do you remember what you were thinking?”

Peter grinned.  “Nothing like what turned out to be later.  I was just thinking it was really inappropriate for him to be doing that.  You’re not supposed to fall asleep on your commanding officer.  Seeing the image in my head now, it was kind of cute; but I was kind of shocked back then.  I vaguely remember looking at you like, what the fuck?”

Jan and I laughed.  “Yeah, I almost laughed when I saw the look on your face.  Oh, and poor Jan, when I woke him up.  He looked terrified, like he was about to shit himself.”  I laughed again at the memory.

“Hey, I told you I was always nervous around officers; it scared the shit out of me to find myself asleep on one.”

“Yeah, I bet.  Oh, hell…  Such memories.”  I smiled at all of them.

We spent a little under an hour feeding the Wolfy, and we were on the road at 0715.  I had wanted to get an early start, but it was just a little too early.  I hadn’t expected to be awakened at 0530 by two bored men.  We made good time, only stopping twice for piss breaks.  I remember not doing that once on that train ride; and countless rides since then.  There’s nothing like getting older. 

As we got closer to the village the memories started flooding back into my head.  So many things came racing in; so many images of a time long ago.  Alex was driving and I told him that when we reached town I’d like for him to just pull up in front of the telegraph office if it was still there.  I wanted to start my journey there from the beginning.  We got off the main road and turned onto the little two-lane road that lead into the village.  Alex stopped the van at what he remembered to be the telegraph office.  It wasn’t there.  There was nothing more than a big silver box on the ground that looked like it was a switch box for the rails; but there were still only one set of rails.  He shut the motor off and we all got out and looked around, stretching our legs and bodies.  It reminded me of our rides in the backs of small delivery trucks during our escape.

We all stood there and looked over at the trees on the other side of the tracks.  Those trees were our first and last memory of this place.  They were bigger now, but they looked the same to me.  I guess trees don’t really change that much.  I had memories soaring through my head, like movies playing, and I just stood there in silence, looking at the trees.  The frame stopped and I saw five beautiful, proud men standing in this very spot in their smart field-grey uniforms.  We all looked so young.  I wiped my eyes and turned to look at the five beautiful men who were standing with me.  I still saw the same faces, the same proud bearing.  I turned back towards the trees and started walking over to them, my men stepping in behind me; just like always.  We walked around the trees for a few meters on each side, just looking around.  We’d never left anything there, but I was still looking around on the ground for something, some reminder, some memory.  The only memory that came was of the five of us squatting in here while we waited to leave.  I turned around and looked back at the tracks.

“Let’s leave the car here; we’ll walk into town.”

No response; we just started walking.  Alex stopped and locked the doors on the van, and stepped in beside us.  We’d walked about a hundred meters when I stopped and looked to my left and right.  I laughed.

“My God.  We still walk like an invasion force.”

They all chuckled and started walking again, trying to split up a little.  I started moving again and caught up with Jan, stepping in beside him.  We made the next 500 meters in silence, coming to the edge of town.  It hadn't been that close before.  Things had changed.  Not a lot, but they had changed.  There were more buildings; newer ones as well.  We kept walking, finding our way to the town center and stopped in front of Herr Reinhard’s store.  We all looked up at the sign in front.  It was a tractor supply store, with a pictogram of a big red tractor on the sign.  I wanted to see inside, so I opened the door and went in.  The smell hit me first; it was the same damn smell I remembered from all those years ago.  It was the smell of hard wood, polish and lacquer.  It wasn’t as strong as it had been then; the old man must’ve spent every day polishing things.  I walked over to the counter.  It was in a different place, but it was the same counter.  The man behind it smiled at me.

“Can I help you with something?”

I returned his smile.  “Thank you, no.  We’re just re-visiting this place.  We were here a long time ago and wanted to see it again.  How long have you owned this store?”

“We moved in here five years ago.  It was a food market until about 10 years ago; then it sat empty.  I’m guessing you knew the original owner?”

“Yes, Herr Reinhard; he was the proprietor when we were last here.”

“I remember hearing the name.  I think he died in about 1953.  The store was purchased from his estate a year later.  The couple that bought it kept it as a general store until ten years ago.  I still haven’t managed to get the smell of polish out of here.”

I smiled.  “That was the first memory that struck me when I walked in.  Herr Reinhard was a very fussy man; he kept everything in perfect order.”

“Well the couple that bought it must have been just like him.  I never got to meet them; they died about a year after they moved away from here.  I heard they ran off the road one night and were killed.”

“Do you know their names, by chance?”

“I’m sorry, no.  I think the bank owned this place when it was bought by the tractor supply company.”

“How long have you lived here in the village?”

“Five years.  I transferred here when the company opened this store.”

I stuck my hand out to him.  “It was nice meeting you.  We’re going to continue our little tour of the town; maybe we’ll see you again.”

He shook my hand, smiling.  “Pleasure.  Welcome back, I guess.”

“Thank you.”

We broke the hand-shake and the five us all turned and went back outside.  Wolfy turned right.  I knew where he was headed.  We followed him to the bakery which was then a combination bakery and little café.  Wolfy went in, with us trailing behind him as he walked up to the counter and stopped.  I looked at him and I saw the 25-year-old version of him doing the exact same thing.  It was almost haunting in its familiarity.  The young woman at the register walked over to him, smiling.

“May I help you?”

Wolfy threw one of his patented bakery smiles at her.  “Sure.  I’ll take one of everything in the case.”

She laughed.  “Are you sure?”

“I never joke about baked goods.”  He smiled again.

“Yes, Sir.” 

She smiled and grabbed a plastic bag and began to load it up.  The four of us were grinning from ear to ear; this was the Wolfy we all knew and loved.  I almost wanted Alex to walk up and tell her the same thing.  The young lady got his order together and rang it up on the register.  The total came to 38 DM and I about pass out.  I remember his first order here came to little over two Reichsmarks.  He pulled his wallet out and handed her two twenties; telling her to keep the change.  Less tip than he gave Gertrud, but with inflation I guess she did OK.  He took the bag from her and smiled again.

“Would you by chance know a woman named Gertrud who used to work here?”

The girl smiled.  “I know someone who does.  Please wait here a minute; I’ll go get her.”

She was back in about a minute, escorted by a woman about forty, with blond hair and a beautiful smile.  There was something oddly familiar about her, but she was way too young to be Gertrud.  She stopped in front of Wolfy, smiling at him.

“Yes, Sir?  You know my mother?”

Wolfy grinned from ear to ear.  “I did.  She was the most beautiful girl in town.  I knew you were her daughter as soon as you walked out here.”

She blushed a little.  “Thank you.  I’m Liesel, and you’re…?”

Wolfy stuck his hand over to shake hands with her.  “She would know me as Wolfy; it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The woman smiles broadly.  “You’re Wolfy?”

“I am.”

“My God!  My mother’s told me about you.”  She looked at the four of us and smiled bigger.  “And them, too; so many times.  I can’t believe you’re standing here!”

Wolfy was still smiling.  “In the flesh.  We’re here for a little visit.  I wanted to see if your mother’s bakery was still here.  I’m glad it is.”  He held his bag up and she laughed.

“Oh my God; she was right!  You do buy everything in the store!  Please, all of you, let’s go out back and talk.  I have so many questions, and so many things to tell you.  Please, come with me.”

We all followed her around the counter and walked out the back door, into a really nice patio that had been set up out here.  She took a seat in one of the chairs, looking at the five of us and smiling.

“Please, have a seat.  Would you like something to drink?”

“No thank you; we’re fine.  We’ve been drinking all morning in the car; we’re tired of going to the bathroom.”  We all sat down around her on the plastic lawn chairs.

She laughed.  “I hear that.  Oh, my God…  This is simply incredible!  You do know that you’re all supposed to be dead, right?”

We laughed.  Wolfy answered.  “Getting older maybe, but not dead yet.”

She laughed.  “No no.  My mother told me that you five were captured and killed in the fall of ’42.  Everyone here thought you were dead.  My God…  I can’t believe you’re sitting here with me.  My mother will never believe this.”

“Gertrud is well?”

“Oh, yes; she’s wonderful.  She lives in Scotland now, with her second husband.  My father died 10 years ago, and she finally met a nice man and re-married.  She left the store to me and moved to Scotland with him about six years ago.”

“I’m so glad for her.  We all loved her very much.  Who’s your father?”

“You wouldn’t know him; he wasn’t from here.  He came here about 2 years after the war.  His name is Gerold Albrecht; he was originally from Potsdam.  He moved here after the war.  He was a soldier; a Heer (army) soldier; not SS, like you guys.”

“So your last name is Albrecht?”

“It was.  I’ve married and divorced since then.  I kept my husband’s last name for my daughter; that’s her inside.  So introduce me to everyone, Wolfy.  I’ll see if I can tie my mother’s version into what’s sitting in front of me.”

Wolfy smiled and turned to me.  “This is Willy; or Wilhelm Becker, our commanding officer.”

I reached over to take her hand, smiling.  “Liesel, it’s a great pleasure.”

“The honor is mine.  So you’re the commander, huh?  Mother always said you were kind of quiet; just standing back and watching this one buying baked goods.”

I chuckled.  “I had that exact same memory not five minutes ago; watching him buying them from your daughter.”

“The man to his right is Peter.  Lieutenant Peter Schiller.”

“Peter, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Peter smiled.  “The honor is mine, Liesel.  I remember your mother well.  She was always so patient with Wolfy.”

Liesel laughed.  “She’s patient with any customer, but especially the strong handsome ones.”

“The grinning idiot to Willy’s left is Alex.  Corporal Alexander Hagen; or maybe she knew him as Hage.”

Liesel smiled broadly again.  “No, she knows him as Alexander; I’ve heard her say the name too many times to forget.  It is my great pleasure to meet you, Alexander.”

He still blushed after all these years.  “I’m honored Liesel.  I can’t believe your mother remembered me; she always had to fight the big one off so she could sell to other customers.”

Liesel laughs.  “She loved all the attention she got from both of you.  She has very fond memories of both of you; but you especially.  She said you were always so shy and blushing all the time.  I see what she meant.  She was captivated by you, Alex; she told me she thought you were the sweetest guy she’d ever met.”

He blushed again and she smiled at him.  “Thank you.”

“Hey, I’ve been told I’m sweet, too.”

Leisel laughed.  “You are.  Mother loved you, too.  She said you were always smiling and always cheerful.  She thought you had the greatest personality, and the strong, rugged look of a soldier.  She loved seeing you in your uniforms.  She told me she would’ve run off with either one of you; but neither of you ever even asked her out.”

Wolfy pointed to me.  “Blame him.  He told us after the first day we met her that we weren’t here to charm the ladies, and we were to remain professional.”

Liesel laughed.  “Well, I guess I can understand that; you were here to do a job.  That makes this last smiling man, Jan.”

He smiled bigger.  “Yes, it does.  It’s an honor to meet you, Liesel.”

“It’s my honor, Jan.  Mother says you were another one of the quiet, shy ones.  You let Wolfy and Alex do all the talking and all the buying, just standing back and looking at my mother, smiling.”

“It’s hard to get between Wolfy and anything with sugar in it.”

She laughed again.  “So I’ve heard.  I can see nothing’s changed.  What did you pick, Wolfy?”

“My usual order.”

She laughed.  “One of everything!  Outstanding.  Oh, gosh… It’s just so incredible to be here with you guys.  I would run in and call mother to let you talk to her, but she’s out in the middle of the Atlantic.  They’re on the QE2 sailing home from America at the moment.”

Alex responded.  “We’d love to talk to her, but yeah, it’s hard to talk to someone in the middle of the ocean.”

“Well, they do have a phone in their suite, but I don’t know how to reach them.  She’s called me twice, but I don’t know how to call her.  It’s too bad; she’d love to talk to all of you.  She would have so many questions; hell!  I have so many questions!”

I hadn’t thought of that.  What the hell do we tell her?  Do we tell her we turned tail and ran, or make up a story?  I hadn’t really expected to run into anyone we knew here; it’d never crossed my mind what we would say to someone.

“Would you mind answering some of ours, first?”

She smiled at me.  ‘Sure; fire away!”

I grined.  “Is there anyone left here that was here back then?”

“A few people.  I don’t know if you ever knew the Bauers, and maybe their son is too young to have been here then, but he’s still here.  His mother was the school principal back then, I believe.”

“I knew her.”  I laughed once.  “You don’t want to know the one memory of her that really stands out for me.”

“Oh, I have to know now; spill it.”

I grin.  “Oh, man…  This isn’t very nice.  I don’t know if you ever knew her, but she was a really large woman; and very blessed up top.  I was arresting a man one day in front of the school and she came running out of the door to see what the commotion was all about.  I remember standing there, holding my prisoner, and just being transfixed by the sight of her running.  The only thought in my head was it was like watching two soccer balls swaying back and forth in a potato sack strung from the flag pole.”

Liesel was about on the floor with laughter before I got it out.  “Oh, my God….!!  Oh, shit, that’s so funny.  Ooo, sorry; I didn’t mean to cuss.  Oh boy…”

We all laughed.  “Please, you’re talking to five men; five ex soldiers, we’ve heard a few bad words in our day.”

“OK, apology withdrawn.”

“What about what happened after we disappeared; did your mother ever tell you any details?”

“She said that you went missing on a Saturday, and by the following Tuesday everyone was wondering what the hell happened to you.  I guess Herr Reinhard sent a telegram to Berlin, telling them you hadn’t been seen in several days.  Mother says seven more SS soldiers arrived that Friday and started investigating.  They even stayed out at the farm while they did, but never could find you.  They were here for about three weeks, but then suddenly left.  Mother always thought they’d been called back to go to Russia.  Then about two months later a man from the Gestapo arrived and told Herr Reinhard that there would be no further investigations, and that included the sabotage that you guys were here about.  He told Herr Reinhard that they considered you all missing in action or killed.  He said the evidence they’d discovered all pointed to you being abducted and most likely shot in a field somewhere and carted off to parts unknown or buried in a creek or something.  I guess they found your car all shot up out in a field, and the house had been ransacked, so they stopped the investigation and disappeared.  Nobody ever heard another thing about it after the Gestapo guy left.”

“Did your mother ever say if she suspected anything different?”

“No.  She only said that everyone in town had been kind of stunned when you all just disappeared.  She said that she hoped they were wrong, that you were all right, but she just couldn’t figure out what had happened.  So what did happen?”

I turned and looked at my men in turn, and they all nodded, and I turned back to Liesel.  “I don’t know if you’ll think this a good thing or bad.  And honestly we never expected to run into anyone that would know us, so we never talked about what we’d say.  We owe you the truth though; we owe your mother that much.  We left.  We fled Germany and went south.  We set everything up to make it look like we’d been abducted by the bad guys and we spent two weeks getting out of Europe.  We talked about it one night about a week before we left.  We talked about the war and where it was heading.  We knew we’d all get sent to Russia within months, and we knew we’d probably die there.  We all took a vote and decided it was time to get out while we still could.  You can think of us as traitors or cowards if you want, but we found each other’s lives to be more important than doing the bidding of that psycho in Berlin.”

“I don’t think you’re cowards or traitors.  You were smart.  You got the hell out of here while you still could.  You’re right; you probably would’ve ended up dead in Russia; so many thousands upon thousands did.  Even though we were responsible to defend our country if called upon, we were also responsible to propagate our next generation.  Who does that if all the men are dead?  I’m proud to have met you, and I’m proud of you for getting the hell out of here.  Mother will be, too, I guarantee it.”

“Thank you, Liesel.  We did what we felt we had to do to protect each other.  We’d grown very close during the time we were here; we’d become a brotherhood unto ourselves, and we couldn’t bear the thought of any of us getting killed.  We were selfish and we left, but we have no regrets about it.”

“You’re all still living in the same place?”

“Yes.  We’ve been friends and brothers for the last 47 years; never living more than 300 meters from each other.”

“Oh, my God, that’s wonderful!”

I smiled.  “We think so, too.  We can’t imagine it any other way.  This is the first time we’ve set foot in Germany since October of ’42.  We came for the Berlin Wall thing.”

“Well, on behalf of my mother, daughter, and myself; welcome home.  I couldn’t be more pleased that you stopped here and I got to meet all of you.  So, you all have families and everything now?”

“We do.  We always thought of ourselves as a family, but it’s grown considerably in the last half-century.  Peter and Jan are married to the same women they fell in love with over forty years ago, and both have children and grandchildren; and a couple of great grandchildren, now.  Alex married a beautiful woman about five years ago, a woman who he pulled over for speeding.”  She laughed.  “And Wolfy and I have been together for 47 years now.”

She grinned.  “Oh, my God, that’s wonderful!!  So you two fell in love while you were here?”

“We did.  About two months after we got here; and we’ve been together ever since.”

She smiled.  “Awesome!  But wait a minute, why did Alex wait so long to get married?”  She turned to Alex, smiling.

“Um, I was living with my own gay lover for over thirty years.  I’m bisexual, and I just happened to fall in love with a man first.  We were together and madly in love with each other for 34 years before he died of lung cancer.  I stayed solo after that until I pulled Beatrice over for speeding.  She’s a lot like your mother, actually; just dark haired.  I started dating her and fell in love with her; we married after about eight months.”

“Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry about your lover; that’s awful to lose someone to that dreaded disease.  That’s how Father died; that damn smoking!”

“Yes, that’s what probably did it.  He smoked up until the last six months of his life.  I pleaded with him to quit, but he didn’t want to; said he already had cancer, why bother.  Willy was the smart one; he quit before we left here.  Peter quit when his first son was born and I quit about ten years before Kaleb was diagnosed.  Jan was the last hold-out; he quit after Kaleb’s diagnosis.  I can tell you from experience; it’s a painful, awful way to die.”

“I’m so sorry, Alex.  I know exactly what you mean though.  Mother and I watched him decline and suffer for a year before he finally passed.  It was heart-wrenching to watch Mother; she fought tooth and nail to keep him going.”

“I did, too; I couldn’t bear losing him.  I moved back in with Willy and Wolfy after he died; I was a basket case for eight months after I lost him.” 

He had to stop and wipe his eyes and sniffle.  Jan pulled him into him and rested his arm around him, while Liesel wiped her own eyes.

“Well, I’m very glad you found someone, Alex; you’re way too sweet and kind to be alone.  I hope you have many happy years with Beatrice.  So, the family has grown since you guys left here; that’s wonderful.  None of them have ever been to Germany?”

Peter answered.  “My son, Manfred, and his family came here about five years ago for a holiday; they wanted to see their homeland.  I think they’re the only ones who have come, though.  Willy?”

“As far as I know.  Did Cathrin ever come here?”

“No.  She went to Paris a couple of times, but she never came here.”

“I guess that covers our voyages to Germany.  We had all asked each other if we were going to return when the war ended, but we’d made new lives for ourselves, and Peter had just had his first child; we stayed where we were.”

“Peter, how many offspring do you have now?”

“I have a son and daughter, five grandchildren, two great grandchildren and a sixth grandchild on the way.”

“Wonderful.  Jan?”

He smiled.  “I have three sons, a daughter and my sweet little granddaughter, who’s now three.  Oh, and my first-born is named after these two thugs.”

She laughs.  “That’s terrific, Jan; I’m very happy for you.  Why do you call them thugs?”

We laughed.  “It’s a long-time running gag that Alex started with Wolfy; calling him a thug when he’d do something stupid.  We just kind of spread the love over to Willy after awhile.”

“That’s funny.  I can’t believe how connected you all seem; you’re like true brothers, biological ones.”

“We’ve spent over two thirds of our lives with each other; something was bound to rub off.”

“So, Willy, do they still think of you as their commander?”

I laughed.  “No, now I’m just the old man; or this morning I was up or downgraded to old dude, depending on how you look at it.  Nah, we never really had a command structure while we were here, anyway.  I’d never liked working with one, and I did away with it when we arrived here.  We even called each other by our first names when we were alone.  I mean they always knew they had to follow my orders, but I didn’t give very many; I had a great team.  I still do.”

“I hate to break it to you, but they still look to you.  I’ve watched every one of them turn to you before they give an answer.  Maybe you’re just Father now, instead of commander.”

I smiled.  “Maybe so.  I’ve never noticed; well at least in the last twenty odd years.  I know they used to do that.”  I turned and looked at them.  “Look what happened to you the last time you looked to me for the answers; stop doing that.”

Jan pipes up.  “Yeah, you gave us our lives; you’re a bad, bad man, Willy.”

Liesel laughed.  “Bad man!  Go to your room.  So, what else do you guys want to know?  I don’t have as many answers as Mother would, but she’s talked a lot about you guys, and about that time.”

Alex sat up from Jan.  “Did you ever hear of a guy named Gregor Haidenger?”

Liesel frowns a little.  My stomach drops.  “No, it doesn’t sound familiar; I don’t remember Mother ever mentioning him.  I’m sorry, Alex; was he a friend?”

Alex smiles.  “More.  We were together for a short time before we left.  I was just wondering what became of him.”

“I’m sorry; I don’t recognize the name.”

“That’s OK; it was a long, long time ago.”

“I do remember Mother mentioning something about a Haidenger that went missing one day around that time.  Nobody ever knew what happened to him.  Was Gregor related to him?”

“His son.”

“Oh.  I wonder why nobody ever mentioned him to me.  Maybe he left shortly after you guys did?”

“That could be; his best friend was actually from Poland.  Maybe he went over there to be with him.”

“That could very well be, Alex.  Any other names you can think of to ask about?”

“Sasha…  I can’t think of his last name.  He was 13 years old when we were here.  He and his best friend, Erich, used to spend a lot of time with us.  We always just called them Erich and Sasha, so I never got used to their last names.”

“The only Sasha I can think of is the one that’s now in Bonn.  He’s in the finance cabinet; at least he will be until next year when we go back to a democratic government.”

I laughed. “That has to be him.  He was always the money man for the two of them.  I hired them to work for us and he always made sure I paid as much as he could get out of me.”

She smiles.  “That’s probably him; he’s been the scourge of West Germany for the last several years.  He just keeps cutting program after program, and spending more and more on crap we don’t need.”

“That’s him!  He was a little shark when he was thirteen, I can only imagine what he’s like now.”

“Then that’s your man.  I don’t think he’s lived around here since he got out of school.  I remember mother telling me about him and Erich; and Erich’s death.  I’m sorry guys; mother told me how close you were to him.  I think his parent’s are still on the farm.  You might want to go check if you have the time.  Gosh, I think they’re in their 80’s now.”

I smirked.  “They’re not the only ones.  I turned 81 on 8 October.”

“Sorry about that.  I didn’t mean anything.”  She smiled.

I laughed.  “Don’t worry about it; I know I’m old.  These four tell me all the time.”

She smiled and looked at them.  “I hate to break it to you guys; but you’re not exactly spring chickens yourself.”

Jan laughed.  “Yeah, but we’re still younger than him.  We only say it with love; he knows we’re just teasing.  He’s had many titles over the years; old man is just the latest one.”  He turned to me.  “And old dude was an upgrade.  Just think, Willy; it's hip now to be a dude; even an old one.”

We all laughed.  I turned to Liesel.  “Is there anyone living at the farm we had?”

“Yes.  There’s a family there; the Hildebrandt’s.  I went to school with Nadine.  She and her husband, Clemens, have two sons; about 12 and 14, I think.  I think they moved out there about a year before their first child was born; so it’s been fifteen years or so.  I can take you out there and introduce you to them if you’d like; if you’d like to see the place again.  They’ve done a lot of upgrades to it, but it still looks basically the same; it’s still out there all by itself.”

“Do you think they’d mind having five strangers show up at their door?”

“No…  They’re really nice people.  I’ve known them both for years; hell!  I grew up with Nadine.  I’ll give them a call and ask them if it’s OK, if you want me to.”

“No, I would like to look at it from the end of the drive before we go up; I don’t want people waiting on us, if you don’t mind.”

She smiled.  “I don’t mind at all.  And I understand; it’s going to be very strange for you guys to see it again after all these years.  I’ll just sit in the car while you five look around, before we go up to the house.”

I smiled.  “That’s very gracious of you, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.  You do have a car here with you, right?”

“Yeah, we have a rented mini-bus sitting over by the tracks.  That’s the first and last place we ever saw here; I wanted to stop there.  We walked over from there.”

“Well, I have a wagon, I’ll take you back to your car and we can drive out to the farm; if you’re ready to go.”

“Sure.”

“Great.  Let me tell Rebecca I’ll be back in a little while.”

After Liesel returned, we all walked out the side gate and got in her Audi 200 Avant and she drove us back to the mini-bus.  I sat up front with Alex and we followed her out the once familiar road to the farm.  My stomach was tight for some reason.  She pulled over to the side of the road when we were about 250 meters from the farm.  I could see it through the windshield, and I just stared at it.  Alex pulled over behind her and shut off the motor, and looked over at me.

“My God; it looks almost the same; doesn’t it, Willy?”

“Uh huh.”

He looked at me for a moment and then opened his door and got out.  I looked over and saw that he was standing outside, so I did the same; sliding the rear door open for the other three.  We all just stood in front of the van, staring at the house.  It was all so familiar, yet so weird standing there, looking at it.  It was like another of those black and white photos in my head.  I could almost picture that little Opel sitting out front, and not the Volvo wagon that was currently there.

I walked forward, getting in front of Liesel’s Audi about 20 meters and stopped again.  I turned my body around in a 360 degree circle, taking in every aspect of my surroundings, finishing back in line of sight of the house.  I looked down at the gravel driveway we were standing on.  I knew we'd passed the spot where I fell on my face, but I could remember that painful walk along the drive to that hole.  I looked back up at the house, aiming more towards the barn.  It looked exactly the same, just a new coat of the same color white paint.  I was thinking of Erich just then and looking where his clothesline hung; where he died.  I could see the two of us on the ground, like I was looking at myself from far away.  I saw myself cradling him in my arms, screaming out his name.  I stood there entranced for about thirty seconds before I yanked myself away.  It felt like my face was wet and I reached up and wipe it off.  I turned my head to the right a little and lined up with the house again.  Wolfy walked up next to me and took my hand.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you crying?”

“I didn’t realize I was.  I was looking at the barn and where Erich’s clothesline was; I guess it got to me.”

“It’s OK, liebe; let yourself cry if you need to.”

“No; I’m OK.  I was just replaying that day in my head while I was looking.  It was like I was standing there, watching myself.  I guess it just freaked me out a little.”

He squeezed my hand and I squeezd back.  I looked over to the right, up on the second floor.  I could see the corner window in our room; the window I would look out of with my field glasses all of the time.  I lowered my vision down to Alex’s bedroom window, and then on to the front porch.  It was hard to believe we’d only been there for six months.  I had a million memories and images and sounds running through my head just then.  I turned to Wolfy.

“Are you seeing all of this stuff, too?”

“What stuff?”

“These images and sounds and movies playing in your head; are you getting that?”

He smiled.  “Yes, liebe; I’m seeing a thousand different things, and the memories that go with them.”

“Good; I’m not getting senile yet.”

He chuckled.  “Well, if you are, then I am, too.”

I turned back to the house.  I looked at Alex’s bedroom window again.  The movie slowed down and I saw myself standing on the front porch, leaning against his window, laughing my ass off.  I smirked out loud.

“What are you thinking of?”

“That day you spit out that damn sweet cake and I fell apart.  I’m looking at myself leaning against the house just laughing my ass off.”

He laughed.  “That’s a good memory; I’d forgotten about that.  We thought you’d lost your mind.”

“I was starting to think I had; I hadn’t ever laughed that hard about something so silly.”

I turned my head again to the right and looked out towards the tree stand; towards Poland.  I remembered everything.  Erich standing there, shaking; scared out of his mind.  Then I saw Sasha standing next to him, telling me to let them go to school; and getting indignant when I said I was a bigger worry than school.  I looked a little farther out.  I saw Gregor and Bruno as we were closing on them in the Opel; both of them looking terrified.  I guess that was my legacy in the place; scaring the crap out of innocent boys and young men.  I turned my head back to the house, looking at where the Volvo was parked.  It was in the same spot the wagon had pulled up to when we got dropped off all those years ago.  I could see the five of us getting out of that wagon and watching it pull away; just standing on that porch, looking at the front door.  We all looked so damn young.

“Can you remember what it felt like to be 25?”

“That’s a hell of a question.  Not really; why?”

“I’m looking at us standing at the front door the morning we got here.  We’re all so young.”

“We were young, Willy.”

“Where did the time go?”

“We lived every moment of it, baby; we have no regrets.”

I turned and smiled at him.  “No, we don’t.”

He returned my smile and then looked back out towards the house.  I followed his gaze and we were looking at the left side.  I wanted to see the back; that’s where we spent more time.  I turned around and looked at the other three.  They were all doing the same thing Wolfy and I were; gazing at the house, lost in their own memories.  I walked over to Liesel’s Audi and stood next to her door.  She rolled down the window.

“I’m not sure about the others, but I’m ready to go up there.  We always spent more time in the back; on the back porch.  I want to see that.”

“OK.  Ask the others if they’re ready to go.”

I smiled and looked over at Peter, Jan and Alex.  They’d heard and all nodded their heads yes.  We got back in the van and followed the Audi up to the front of the house, pulling in behind the Volvo that was parked there.  We all got back out of the van and followed her to the front door, and it opened before we reached it.  There was a man about 40 years old standing there smiling at Liesel.

“Liesel!  What a pleasant surprise.”  He walked out and gave her a hug and then stood back and looked at the five strangers with her.  “You’ve brought me boarders?”

She laughed.  “No, silly; these are my new friends; old friends of Mother.  I’d like you to meet from my left; Willy, Wolfy, Jan, Alex and Peter.  Guys, this is my good friend, and best friend’s husband, Clemens.”

He stuck his hand out, smiling and shook each of our hands, welcoming us to his home.  'Our home,' I thought to myself; 'you’re trespassing.'  Wrong.  We were un-welcome guests, just like the first time we were there.  Well, not unwelcome this time, but still…  I turned my attention back to Clemens.

“It’s nice meeting you, Clemens.  We lived here once for a short time, many years ago.”

“Really?  When was that?”

“From March to October, 1942.”

“Holy crap; that was a few years back.  What brings you back to town?”

“We’re here for the Berlin Wall thing, and wanted to come down and see the old town, one last time.”

“Well, welcome.  Would you like to come in and look around?  I know it’s changed inside since you lived here. Hell! It’s changed a lot since we’ve lived here.  Nadine just likes pouring money into it.”

“Actually, if you wouldn’t mind, is it OK if we go around back and look around awhile first?  That’s where we spent a lot of time when we were here.”

“Sure; help yourself.  I’ll go in and get some coffee going.  Liesel, are you coming in, or going out back with these gentlemen?”

“I’ll come in with you; they have a lot of memories to relive.”

“Sure.  Help yourself, guys; just come in when you’re ready.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Oh please, no sirs around here; it’s Clem.”

“Thank you Clem; it’s Willy.”

“Whenever you’re ready, Willy; just come on in.”

“Thank you.”

Clem and Liesel went in and closed the door, leaving us standing on the front porch.  Another movie started playing in my head; Wolfy and I were standing out here the night he tried to kill Jan.  I looked over at Jan.

“That night; where were you standing when you were spying on us?”

He grinned.  “Over there, at the end of the house.  When you started walkingn I ducked back behind the house and then ran over to the barn on the far side while you guys were walking over there.”

“Wolfy must’ve been blind that night; he said the coast was clear when he peaked around the corner.”

“I know; I almost laughed when he said it.”

I shook my head, grinning.  “Good eyes, bärchen.”

“Hey, I had other things on my mind that night.”

I moved forward to the end of the porch and stepped off, turning right to go behind the house.  I looked over at the barn; Erich’s clothesline again, as I was walking around.  I turned my head back forward and then made another right and came to a dead stop.  I was looking at the back porch; but it was loaded with toys and other childhood stuff.  I turned my head left and looked at the two sheds; they were still there.  Apparently the current owners didn’t know what they were once used for.  Another movie started playing in my head.  It was the day Wolfy went off on me; I was just pulling up with Gregor in the car and Wolfy’s storming out of the house and yelling at me.  I was looking at it from that angle.  It was so strange to be watching myself like I was in a movie; the camera positioned wherever I was currently standing.  Wolfy looked so incredibly pissed off; it was the first and last time I’d ever seen him that mad.  I turned to look at the current version.

“Goddamn, you were mad.”  I laughed once.

“You’re watching that one, too, huh?”

I smiled.  “Yeah.  You were so pissed; God.  I guess it’s a good thing you loved me; you would’ve kicked my ass.”

“I wouldn’t have been so pissed if I didn’t love you.”

“I guess so, huh?”

“Yep.  I wanted to kick your ass; but I couldn’t.  Then I wanted to kick Gregor’s ass.”

“Hey, leave him out of this.  He was innocent.”

We turned and look at Alex, smiling.  Wolfy grinned.  “He just had you snowballed the whole time.”

 

“He did not; he was a nice guy.”

“Yeah, he was.  I’m sorry.”

I looked over at the barn.  It looked exactly the same from the outside, short of the basketball hoop over the big door.  I touched Wolfy’s shoulder and he turned to look at me.

“Follow me.”  I grinned.

He returned the grin.  “Anywhere.”

I set off towards the barn, but skipped the front and started going around back, finally making the turn around the far side and walking half-way.  The ground was clear; no branches or twigs, but other than that it was the same.  I stopped and turned around, pulling him into me.

“Kiss me.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He smiled and leaned in, his mouth coming to mine, and sliding his tongue in.  We kissed for about 15 seconds before he pulled away, smiling at me.

“Was it as good as the first time?”

“Yes.”

“Me, too.  I love you.”

“I love you.  Let’s get back before they think we’re fucking.”

He started laughing.  “They would never think that about us.”

“Yes they would.  Let’s go.”  I took his hand and led him back around the barn, letting his hand go when we reached the edge.  I wasn't sure of Clem’s take of gays, and I didn’t feel like pissing him off.  The other three were standing there grinning from ear to ear.  I walked directly up to Jan.

“You weren’t spying that time, were you?”

“No, Sir.”

“Good.”

“Was it as good as the first time?”

“You were spying, you little shit.”

“I was not!  It was just an honest question.”

“Yeah, but it was the same damn question I just asked Wolfy.”

“I can’t help that; it was a simple question.”  He turnsed to Peter.  “Did I move from this spot?”

“Yeah, you were hiding on the left side of the barn.”

“You traitorous bitch; I was not!  Alex, did I move from this spot?”

“Not since you’ve been back from the left side of the barn.”

We all started laughing. 

I looked back at Jan grinning.  “I believe you baby boy; you can’t run that fast anymore.”

“Thank you!  Fuck me…  My own brothers are trying to sell me out.”

“We love you; don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

“I still don’t wear any; fuck you.  He turned back to me.  “So, answer the damn question; was it as good as the first one?”

“Yes.  Not quite with the same sense of excitement and fear, but the kiss itself was every bit as good.”

He smiled.  “Good; I’m glad.”

I looked at Peter.  “Have you checked out the sheds?”

“No.  I don’t really need to.  You?”

“Not really.  They’re full of unpleasant memories; of me being an ass.”

“Then don’t open them.  You want to go inside and look around?  I smell coffee.”

We all laughed.  “Yes, Peter; we know you want some coffee.  You go in if you want; I want to stay out here a few more minutes.”

“Saying goodbye to someone we love?”

“Probably.”

“OK.  I’ll be standing by if you need me.”

“Thanks, my friend.”

He patted me on the shoulder and they all walked to the back door and walked on in.  I turned back around and walked over to the place where Erich fell.  I look up at the heavens, just like I did the night we left.

“I’m back.  I promised you I’d think about you every day; and I have, my young friend.  I don’t know if you’re watching right now, but I’m an old man, now.  I turned 81 just a few weeks ago.  It’s still hard for me to believe I’m really that old.  And now, being here, it seems like it was yesterday that we all lived here.  I know you’ve been watching over all of us; we’ve had too good a life for you not to be.  Our family is much bigger now; and stronger than ever.  You’re still my hero, Erich.  I hope that I’ve atoned for my sins enough to be able to be with you again someday; I know the time is growing closer.  Oh, and give our love to Kaleb when you see him; tell him Alex misses him terribly, still.  When we leave here, we will go check on your parents; make sure they’re OK.  I know you watch over them, too, but I will check on them for you while I’m here.  I love you, and you will remain in my heart forever.  Goodnight, sweet boy.”

I wiped my eyes and turned around, walking to the back door.  I stepped in and heard the voices coming from the front room.  I stopped in the kitchen for a minute and look around.  It was so incredibly different; full of the latest black appliances and ceramic tile everywhere.  It didn’t look at all like the almost barren kitchen I remember.  I heard Clem yelling from the front room to grab a cup of coffee and come on in, so I did.  I walked around the corner with my coffee cup in my right hand and came to a stop again.  I was standing where we had our radio, but I was standing next to a glass dining table.  The room itself though; it flooded me with countless memories.  The furniture and fixtures were different, but the rooms were the same.  I just stood there, looking around me.  Everything was so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time.

“Well, that makes number five with the same reaction.  I can’t even imagine how different this place looks to you guys, but at the same time being so familiar.  It must be really strange standing here again after so many years.”

I looked over at Clem, smiling.  “You don’t know the half of it.  I’ve had movie-like images shooting through my head since we stopped on the driveway.  It’s like I’m the camera, and I’m looking at our lives here.  No matter where I stand, the angle is from where I’m standing; and I’m looking at myself in the movie.”

Peter looked up at me.  “You, too, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of freaky.”

“No kidding.  I’m remembering things and seeing things in my head that I haven’t thought about in almost fifty years.”

“I hear ya, brother.  It’s like it was yesterday.  Even now, seeing you sit on that sofa, I can picture the five of us sitting in this very room; talking about our investigation, or laughing over a shared joke, or the night we left.  I half expected to see the radio sitting next to me right now.”

He smiled.  “I was looking for it, too.  And the things we always had leaning against the table.”

I grinned.  I knew he was talking about the machine guns.  I looked to Liesel.  “Have you told our host how we came to live here?”

“Not in any detail.  Just that you were stationed here during the war; looking for a group of saboteurs.”

I smiled and turnd to Clem.  “Do you have strong feelings about the war; one way or the other?”

“Not really; it was before my time.  My parents talked about it, but not very much.  I think they were trying to forget about Hitler and the war.  Why?”

“The five of us were members of the SS.  We were sent here in March of ’42 to look for and arrest anyone involved in a bunch of sabotage incidents that were taking place around here the previous 4 or 5 months; and also for anyone selling information.  We were not the SS you heard all the stories about; we were just investigators; we never worked at the camps.  I was a police detective in Breman before the war, and did pretty much the same type of work for the SS.  We all became very close during the six months we lived here, and after the troops were sent to Russia; we really started to question our own survival.  We made it look like we’d been abducted and killed and we got the hell out of Germany.  We’ve all lived in the same little town for the last 47 years.  This is our first time back in Germany since that October night at midnight that we left.”

“Damn…  So none of you were ever involved in the slaughtering that went on?”

“No, sir.  Those two over there (I pointed to Alex and Wolfy.) were in combat in a cavalry unit, and have killed men, but only soldiers, as soldiers.  This one (pointing to Jan) was fresh out of training; this was his first assignment.  And Peter was doing counter-intelligence and counter-espionage work before being assigned here.  He’s the only one of us that ever even saw one of the camps; and it’s a memory he’s worked very hard at forgetting.  We were just five strangers that met in Berlin before boarding a train to here.  We became brothers, a family, during the six months we lived here.  And we’ve been a family ever since; it’s just bigger now.”

“Did you ever find the saboteurs?”

“We found one of them.  We sent him to Berlin after questioning and he was charged with treason and put in front of a firing squad.  He was 26 years old, and his name was Jakob.”

“You still remember his name?”

“He made an impression on me.  I probably wouldn’t have been able to give you his name yesterday; it’s all come back to me now.”

“So you never got hunted down by the so-called Nazi hunters?”

“Not that I’m aware of.  Liesel told us earlier that we’d been presumed dead; or at least missing in action.  I doubt they ever looked for us.  Our only crime is desertion.”

“Well, I sure as hell won’t tell anyone.  I think you did the right thing, getting the hell out of here while you could.  All five of you probably would’ve ended up dead in Russia before the end of ’43.”

“That’s what we decided.”

“Were you all members of the Nazi party?”

“As SS we had to be.  I joined in ’36, when we all thought the psychopathic son of a bitch was going to save us.  We had no idea what lay in store for us.  But yes, we were all Nazi’s at one time.  We left that at the same moment we left the SS and this house.”

“Did you ever meet the … 'psychopathic son of a bitch'?”  He grinned.

I smiled.  “I guess I came closest.  I was standing about a meter away from him at one point in the Reich’s Chancellery one day.  He and Himmler were walking down the corridor on their way to Himmler’s office.”

“Did you meet Himmler?”

“Once.  He was every bit the simple minded idiot everyone says he was.  He was nothing more than a chicken farmer in a black uniform.”

He laughed.  “Did you guys wear those black uniforms?”

“At one time, yes.  They changed the uniforms for standard duty operations to field-grey.  That’s what we wore while we were here.  The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and the men stationed at the Chancellery all wore the black.  And of course, the chicken farmer; he never got out of his.”

He laughed again.  “Please, have a seat; relax.”  I sat down on one of the side chairs, next to Jan.  “I’m sorry if I’m asking too many questions; I never dreamt I’d actually get to meet SS soldiers.”

I smild.  “Don’t worry about it; ask any question you want.”

“OK.  The night you left this house — what happened?”

“Peter had arranged for us to meet with one of his counter-intelligence contacts three days prior.  We took our car out to a field and shot it up, like we’d been in a gun battle with the bad guys.  Then we came back here by horse and wagon and tore the house apart, trying to get it to look like our captors had come here looking for anything they could find.  Once we had that done, we changed into some civilian clothes we’d stolen, had a last meal of sandwiches and milk, and then walked out of the front door at ten minutes after midnight.  We met the man at the side of the rail tracks at 0100 and he took us by horse and wagon to another man with a small delivery truck.  Three long days later we were in Sicily.  The next day we were on a freighter and spent 12 days at sea.”

“Holy shit.  It all sounds so exciting.  I’m sure it wasn’t to you guys; but to me it sounds like a hell of an adventure.”

I smiled.  “It was; even to us.  We were all a hell of a lot younger then.  I was 33, almost 34.  Jan here was just 20 at the time.”

“Damn.  That was awhile ago.  No offense, but it’s hard to picture you guys at 20 and 30 years old.”

I reached behind me and pulled my wallet out.  I took a photograph out that we all took together in 1945; just two days after the war ended.  I handed it to Clem, and he looked at it, sharing it with Liesel.

“That was taken on 10 May 1945; two days after the end of the war.  As you can see, we were all kind of happy that day.”

“Holy shit; you all look so young; so different.”

We all laughed.  “We were.  Just think, you’ll look like us in another 40 years.”

He grinned.  “Yeah, I guess so, huh?  I don’t want to think about that just yet.”

“We didn’t either.  Now imagine those five men in grey uniforms and you have an idea of the images we have in our heads looking around your home.”

Liesel looked at Alex, smiling.  “My God, Alex; no wonder mother had it so bad for you; you were a real hottie.”

He blushed hard and the rest of us laughed.

“Yeah, he’s our pretty boy; our sweet boy, too.”

“He is.”

Wolfy smirked.  “Alexander….”  We all burst out laughing.

Liesel and Clem just looked at us grinning, then over at Wolfy.

He chuckled.  “That’s what your mother sounded like when she said his name.  We all gave him a hard time for it, but just in joking.”

Liesel laughed.  “Yes, I can imagine from the stories she told.  She did have it bad for you, Alexander.  She said she always hoped you’d return soon and marry her, but she never saw you again.”

“Please tell her I’m sorry for that.  I would have married her in a heartbeat; I was just as hot for her.  I think the three of us younger ones all were.”

“I’ll tell her, Alex.  Thank you.”

Clem looked at me.  “So, why only the younger ones were hot for Gertrud?”

I smiled.  “I can’t speak for Peter, but I had someone else in my sights.”

Liesel turned to Clem.  “Clemens, Willy and Wolfy have been a couple for 47 years now; they fell in love in this house.”

“Oh, man, that’s awesome.  Damn, forty-seven years, huh?”

I grinned.  “Yes, forty-seven amazing years.  We got off to a rocky start, but we’ve never left each other’s side in that whole time.”

“Well, congratulations.  It’s incredible to think that you guys fell in love in my house; it’s kind of strange, but it’s nice, too.”

I chuckled.  “I can imagine.  Yeah, we were here about two months when I told him how I felt.  He did have a thing for Gertrud, but I think part of it may have been she was his source for sweets.  I’ve always been afraid he’d come down with diabetes, but he never has.  I did cut him back several years ago.  He will not be eating all that he bought from Liesel today.”

Wolfy looked at me and grinned while my other three men laughed.  Liesel looked at the photo in her hands and then over at Wolfy.

“Wolfy, why didn’t you keep the beard; it looks great on you?”

“It turned grey and I shaved it off; it didn’t look as good once that happened.”

“Oh, come now; you would’ve gone from hot to distinguished; you should grow it back.”

“Nah, I’ve gotten used to not having it.  It’s been gone for 15 years and I really don’t miss it much.”  He turned to me.  “Do you ever miss seeing me with my beard?”

I smiled at him.  “Sometimes.  You looked damn sexy with it; even when it turned grey.”

He grinned.  “I’ll think about it….”  I smiled at him.

Clem stood up.  “So take me on a tour of my own house; show me where everyone stayed.”

We all laughed and stood up, Wolfy taking the lead to his and Alex’s room.  It had been made into a home office.  Wolfy turned to Clem.

“This was mine and Alex’s room for the first three months; before I moved in with Willy.  We had two single beds; one on either side of the room with a wardrobe against the wall where your desk is.”

I looked around the room and remembered two things; Erich standing in the middle, shaking; and walking in on Wolfy and Alex.  We stayed for a minute and then turned to leave.  I stopped and looked in the bathroom.  It was a lot more feminine, but the same tub, sink and toilet were there.  Our water heater was long gone, and I couldn’t even see on the wall where the stove pipe was.  I turn to Clem.

“We put a small wood heater in here to warm the water for baths; we didn’t feel like hauling it from the kitchen every time.  An engineering student friend of mine at university gave me the idea.  We ran a pipe off the sink, through the heater, right at flame level, and then ran it into the tub.  There was a stove pipe about 10 cm left of where your mirror is.”

“Damn.  You didn’t have a boiler?”

“No, we didn’t even have a gas stove; we had an old wood burning stove.  The kitchen is drastically different from what we had.  It was kind of barren when we lived here; just the wood stove and one of those ice boxes with the big round coils on top.  A couple of cabinets and a wood table in the middle for prep; which we moved into the dining room to use for our radio equipment.”

“Holy crap, what a difference; Nadine would never live with only that.  I think she’s spent about ten thousand DM on the kitchen alone.”

“I don’t blame her.  We’ve spent a hell of a lot on our kitchen, too; both at home and at the restaurant.”

“You have a restaurant?”

“Yes, we opened it on my 36th birthday.”

“Holy crap, that’s a long time to have the same restaurant; you still run it?”

“Only part time, now.  We semi-retired a few years ago.”

I turned and left the bathroom and started up the stairs, everyone falling in behind me.  There were a couple of toys in the hall, and a small table next to Jan’s door.  I looked up at the ceiling, but the light was covered by a crystal globe.  I walked past Jan’s room and stopped.

“This was Jan’s room; he had it to himself.  The next one down was Peter’s; the last one being mine and Wolfy’s.  I used to stand a lot at those corner windows and look out with my field glasses.”

“OK.  Jan’s room is my son Christian’s room, and Peter’s is now my son Daniel’s room; yours and Wolfy’s is Nadine’s and mine.  We loved that corner window and claimed it when we first saw the house.”

“So where are your wife and sons?”

He smiled at me.  “Out spending money, I would guess.  They drove to Gorlitz this morning to go shopping at the mall; getting more clothes for school.  The boys saw a friend of theirs wearing the latest shoes and just had to have them.”

“And they just left you home to house-sit, huh?”

He laughed.  “Sort of.  I work from home; I’m a tax accountant and part-time writer of fiction.”

“Any books I would know?”

“I doubt it; it’s mostly science fiction type stuff.  I’ve published five so far.”

I smiled and nodded.  “Impressive.  I’ve thought about writing about our lives a few times, but decided nobody would be interested.”

“You’re wrong; you should do it.  I’ve only heard a few of your stories and I can already tell you I’d love to hear more of them.”

Alex looked at me, smiling.  “Do it, Willy.  I never knew you were even thinking about it, but you should really do it.  We’ve had kind of an exciting life; other people might think so, too.”

“I’ll think about it.  I’ve already been informed that Manfred is giving us a computer for Christmas; maybe I’ll learn how to use the damn thing and start writing on it.”

Clem smiled.  “You really should, Willy.  I’ll even give you my publisher’s card when we get back downstairs; I think he’d be interested in talking to you.”

“OK.  Do you mind if I walk into your bedroom?”

“Not at all.  I think the bed needs to be made, but help yourself.”

I laughed.  “Don’t sweat it.  I don’t think we made the bed the entire time we lived here; well except on the days we washed the bedding.”

I walked in the room about a meter and stopped.  It was far different from what I remembered, but the memories started flooding in again.  I walked over to the windows and looked out, toward Poland and the trees.  I saw Erich standing out there, waiting for Sasha to finish his chores at home. Then, I saw Peter and Alex walking around, heading back towards the house after spending the morning on patrol.  I turned and looked around the room.  So many memories; I couldn’t believe that six months in that place would account for the thousands of images flashing through my brain.  Wolfy walked up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, rubbing them.

“A lot of memories, huh?”

“Oh, man…  It’s amazing to me how I can have so many images of just six months in this room.”

“It was an exciting six months, liebe; a lot happened in those six months.  We became a family; you and I fell in love, and we had Erich here all the time helping us.”

“I guess it was kind of an exciting time.  It’s hard to think that it happened so long ago.  I don’t feel 81 right now; I feel 30 again.”

“Well, if it helps you at all; you’ll always be the sexy 33-year-old man I fell in love with.”

I turned and smiled at him.  “Thanks for that.  You’re still the incredibly sexy 25-year-old I fell in love with.”

He smiled at me and I turned back and looked at the bed in front of us.  It was almost in the same position our bed had been, just a little bigger and a lot more comfortable looking.  I could see the two of us in there on our first night we spent together … after our first kiss.

“Do you remember our first night together?”

“Hell, yes; we’d just had our first kiss behind the barn.  We were all shy about spending the night together; worried about what the other three would think about it.”

I laughed.  “We’ve come a long way.  I don’t remember if I ever told you, but when I went down for coffee with Peter in the morning, he already knew.  He even knew about the morning tasting.”

Wolfy laughed.  “Yeah, I remember that tasting; you were quick.  I think you did tell me, once; I don’t really remember, though.”

“Hey, I was greatly motivated; the man of my dreams was doing it to me.”

“I’ve been thinking about the time you were stuck up here after getting shot; you were such a big pain in the ass.”

I laughed.  “I didn’t like being cooped up in here; I wanted to be with my family.  You were always so patient with me, though; thank you for that.”

“I love you; how could I not be patient?”

“I seem to remember a few times you lost your patience with me; and your temper.”

“Yeah, well; you do know how to push buttons.  You’ll do great with that computer.”   He laughed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop; and please forgive me.  You were shot?”

I turned to look at Clem standing in the doorway.  “Yes, in the shoulder.  There were two boys that spent a lot of time here, and did some spying work for us.  I went to get them and take them home one day, and a man walked up and thought I was arresting them or something and shot at me.  He only hit my shoulder, though.”

“Goddamn!  Did you arrest the son of a bitch?”

I grimace.  “No, I didn’t get the chance.  I’d given my Walther to one of the boys to protect themselves with; he put seven rounds into the man, protecting me from more gunfire.”

“Oh, my God…  I can’t even imagine what one of my boys would feel like after shooting a man like that.  Was he OK afterwards?”

“Not for a while; he had a hard time dealing with it at first.  We all helped him as much as we could, but the best thing for him came from the man’s son.  He forgave him for shooting his father; he never really liked his father, anyway.  The old bastard was a mean son of a bitch.”

“My God…  I don’t mean to sound like I’m making light of anything, but you guys never had a dull moment around here, did you?”

I smile at him.  “It doesn’t seem like it now, but there were a lot of dull moments.  We spent a hell of a lot of time out on patrols; just walking around.  I bet we covered at least 20 kilometers a week just walking around looking for the bad guys.  Either that or sitting in fields under trees, waiting for them to come.”

“Yeah, I guess nobody’s life is exciting every moment of the day.”

“No….”

“I know this is incredibly personal, but have you ever killed a man?”

“Once.  But not as a soldier; it happened when I was a cop in Breman.  I shot a fleeing suspect.  I wasn’t really meaning to kill him, just stop him; but the bullet struck him in the back and went into his heart.”

“That sucks, but I guess it's part of being a cop; sometimes you have to shoot at people.  How about you, Wolfy?”

“Yes, on the battlefield, in Poland; during the first days of the invasion.  The Polish army was putting up a hell of fight the first week.  I don’t know the exact number, but I would guess about 12 or 14 men.”

“Damn.  You never had to shoot anyone while you were here?”

“No, none of us did.  We pulled weapons on suspects, but I don’t remember any of us firing a shot at anyone; well, except poor Erich.”

“Yeah, that was incredibly bad for him.  I hope he’s gotten over it by now.”

“I’m sure he has.  Do you guys still use a leaching field?”  God bless Wolfy.

“No; there was one here when we moved in, but we had a septic system installed after the first year.  They filled the leaching pond and then poured about 10 cm of concrete over it.”

“That’s good; the smell is astounding.”

Clem laughed.  “You’re not joking; that’s why we had it buried.  We were just going to have the septic system installed, but we couldn’t take the smell anymore, so they came out and buried it.”

“Good for you.”  Our worst secrets were safe after all; buried under three meters of dirt and ten centimeters of solid concrete.  Good for us.

“I would be honored if you men would stay for lunch.  I hope that my wife and sons get back before you leave; I’d love to have them meet you guys.”

I smiled at him.  “It would be our honor.”

“Great!  I’ll run down to the kitchen and see what I can whip up for us.  You men feel free to wander around the place; I know you’re not going to disturb anything, and I know you have a lot of memories to relive.”

“Thank you, Clemens.  No, your family’s belongings are more than safe with us.”

He smiled and turned and walked out of the room, heading to the stairs.  I turned to Wolfy.

“I owe you for that.”

He smiled.  “You owe me nothing; it was as much to protect you as it was Erich.”

“Thank you, bärchen.”

“Don’t say that, liebe, please.  Let’s just go find our brothers and look around some more.”

I smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss.  “OK.”

We went back downstairs and Liesel told us the other three were out on the front porch, so we headed out to be with them.  I walked up behind Alex and put my hands on his shoulders.

“How’re you doing?”

“OK.  It’s just really weird being here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.  How about you?  Are you having these images and movies playing through your head, too?”

“A bunch of them.  I know exactly what you’re talking about; it’s like I’m the camera man in my own life.  It’s kind of freaky.”

I chuckled.  “I hear you.  Clemens has invited us for lunch and I’ve accepted; I hope that’s OK.”

“Sure; lunch sounds good.  Did he say if his family is going to be back in time?”

“He doesn’t know, but he hopes they are.  I’m not exactly sure I’m ready to meet the family; I wasn’t even sure about meeting any of them.  I guess it’s the only way we could’ve gotten in the house, though.”

“I could’ve had them all arrested and we just walk around here while they sit in jail.”  He smirked.

“I think you’re just a little out of your jurisdiction; besides, you’re retired.”

“I see your point.  He seems like a nice man; he’s been a lot friendlier than that ‘old bitch’ in Berlin.”

“Yes, he is.  Can you imagine her inviting us for lunch?”

“Only to poison us.  Are we heading back to Berlin today?”

“Yes.  I want to stop at Erich’s farm first, and then we can get back on the road.  I’m ready to go home.”

“Our plane leaves at 2230 tomorrow night, right?”

“Yes.  We have a short hop to Frankfurt, and then catch the jumbo home.”

“Good.  I’m kind of ready, too.  This has been kind of draining.”

“I know, Alex; me, too.  Maybe reliving our life wasn’t as good an idea as we thought.  I’ve noticed neither Clemens, nor Liesel, has asked where we all went.  I’m not sure about telling them if they do.  Do you think either one of them would ever send one of those Nazi hunters after us?”

“I don’t think they would; but then I don’t know them.  Maybe we shouldn’t tell them where we live.  We could just tell them Mexico if they ask.”

“I like the way you think, young man.”

He chuckled.  “Once upon a time.”

“For all of us….”

We spent the next thirty minutes walking around the farm, reliving stories with each other and just lost in our own thoughts.  Liesel found us about 50 meters away from the house, standing in the driveway; just looking at the house.

“Lunch is ready.”

“Thank you, Liesel.”

“Are you all OK; you look a little pensive?”

“We’ll be fine; just been talking about some of the bad things that happened while we were here.”

“I noticed you didn’t tell Clem about Erich.  I can’t imagine how painful a memory that must be for you all.  I understand why you didn’t tell him.”

“Thank you, Liesel; it is a very painful memory.  About to get a little more so; we’re going out to see his parents when we leave here.  We’ll get back on the road after that, and head back to our hotel.”

“OK.  I do want you all to know it’s been a wonderful honor meeting you.  It is so nice to see the faces of the men I’ve heard about my whole life.”

“Do you by chance have a photograph of Gertrud?”

“Oh sure!  Jeez, I should’ve shown you that an hour ago; I’m sorry.  It’s in my bag in the car; I’ll grab it as we walk by.  Oh, and here’s your photo back; don’t want you to lose that, you’ve had it far too long to lose now.”  She hands me my photograph.

“Thank you, Liesel; it’s been a great pleasure getting to meet and talk to you as well.”

“I would like to ask a favor, if I may?”

“Fire away.”

She grinned.  “Could I have Clem take a photograph of us together; myself and you five?  I would like to show it to Mother.  If for any other reason than to prove I’m not making you guys up.”

“Of course; we’d be happy to do that for you.”

“Thank you.  We’ll do it right after lunch; before you leave.”

“Sure thing.”

The six of us walked back to the house and sat down at the glass dining table to have lunch.  Clemens had made a nice lunch for us of huge roast beef sandwiches, pickle spears and his wife’s ‘special recipe’ potato salad.  It all tastes wonderful.  The boys and Nadine hadn’t come back yet, so we went ahead and enjoyed our lunch with our host.  We spent about another hour at the farm, making small talk, answering more questions about our life there, and telling stories.  I looked at my watch at one point in the conversation.  1325.  It was time for us to be leaving; we still had a four-hour drive ahead of us.

“Liesel, would you like to take that photograph with us now?”

“Oh!  Of course; let’s do it on the front porch, if that’s OK.”

I smiled.  “That would be just fine.  It kind of makes me wish we’d brought a camera with us so we’d have one, too.”

“Well, just give me your address and I’ll send you a copy of it.”

“No, that’s OK.”

“Willy, I’m not going to tell anyone; I’m not going to send anyone to have you arrested or anything.”

“I know; but we’d all feel more at ease if nobody in Germany knew where we are.”

“OK.  I understand that.”  She turned to Clem.  “Hey, Clem, do you have a Polaroid?”

“Let me go look.  I think Nadine bought one a few years ago when the boys were just starting school; she’d gone picture crazy.  I’ll be right back.”

“You’re good; I would’ve never thought of a Polaroid.”  I smiled at her.

She smiled.  “Hey, I’m just a girl of my generation; we like everything instant.  Let’s go out on the porch to wait for Clem.”

The six of us filed out of the dining room and walked outside, milling about on the porch for about six or seven minutes before Clem opened the door with a smile on his face, and an SX-70 in his right hand.

“I even found a film cartridge for it!  I want to take two with this one, and two with my Canon AE-1; it takes much better pictures.  If you all want to kind of stand in a semi-circle with Liesel in the middle; I think that would be a great photo.”

We all line up as suggested and he took one photo with each camera from about 10 meters away.  He has us stay put and walked back another 15 meters and took two more photos of us.  He said he wanted to get the whole front porch and front of the house in the frame.  While he was looking at the drying Polaroid, I turned to my brothers.

“Do you guys want pictures of this house to take home?  We could ask Clem if he’d let us buy the rest of the film from him and just shoot the last eight frames.”

A round of ‘yeah, sure’ followed my question, and then a female voice jumped in.

“Don’t you even think of offering him money for that damn film; he’ll just give it to you.  Hell, he’d probably give you the damn camera.”

“That film is damn expensive; I’m not just going to take it from him.”

“You have no choice in the matter.”  She turned to Clem.  “Hey, Clem!  These men would like to shoot the remainder of the Polaroid film on the farm to take home with them.”

“Oh, sure!  No problem at all.”  He walks up to the porch and handed me the camera.  “Hell, take all the pictures you want; I’ll go look for another cartridge.”  He just walked in the house.

Liesel grinned at me.  “I know you don’t live with a woman, Willy; but you’re old enough to know we always get what we want, and we never take any guff off a man.”

I laughed.  “Peter tells me that all the time.  And I’ve even seen Greta in action with him; I’ve just never experienced it for myself until just now.”

She smirked.  “You’re never too old to learn something new, my friend.”

“I learn something new every day, Liesel.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome; now go take your photographs.  I’ll bring you the new film cartridge when Clem finds it.”

“Ya, Fraü.”

We spent the next 20 minutes taking photographs of the house and the surroundings, finally ending up with twenty new Polaroid instant pictures; 2 of us and 18 of the farm.  Clem had found a second film cartridge, and does offer to give us the camera, but I flatly refuse.  We were finally ready to leave, and Liesel walked over to us and hugs each of us.

“I wish you all the very best.  I’m so very happy I got to meet all of you, and I can’t wait to tell Mother about you.  Have a safe journey back home, please.”

Wolfy smiled at her.  “Tell Gertrud we said hello and we send our love.  I’m very glad we got to meet you, too, Liesel.  Take good care of Rebecca and have a wonderful life.”

“Thanks, Wolfy; you too.  Alexander, any messages for Mother?”

He smiled.  “Tell her I’ve never forgotten her and I still think she’s hot.”

Liesel laughed a little.  “I will definitely tell her.  Jan?”

He grinned.  “Tell her I would’ve married her if I could’ve gotten to the counter around Wolfy.”

She laughed.  “Consider it done.  I don’t suppose the two officers have any messages?”

Peter and I smiled at her.  Peter jumped in.

“Please tell her I always thought she was as beautiful as Wolfy always told her she was; I was just afraid of Wolfy.”

We all laughed.  I looked at her, grinning.  “Tell her I won.”

Liesel about fell over, laughing.  “Oh shit…  I will definitely tell her; she’ll bust a gut laughing.  Oh jeez… I don’t want to say goodbye so soon, but I know you have to get going.  God bless all of you, and thank you so much for stopping at the bakery; I wouldn’t have missed meeting you all for the world.”

“We feel the same, Liesel; God bless.”  I turned to our host.  “Clemson, it’s been our honor meeting you.  And you have our greatest thanks for allowing us to spend some time in your home, once again.  Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome, Willy.  I would say stop by anytime, but I know I’ll never see you again.  Safe journey.”

“Thank you, Clem.  Take good care of that family; it’s the most important thing in the world.”

“Don’t I know it.”

We all shook hands with Clemson and get huge hugs from Liesel again before getting in our little people carrier, and pulling out of the drive; all of us waving through the windows.  I asked Alex if he remembered how to get to Erich’s farm and he assured me that he did.  It only took us about 20 minutes to find it and we were all shocked at the sight.  It was all rundown, the house probably not having seen new paint since the last time we were there.  Alex pulled up in front and stopped; we all just look at the place.  There were no signs of life; no cars, no curtains on the windows, no nothing.  It looked like it had been abandoned fifty years ago.  I got out and walked up to the front door and knocked.  No sounds from inside. I knocked again and waited.  A minute went by and still no sounds from within.  I stepped off the porch and looked in the window.  There were just a couple pieces of wood furniture, and they didn’t look like they’d been used in years.  I thought Liesel said they still lived here, but I guess not.  I waved my men over, and they all got out of the van and we walked over to Erich’s grave.  I turned to Peter.

“Didn’t Liesel tell us that they were still here?”

“Yes.”

“There aren’t even more than a couple of broken down wood chairs in the front room.  The whole place looks like they left the same time we did.”

“I guess Liesel was mistaken; maybe she was thinking of someone else?”

“Could be.”

I walked the last 3 meters to Erich’s grave and knelt down.  It was covered in weeds and brush.  The sight alone was enough to make me want to cry; nobody had looked after him.  I looked up at everyone standing there.

“Please help me clear this crap away; he deserves much better than this.”

They had the same look on their face that I probably did; sadness and disgust.  As quickly as four old men could manage it, they were down on their knees and helping me clear the ground.  We spent a half-hour cleaning our lost friend’s final resting ground, managing to transfer a lot of the dirt and foliage onto our clothes.  When we were satisfied with our progress, we all stood back up, stretching old bones out in the process, and looking down again.  Much better.

“I wish it weren’t winter already; we need some fresh flowers or something.”

“They wouldn’t last long enough to know they were here anyway, Willy; don’t worry about it.”

“Peter, he was our friend, and he deserves more respect than this.”

“He does, Willy; but flowers wouldn’t last; even if it were spring.  Maybe we can walk around this dump and see if there’s anything that would make a nice substitute.”

“OK.  That would be good, too.”

We spent the next thirty minutes walking all over the place looking for something suitable.  I finally decided I’d had enough, and I kicked-in the damn door to the house and went inside.  I knew my foot was going to pay for it later, but I didn’t care right now.  I walked all over the house and ended up in a small bedroom.  I’d never even been in Erich’s bedroom before, but I knew the room I was in was his.  There was just something about it that told me I was in his room.  I spent ten minutes just looking at everything; even though there was nothing in here.  I guess part of it was just being where he once was — where he spent his whole life.  I was looking down at the bottom of the west wall and noticed some writing on the wall, about forty centimeters up.  I squatted down and looked at it.  My breath caught and I reached out and touched it, running my fingers all around it.  He’d written all of our names on his wall; or rather carved them in with a small pen knife or something.  In block letters, running from the top down, it reads:  WILLY, ERICH, SASHA, WOLFY, PETER, ALEX, JAN, BEST FRIENDS.  My heart jumped to my throat and I sat on the floor, looking at it.  I could feel my tears running down my face, but I didn’t move; I just sat there staring at our names.  I figured I’d been sitting there about five or six minutes when I felt someone put their hands on my shoulders.  I looked up and found Alex looking down at me.

“Are you OK, Willy?”

“Not really.  Look at this; he’s carved all of our names on his bedroom wall.”

Alex squatted down and looked at the wall.  I heard his breath catch, and he reached his arm around me and touched the wall, just like I did.

“Oh, man….”

“My thoughts exactly.”  I looked up at him.  His eyes were wet, too.  I got an idea.  “This is it, Alex; this is what we'll use on his grave.”

“What do you mean?”

“We cut the damn thing out and put it on his grave.”

“How are we going to cut wood?”

“When we were looking around in the barn, I noticed a rusty old saw in there; we use that.”

“How would we get a hole started?”

“Dammit, Alex; I don’t know, but we have to get this out of here; we have to give it back to Erich.”

“OK.  I’ll go get everyone and we’ll figure out how to do it.”

“Help me stand up, please; my ass is going numb on this wood floor.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me up, and we walked back outside together to find our brothers.  While Alex was explaining the carving to them, I was walking to the barn to get the rusty saw.  I found the saw, and also an old chisel lying on the floor.  I grabbed both and walked back to the house.  When I walked back into Erich’s room, they were all in there, looking at his carving.  Peter turned to look at me.

“I understand why you think you need to do this; but just how do you plan on doing it?”

“I get a hole started with this chisel (I held it up) and then I saw the damn board off the wall; that’s how.”

“Don’t get snippy, I was just asking.”

“No, you’re standing in my way at the moment.”

“Fine; do you what you need to do.”  He stepped back and looked at me, frowning.

“What’s with the face?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you frowning at me?”

“Because I think you’ve finally lost your damn mind.”

“My mind is every bit as sharp as it ever was; this is pure emotion.”

“That’s the problem; you’re not thinking clearly.”  He looked closer at me.  “My God, you still haven’t forgiven yourself; have you?”

“No; I never will.”

“Willy, it’s been 47 goddamn years; it’s time to let him go.”

“No, it’s not; I promised him I’d take care of him.”

He threw his arms up in the air.  “Fine; cut your damn board.”

“Thank you.”

He rolled his eyes at my snide response and turned and walked out of the room.  I got to work on my cutting.  I spent more than a half hour getting that piece of wood out, but I did get it.  I noticed I was alone in the room by the time I was done with my sawing and chiseling.  I dropped the tools on the floor and took the board with me and went back outside; walking straight over to Erich’s grave, ignoring them standing in front of the van.  I knelt back down on the side of the grave and looked around.  I didn’t see how the hell I was going to attach the wood to anything; there was only a small grave marker in the ground.  Damn!  I could just build a cross and attach the wood to it.  I stood back up and march back to the house to get my saw again, returning in about 30 seconds, carrying it with me.  They were all just watching me as I walked past them again.  I walked over to the side of the barn where I saw a bunch of broken tree limbs earlier and grab them, dragging them back with me to the grave.  When I was back on my knees and sawing the first limb, Wolfy walked over to me and stands about 50 cm away, looking down at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Sawing wood.”

He rolled his eyes, but I didn’t see it.  “What are you making?”

“A cross to mount the board on.”

He shook his head.  “Remember what you told me about two hours ago; about me always being so patient with you?”

“Yes.”

“It’s running really low at the moment.  Willy, you have to stop this; it’s not going to help you feel better; it’s not going to get rid of the guilt.  You know what would actually be better than nailing that board to a cross?  Taking it home with you to keep as a reminder of Erich.”

“It’s his; he should have it.”

“He probably did it for you; you should have it.  Besides, in a year or so that board is going to be so weather beaten you won’t even be able to read the names on it anyway.”

“Why doesn’t anyone understand why I have to do this?”

“We do understand, liebe.  We just think it’s time to finally let go.  It’s only his physical body that’s here anyway; his soul is in heaven and in our hearts.  It doesn’t matter what the grave looks like.”

“It does to me.  You have no idea how pissed off I was when I saw this.”

“Yes, I do; I was just as pissed off.  But even the things we did will all be un-done by spring.  Let him rest in peace, Willy; please.”

I finally stop sawing and look up at him.  “You think I’m wrong to be doing this?”

“Yes.  He would tell you the same thing.  Let him rest, and forgive yourself; please.”

“He would be sixty-one now.”

“I know, baby.  He’ll always be fourteen to all of us, and he’s been resting comfortably here for the last forty seven-years; leave him be.”

“I don’t know how to forgive myself, Wolfy.”

“Have you ever asked him when you’ve talked to him?”

“No, and I haven’t lost enough of my mind to not know that he’s not going to be answering me.”

“My point is, he would’ve forgiven you long ago; if there were anything to forgive.  It wasn’t your fault.  And I’ve heard you talk to him; you’ve told him several times you are sorry.  He’s heard you and he forgives you; it’s way past time to forgive yourself.”

“I…  I actually thought of getting a court order to have him exhumed and shipped to Argentina so I could take care of him.  I guess I’ve lost focus.  Maybe I am finally starting to lose it.”

“You’re not losing it; you realized what you were thinking.  If you’d actually done it I would’ve had you put in a rubber room.  You’ve kept your promise to him, Willy; it’s time to let go.  It’s time to tell him goodbye.  You know we’ll never be back here; just say goodbye to him and let’s go home.”

“You’d really have me committed?”

“If you’d taken Erich home with us, yes; I would have.”

“You’re not grinning.”

“I’m not joking.”

I looked at him for a few seconds and then sighed.  “Help me up.”  He took my hand and pulled me up.  I handed him the board.  “Take this to the van and wait; I’ll be there in a minute.”

“OK.”

He turned and walked back to the van and I turned back to look at the grave.  It does look better now, and I know it will look the same as it did by spring.

“This is goodbye, my friend.  I’ll never be back to this place again, and I know you’re in heaven now anyway; so I will let you rest in peace.  You’re in my heart and I'll love you always.”

I took one last look around me and turned and walked back to my brothers.  Wolfy gave the board to me and I got back in the front seat, the rest of them getting in back; Alex was driving again.  We pulled out the farm and turned for the road.  I didn’t look back.

The four-hour trip back to Berlin was a pretty quiet one.  We’d all had a really emotional day, and I was sure they thought I’d finally lost my mind, so they just left me to my own thoughts.  I spent the majority of the ride thinking about the past.  I’d never spent much time thinking about it after we’d arrived in Argentina.  We had so many things going on, and so much to do those first few months, I never really had time to.  After we got our lives going, I was enjoying the present too much to worry any about the past.  The trip back to Germany, and especially being in Drausendorf, had really thrown me.  I was even starting to question if I really wanted to go back home.  Even that thought messed with me; I was home right then, but yet I wasn’t.  I turned my head and looked out the side window, watching the scenery go by.  None of it was familiar to me; the traffic, the fields, the towns; it wasn’t my home.

We arrived back at the hotel a little after 1900, parked the van, and took the lift back to our floor.  We agreed to get cleaned up a little and meet back in the hall to go to dinner in fifteen minutes.  Wolfy and I went into our room and closed the door; Wolfy headed straight for the bathroom.  I walked over and put my hunk of wood in my suitcase, and then sat on the edge of the bed.  When Wolfy walked back into the room he stops about a meter from me and looked down at me.

“Are you OK?”

“I guess.  How about you?”

“As long as you are; I’m fine.  Maybe we shouldn’t have come here; maybe we should’ve just stayed away like we all agreed to do fifty years ago.”

“You’re sorry we came here?”

“Not really sorry, just overwhelmed, I guess.  It’s been a really emotionally powerful day; my head is exhausted.”

“Mine, too.  About an hour ago I was actually wondering if we should stay here; stay home.  Then I spent about twenty minutes looking out the side window at the scenery passing by, and I knew this wasn’t home; we don’t belong here.”

“No, we don’t belong here.  I know we’re all proud Germans, Willy, but this has become nothing more than our origin; our homeland.  Our home is in Argentina, and maybe we should’ve just stayed there.  It was great meeting Liesel and Clemens, but seeing that damn farm probably wasn’t the best idea we’ve ever had.”

“Probably not; we’re too damned old to be trying to revisit our youth.  I guess the countdown to get out of Germany, once again, has started.  We have about 27 hours left here before we catch our flight home.  Let’s just go have dinner with our brothers, watch some T.V. and go to bed.  At least this time we have a comfortable bed to sleep on before we leave.”

He smiled.  “We made pretty damn good use of that old bed.”

I smirked.  “We sure as hell did; didn’t we?”  I laughed once.  “It hit me while we were standing in our old room; we never made Alex’s room look like two men had been there.  I wonder if the SS that were there ever gave any thought to where the fifth person slept?”

Wolfy laughed.  “Hell, maybe they all doubled up for all we know.”  He laughed again.  “Wasn’t it Alex who told you once, ‘join the SS; find a man’?”

I laughed.  “Yes.”  I stood up and pulled myself into him, holding him tightly; his arms wrapping around me.  “I love you.  I’m sorry about my behavior at Erich’s.”

“Shush.  Like I said, we all understand what you were feeling, we felt the same.  Just don’t do anything like that again; the paperwork to have you put away is probably a real bitch.”

We both chuckled.  “Gee, thanks; it’s nice to know the paperwork’s the only thing stopping you.”

“Shut up, Willy.”

“Blow me.”

“Whip it out.”

I smirked.  “Maybe later, hot stuff.  Let’s go have dinner; our brother’s need feeding and being put to bed.  Hell, Alex and Jan have been up since 4:30 this morning; they’re probably already asleep.”

“If they are, we’re waking their asses up; pay-back is indeed a bitch.”

“Yes it is.”  I squeezed him tight and then let go.  “I love you, bärchen.”

“I love you, too; always and forever.  Let’s go eat.”

He took my hand and led me out, letting me pull the door closed behind us.  We’d walked about a meter when Peter stepped out of his room.  He looked at me and grinned.

“Forgot how to turn the water on?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You look exactly the same as you did when you went in the room.”

I looked down at myself and smirked.  “Fuck….  I forgot what I’d gone in there for.  You will help Wolfy with the paperwork, right?”  Wolfy laughed and Peter just grinned.  I looked at myself again.  “The hell with it; if they don’t like it, they can send my ass home.  Where are frick and frack?”

Peter smiled big.  He walked over to Jan’s and Alex’s door and started rapping on it really hard.  We all started laughing.  Jan yanked the door open, glaring at Peter.

“Christ, old man; leave the fucking door on the hinges.  What do you want?”

“It’s dinner time; get your ass out of bed and let’s eat.”

“We’re not in bed, you old fart.  Why are you knocking so damn hard, anyway?”

Peter grinned.  “Payback.”

Jan grinned.  “Don’t you think it might’ve worked better when we were asleep?  You’re losing your touch, Peter.”

“Keep that in mind, little man.”

“I got your little man hanging, old dude.”

“My little man’s bigger; shut up and let’s eat.”  He grinned. 

Jan blushed and smirked, turning around to yell for Alex, finding him standing there, grinning from ear to ear.  “What the hell are you grinning about?”

“Peter hasn’t lost his touch….”  He laughed.

We got downstairs and walked into the hotel restaurant, stopping in front of the host’s podium.  He looked at us and smiled, and then looked at me and got a strange look on his face.  He recovered and looked back over to Peter, smiling, and asked if it will just be the five of us.  We got seated and our waiter walked up, introducing himself.  We all had gaydar by then and it was flashing red and giving warning sirens.

“Hi!  My name’s Dieter; what can I get you started on to drink?”  The four of us smirked, and all looked at Wolfy and grinned.

Wolfy looks up at Dieter and smiles.  “Hi Dieter; I’m Dieter, and I’ll take a scotch and soda, please.”

“Oh, my God!  We have the same name; how cute is that?”  The four of us were fighting like hell not to laugh; we all just smiled at him.

Wolfy smiled up at him, even bigger than before.  “It is cute, isn’t it?  So are you, by the way.”  Dieter blushed.  “My friends call me Wolfy; and this guy next to me is my husband, Willy.  Say 'hi', Willy.”  He grinned at me.

I slugged him in the leg under the table and looked at Dieter, smiling.  “Hi, Dieter; I’ll have what he’s having.”

“Oh, my God!”  Dieter smirked.  “You two are so cute!  So how long have you guys been together?”

Wolfy smiled at him.  “Forty seven years.”

“Oh, my God!”  Dieter laughed.  “That’s like longer than my parents are old.”  Alex and Jan both laughed.  Peter was holding on, but he looked like he was about to explode.

Wolfy looked at them, and then back to Dieter.  “So how old are you, cute boy?”

Dieter blushed and smiled.  “19; I’ll be 20 in January.”

“That’s just great!  You know, Dieter; Jan and Alex over there (he pointed them out) were a couple when they were your age.  They both lost their minds and went straight later on, though.”  He grinned at Alex and Jan.

Dieter laughed and looked over at them.  “Naughty men; don’t you know gay is where it’s at?”

Alex grinned.  “If Jan still looked like you, I’d come back.”

Dieter blushed again. Jan smacked Alex in the leg.  “Hey, you’re not exactly a boy wonder yourself, old man.”

Dieter laughed.  “Now be nice; both of you.  What can I get you to drink, Alex?”

“I’ll have a decaf coffee, please, Dieter.”

“I’ll make it fresh, just for you.  How about you, Jan?”

“I’ll have the same, please.”

Dieter smiled.  “Are you sure you’ve gone straight; you’re ordering the same thing?”

Jan smiled.  “I was never really crooked; he just couldn’t keep his hands off me.”

Alex laughed.  “Hey, I wasn’t the one reaching under the covers at night, playing.”

Dieter laughed.  “Naughty boy!  You’re supposed to ask before you play with another boy’s toys.”

We all laughed, Peter finally giving in.

Dieter looked over at Peter, grinning.  “It’s about time you let that out; I thought you were going to explode over there.  I don’t like messes at my tables.”

Peter laughed again.  “I was trying to be a good boy.  I’ll have a glass of Riesling Spätlese, bitte, Dieter.”

“Very good, mein Herr.  I’ll be back with your drinks as soon as I get the coffee brewed.  And just from one gay boy to a few others; you might want to stay away from the salmon course tonight.  I’ll take your orders when I bring the drinks.”

“Dank, Dieter.”

He smiled down at Wolfy.  “You’re more than welcome, handsome.”

Wolfy actually blushed a little and we all chuckled.  Dieter grinned and walked away to get our drink orders.  We all turned and stared at Wolfy.

“What?”

Jan beat me to it.  “You sold us out, you old bastard.”

“You were giving him a hard time; you deserved it.”

“I was not.”

“You smirked and laughed every time he said something.”

“I couldn’t help it; he’s just so gay.”

Wolfy grinned.  “Says the man who reached under the covers to play with some dick.”

“Hey, that was just sex; not sounding like a girl every time I open my mouth.”

“He doesn’t sound like a girl; he was just excited.  Times have changed, and things are different now.  Just let him be who he wants to be; how he wants to act.  The five of us are the last people in this country allowed to pass judgment on anyone.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means we gave up our rights to this country, and we gave up our right to have any say about how someone acts a long, long time ago.  How do you think the four of us looked to Peter all those years ago; fucking and sucking each other at will?”

Jan looks at him a moment, kind of frowning.  “I’m sorry; you’re right.  I thought I’d become so evolved by having known you two so long; I guess not as much as I thought.”

Wolfy smiled at him.  “You’ve come a hell of a long way from the night I tried to kill you.  Don’t be hard on yourself; just don’t be closed-minded, either.”  He turned to me.  “And you!  As a gay man I expected a hell of a lot different behavior from you.  You actually slugged me in the leg because I introduced you as my husband?”

I closed my eyes, feeling ashamed.  I looked at him.  “I’m sorry.  I had no right to do that; and I had no right to find any of it amusing.  I’ve been preaching open-mindedness and acceptance for the last fifty years, and I’m just as guilty as those I accuse.”

“I find you guilty, and your sentence is to apologize to that young man as soon as he brings your drink.  Your sentence for the leg punch is to massage it later so it doesn’t cramp up in the middle of the night.”

“Agreed.  I’m sorry, Wolfy.”

“I forgive you; tell him that.”

“I will.”

We’d all seen Wolfy get angry about something over the years, but we’d never seen him like this.  He was a little ashamed of us, and I didn’t blame him.  We’d been acting like idiots and he’d called us on it.  I knew from experience that he’d said his piece and he’d let it drop, but I knew the rest of us would spend days thinking about it.  He was still the easy going, always cheerful man I’d fallen in love with all those years ago, but we all knew we’d gone way over the line when he called us on our shit.  Maybe that was his way; to point this crap out to us and let us deal with it and fix it.  We did our best when Dieter returned with our drinks.  He handed Peter’s wine to him last.

“Are you guys ready to order?”

I looked up at him.  “Actually, no.  If you have a moment, would you join us for a minute, please?”

He smiled.  “Sure.  You’re not trying to talk me into going home with you, are you?”  He sat down next to Alex.

I smiled at him.  “I don’t think we’d have a prayer of that.  No; we owe you a huge apology, Dieter.  We were acting like idiots and we’re sorry.  I’d like to be able to pass it off as just being old coots, but we know better.  The five of us have been friends and brothers for almost fifty years, and we’ve seen each other at our best and worst.  Tonight was one of our worst.  All but Wolfy were being disrespectful to you by smirking and laughing, and we offer our sincerest apologies.  Please forgive us, Dieter.”

He smiled at me.  “That’s not necessary; I don’t even hear things like that anymore.  I’ve been dealing with the tittering from others since I was 14; I don’t even notice anymore.”

“That’s just it, Dieter; you’re not supposed to have to get used to it and ignore it.  And especially from a gay man; and others who’ve dipped in the well.  Believe me, we’ve come a hell of long way from when we were all your age; but apparently we have a hell of long way to go.  You should always expect and demand that you be treated with dignity and respect at all times.”

Jan leaned around Alex.  “I’m sorry, too, Dieter; I was way out of line with you and I apologize for my behavior.  I’ve known those two, as a couple, since I was 20 years old; and I should know better by now than to treat any gay man with disrespect by smirking and laughing when they talk.  I’m sorry.”

Peter jumps in next.  “My apologies, young Dieter.  I was trying to maintain, but I’m every bit as guilty as they are.  Please accept my apology.  It started when you said you had the same name as our beloved friend and I think we meant to tease him about it; but snickered at you instead.  And I want you to be damn proud of who you are, at all times.  You can also be damn proud of the name you share with our brother; it was he who had to point out to the rest of us what asses we were being.”

Dieter looked around the table at all of us, looking kind of choked up.  “Thank you all.  And thank you for reminding me to stop putting up with people’s shit.  You’re right; I’m every bit as human and feeling as anyone else, and I deserve the respect that I give to others.  I started to ignore it because I got tired of being sad about it; but I need to have the pride in myself that I have in being gay.  Thank you for everything you’ve said; thank you for the apologies.  I do forgive you; how could I not after such beautiful words?”

I smiled at him.  “We meant every one of them, Dieter.  You’re an incredible young man, and we’re honored that you’re taking care of us for dinner.  And you’re right; don’t ever take any shit off anyone; life’s too damn short for that.  I know we seem like we’re a hundred years old to you, but believe me, it goes by so fast; enjoy every second of it.  Do you have a boyfriend?”

He grinned.  “Yes.  His name’s Benjamin.”

I smiled.  “I want you to go home tonight, pull Benjamin into your arms and tell him you love him.  No kissing, no making out, no groping; just hold him in your arms and tell him you love him.  It’s the greatest gift in the world, Deiter.  You’ll see him give you a smile like the one you fell in love with the first time you saw it.”

He smiled and blushed.  “I know that smile; I love that smile of his.  Thank you, Willy; I will.  I can’t imagine forty-seven years from now, but I hope like hell he’s there with me.”

Wolfy looked at him and smiled.  “Do that once a day and the odds go up tremendously.”

“It’s so great that you guys have been together so long.  I’m so happy I got to meet you; I never would’ve dreamt that I’d meet a gay couple who'd been together for almost half a century.  Wow, you guys must’ve been like 10 when you met.”

We laughed.  “If only, Dieter.  No, I was 25 and Willy was 33.  And you’re a waiter; you should be able to do the math.”  He grinned.

Dieter laughed.  “Yeah, I’m pretty good at math.  I like that you found yourself an older man; I did too.  Benjamin is 23.”

“Willy, show him the picture.”

I grinned and pull my wallet out and handed the picture across to Dieter.  “That was taken on 10 May, 1945.  That’s the five of us three years after we all met.”

“Oh, my God….  Wow, you all look so young; and hot, too.”  He grinned.  “Damn, Wolfy; you look really hot with a beard; why’d you shave it off?”

“It turned grey and didn’t look as hot.”

“Oh bullshit; grow it back for that man.  You liked it, didn’t you, Willy?”

I smiled.  “I loved it!  You’re right; it makes him look incredibly hot, and even when it turned grey.”

“Grow the beard back, Dieter; make your man happy.”

Wolfy laughed.  “Yes, Sir.  He’s always known I’ll do anything for him.”

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be.  So, are you guys here for a reunion or something?”

“No, we’re here for the Berlin Wall ceremonies thing.  We’ve all lived in the same little village since two years before that picture was taken.  We just wanted to come back to see the end of the Cold War first hand.”

“Were you guys in the war that started it?”

“We were; that’s how we all met.  We were in the military.”

“Awesome.  Oh, OK; this picture was taken two days after the end of the war.  That explains the smiles on your faces.”  He grinned.

“That’s what did it.  So, do you do this full-time, or are you in school, too?”

“I’m in school; trying to pay for it by working here.  Benjamin and I share a flat to cut down on expenses; well for other things, too.”  He smiled.  “But yeah, I’m in my second year at university, getting my degree in computer technology.”

“Do you know a lot about computers?”

“I like to think I do.  I’ve been using one since I was in grade 9.”

“And you think computers are where it’s at now, huh?”

“Oh, hell, yes; pretty soon everyone will have one in their house.  They’ll need people like me to help them with it.”

“We’re getting our first computer at Christmas; we may have to take you home with us to show Willy how to use it.”

“Hey, I can always take the train to wherever you live; I’d be happy to show you both.”

We chuckled.  “A train may not be the best way to get there; you’d drown.”

“You don’t live in Germany?”

“No.”  Wolfy looked at me.  I shrugged my shoulders and nodded.  “We live in Argentina.”

“Holy crap!  That’s a long way away.  You guys flew all the way from Argentina just to see a stupid wall?”

“Well, no, not just to see the wall.  We had a bunch of other things we wanted to see.”

“So how much longer are you going to be here?”

Wolfy smiled at him.  “Well, now that we’ve met you, it sucks; but we’re going home tomorrow night.”

“Ah, man, you’re right; that does suck.  I want to talk to you guys some more.”

“Do you work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’m scheduled to come in at 1:00 to help clean up from lunch and prep for dinner.”

“We’ll be here at 1:10 for lunch; and we’ll see you for dinner at 7:00.  How’s that?”

“That would be awesome!  Thanks, Wolfy.  I guess I’d better get up before my manager starts to think I’ve been adopted by you guys.  Actually, give me your orders, if you’re ready.”

“Can you give us another five minutes, and come back?”

“Sure.  Take your time; just call your own name when you’re ready.”  He smiled and stood up, handing the photograph back to me.  “I’ll be back.  Hey, Alex; do you need a refill?”

“Sure.  Thanks, Dieter.”

“Anytime.  I’ll be right back with your coffee.  Anyone else?”

“No, we’re good.”

He smiled again and walked off.  I turned to Wolfy.  “He’s a very nice young man, and of course you saw that immediately.”

He grinned at me.  “I’m a good judge of character; that’s what you guys are doing here with me.”

We all laughed.  We all finally manage to look at the menu and have our food picked out by the time Dieter returned the second time, after bringing Alex his coffee.  He took our orders, suggesting a better one when Jan gave his, and was getting ready to leave when Wolfy stopped him.

“What school do you go to, Dieter?”

“Technische Universität Berlin.  It’s supposed to have one of the best computer science departments in Europe, so I thought I’d go there.  It’s kind of expensive, but I hope with a degree from them I can pretty much have my choice of jobs.”

“How expensive?”

“My first year was a little over 9,000 DM, and this year is supposed to be like 10,000  DM.”

“Damn, that’s a lot of money to pay working as a waiter; I hope you make good tips.”

He smiled.  “I do OK.  It helps a lot sharing the flat with Benjamin; our rent is split, but he pays for everything else, like power, food, that kind of stuff.”

“Good.  Is he in school, too?”

“He went to a vocational school and graduated last year; he works full time now as a construction dude.”  We chuckled at the 'dude'.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a construction dude, dude.  Some of them are pretty hot; I’m guessing Benjamin is one of them?”

“Oh, hell, yeah; he’s totally hot.  I wish I had my wallet here with me; I’d show you his picture.  I’ll bring it in tomorrow.”

“Good.  Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”  He smiled and walked off.

I turned to Wolfy.  “You’re plotting something; I can feel it.  Why did you ask him about school and costs?”

He smiled at me.  “What’s wrong with asking a simple question?”

“Because I know you too well; how much is this going to cost us?”

He grinned.  “Only a year’s worth of tuition.”

“And you wanted to sign me up for a rubber room?”

“Willy, we’re more than comfortable, we’re old, and other than nieces and nephews we have nobody to leave it to; what’s wrong with helping someone who I think deserves it?”

I shook my head, grinning at him.  “You’re just a big softy.  Are you planning on telling him, or just pay the school?”

“Pay the school.  I don’t want him throwing himself on me; I may not let go.  We’ll just stop by the school tomorrow while we’re out sightseeing and pay his tuition for a year.  We need to get his last name, too.”

I smirked and shook my head.  “Whatever you want; I learned a long time ago to stop arguing with you.”

He smiled.  “Good; it’s a waste of your breath, and I want you to keep breathing for a lot longer.”

“What are you going to do if he’s at school when we show up?”

“I hadn’t thought of that; let me handle it.”

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Peter.  He was just smiling at me, shaking his head.

About 20 minutes later, Dieter was delivering our food.  Wolfy slid one in.

“So, do you get to relax tomorrow before you have to come to work; or do you have school?”

“I have one class in the morning, and then I get to go home and crash for a couple of hours before I come in.”

“Hopefully you don’t have to be there too early.”

“Nah, 8:00; I’ll be home in bed by 10:15, sleep for a couple of hours, shower and head in to work.”

“Good for you.  Thanks for this; it’s looks great.”

Dieter smiled.  “You’re welcome.  Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Wolfy grinned.  “No, this is great.  Feel free to stop back by, though.”

Dieter chuckled.  “You got it, Wolfy.”  He smiled and walked off.  I turned to Wolfy.

“And we’ll be in the registrar’s office at 10:30, huh?”

He grinned at me.  “Yep.”

By the time dinner was over and Dieter had cleared the table, it was damn near 2100.  I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed.  Alex and Jan looked like they’d been sleeping for the last 20 minutes.  Peter was on his third glass of wine and looked pretty happy.  The bill had come to 57 DM and my man pulls out 80 and left it in the little folder, standing up and grinning at me.  I rolled my eyes and got up, followed by the other three.  We walked over to where Dieter was standing and told him it was wonderful and we’d see him for lunch; the money was in the little folder on the table.  He insisted on hugging all of us goodnight, giving Wolfy a longer one than the rest of us; they’d bonded.  We finally got back to our room and I went straight into the bathroom, left a piss and took a quick bath.  Wolfy had come in to pee while I was in the tub and then went to bed, leaving me there.  I finally crashed into bed and rolled on my side, looking at him, running my hand around on his side.

“If you were 40 years younger I might be worried.”

He smiled at me.  “You’d still have nothing to worry about.  Yes, he’s cute as hell, but that’s not what this is about.”

“I know; I’m just teasing.  It’s one of a million reasons I love you; you’re always good and kind.  Do you want that leg massage now?”

He grinned.  “No, I was just joking; you hit like an old man anyway.”

I slapped his side.  “I got your old man hanging, dude.”

He laughed.  “Whip it out.”

I smirked.  “You’ve used that same line for almost fifty years; get a new one.”

He grinned again.  “Hey, it’s actually worked a few times; leave it be.”

“Who has it worked with?”

“You, for one; several times.”  He grinned.  “And it worked on Alex a few times, too; and even Jan once.”

I laughed.  “Tried and true, huh?”

“Hell, yeah.  Why would I change it now?”

“I see your point.  But I’m not whipping anything out; I’m going to sleep.”

He smirked.  “Good, because I hate falling asleep with cock in my mouth; it doesn’t look good for my rep.”

I laughed.  “Dirty old man.”

“Dirty old pervert.”

“And still a proud one.  Goodnight, baby; I love you.”

“I love you, too; sleep well.”

We kissed and I rolled over and assumed my position, my man pulling me in close.  We were both sound asleep in about two minutes.

I woke up the next morning thinking I heard a noise.  I opened my eyes and noticed that it was only a little light out, and then I heard the noise again.  It was a light knocking on the door.  After sliding out from Wolfy’s arm I threw my robe on and opened the door to a grinning Peter.

“You might try knocking just a little harder in the future; we don’t have your hearing.”

“I was trying to be nice; unlike some people we know.  And my hearing’s not what it used to be.  You got coffee made?”

I smiled.  “Not unless an elf snuck in here and made it; I just woke up.”

“Oh.  Sorry about that.  Good thing for both of us I already made some in my room; want to join me for a cup?”

“Sure.  You’re drinking the swill the hotel left in the room?”

He grinned.  “No, I took yours yesterday, that my wife sent with your man.”

I laughed.  “Thief.  I’m going to tell Greta, you know that?”

“Tell her; see if I care.”  He grinned.

“You’ve already talked to her this morning, haven’t you?”

He smiles.  “Yes.”

“Fucker.  Let’s go.”  He grinned and we walked to his room, leaving Wolfy to sleep it off.  We were sitting at the little table in the room, sharing our second cup when Peter looksedat me and laughed.

“What’s so damn funny?”

“Your man.”

“I’ll bite; what did he do now?”

“Dieter?”

“Oh!”  I rolled my eyes.  “I guess he’s just being Wolfy.”

Peter smiled.  “Yes he is; God love him.  I was actually thinking…”

“Oh please, tell me you’re not.”

He grinned.  “I talked to Greta about it this morning; we both agree.”

I rolled my eyes.  “My God.  And you both wanted to have me locked up yesterday over Erich?”

“You sawed a piece of his bedroom wall out and then started to build a cross to put the board on; you don’t think that was just a little too much?”

I grimaced.  “Well, yeah; in the harsh light of day, it may have been a little over-board, but at least we knew Erich.  We don’t know this young man.”

“You honestly believe that the only people you’re supposed to help in life are those that you know?”

I grimaced again.  “Well no, of course not.  I just…”

He grinned.  “Just what?  Just are too tight to part with the money?”

“Blow me.  The money isn’t the problem.  I just feel like we’re being taken in.”

“How the hell are we being taken in?  He didn’t ask for anything.  This is your man’s idea; Dieter doesn’t even know anything about it.  I thought you were OK with Wolfy doing this?”

“I am; but I guess only in that he wants to, and I’ve always trusted his judgment.”

“Exactly.  I do, too; and I trust it now.  He wasn’t joking when he said he was a good judge of character; he always has been.  Greta and I are doing this.  We’re going to pay for his last year of school.”

I smiled at him.  “I can’t count the number of times you’ve called me a softy; now it’s you and my man who are the softies.  Fine, we’ll pay for the boy’s education.  I guess I can look on it as paying back taxes to Germany.”

Peter laughed.  “Don’t forget all the money we stole from Himmler.”

I grinned.  “Yeah, there’s that, too.”

He looked at me.  “Willy, we owe so much more than that boy’s education.  Think of the people who helped us get out of Germany.  Think of the sailors who helped us build our home.  Think of the people we tortured and sent to their deaths.  This is an incredibly small price to pay for all of that.  You told Clemens yesterday that Jakob had made an impression on you.  Think of him.”

“Wolfy was right; you don’t fight fair.  OK.  We’ll pay for Dieter’s education, and we’ll do it proudly.”

He smiled.  “Good.”

I looked at Peter.  “Speaking of Jakob and torturing people; I have a confession.”

He grinned.  “You rubbed his balls while you were taking the rope off; I saw it.”

I smild.  “I did; but that’s not what I’m talking about.  Gregor and his buddy, Bruno?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Bruno was a Polish national and they were both guilty as all hell.  I felt bad for them.  Well maybe not guilty of anything more than believing the war was wrong.  Bruno had military documents on him that he got from a guy in Poland, and showed them to Gregor.  They both said they never showed them to anyone else.  They both told me they’d been best friends since they were seven years old; and had been split up by the war.  Gregor was being Gregor the whole time, but Bruno…  My God, Peter; he was just… he was someone I would’ve been proud to serve with.  I couldn’t explain it to myself; but he just got to me.  I’d told him that he was paying with his life for his beliefs and he told me that without beliefs what point was there in living to an old age.  I had to go outside and think about what I was doing.  I had to ask myself if I could look at myself in the mirror if I sent those two men to Berlin.  The answer was no, so I brought them down.”

Peter smiled.  “Dereliction of duty and desertion; you just keep piling it up.  I couldn’t be more proud to be your friend than I am right now, Willy.  You followed your conscience; you did what you felt was right.  That’s why the four of us love you so much, old man.  That’s why that man asleep in there has stayed by your side for forty-seven years; he knows who you are and what you’re about.”

“Thank you for reminding me.  I know who he is and what he’s about, too.  And thank you for being my friend all these years; I couldn’t have done it without you.  I will go wake that man up and we’ll all go find a bank and transfer some money from home.  I wonder if they’d give us the total if we called the school and asked them; we need to get a check made.”

“We have a check made for the 20,000 DM to cover two full years, and we take 15,000 in cash; there should be enough to pay for the rest of this year and then some; it’s not computer science, Willy.  He grinned.

“Smart ass.  So we just get on a plane with several thousand in cash on us, after we pay for school?”

“We could.  Or we can take it and open a bank account for Dieter and then hand him the passbook as we’re walking out the door.”

I smild.  “You’ve thought this out, huh?”

“I’d like to take credit, but that part was Greta’s idea; she said he probably needed some ‘walking around money’ as she called it.”

“Tell your wife I love her; she’s a smart lady.”

“Tell her yourself; she’ll be at the airport in Cordoba to pick us up.”

“OK.  Let’s get everyone rounded up, get some breakfast and find a bank.  We have a lot to do before 2230.”

“Go get your man; I have plans for those two.”  He gave me an evil grin.

“Have fun.”

I walked back into my room to find Jan, Alex and Wolfy all in there.  I closed the door and laughed.

“Come over here, quickly.  You have to see this.  This is your best chance ever to have one over on Peter.”

They all jog over to the door and we opened it just a crack and looked out.  We look like four cats standing on top of each other, our eyes visible through the crack.  We watched Peter walk up to their door and start whaling on it and yelling, ‘Wake Up!!!’.  I heard the other three smirk.  We waited about 30 seconds and he did it again.  Some woman opened her door and told him to stop doing that; he was being a jerk.  She slammed the door closed and we opened ours and Alex and Jan stepped into the hall laughing and pointing at Peter.

Jan recovered first.  “Looking for someone, Peter?”

Peter just looked at them and then started laughing.  He walked over to them, grabbed Jan’s shoulders and shoved him into our room, walking him over to our bed, both of them laughing.

“Assume the position, boy; you’re about to get fucked.”

“Not with that big fucker, you’re not.  Go get Alex.”

“I’ve had it in my mouth; he’s not coming anywhere near my ass with it; you’re on your own.”

Jan looked at Peter, grinning.  “Fine, old man; if you can get it hard and get it in there, you can have my ass.”

Jan bent over the bed, laughing.  Peter brought his hand back and smacked him hard on the ass, still laughing.

“Owwwww, you old fuck; don’t hit so hard!”

“Not in your wildest, wettest dreams, boy.  Besides, my wife would kill me.”

Jan stood back up and grabbed Peter into a hug and kissed the side of his face.  “Slut!”

“Back off boy; my wife’s the only one allowed to kiss me.”

“She told me I could.”

“Yeah, right.  Queer.”

Jan laughed.  “Limp dick old fuck.”

“I get no complaints from Greta.”  He gave Jan a quick kiss and then shoved him away.  “Go ride someone else’s leg.  We have things to do and people to see.”

Jan smiled at him.  “Who are we doing?”

Peter rolled his eyes at him.  “We’re going to go have breakfast and then we need to find a bank.  Willy and Wolfy are giving all of their money to Dieter.”

We all laughed.  Alex grinned at us.  “Oh yeah, the college fund.  Would you guys mind if I contributed to that?”

Wolfy grabbed him into a hug.  “Hell no!  I’m proud of you, my friend.  If we can talk those other two into it, maybe we could pay for the rest of his time in school.”

I lauged.  “Start with Jan; he’s the tightwad.”  Peter grinned at me.

Jan got indignant.  “I’m not a tightwad!  I spend all kinds of money for things Amelie doesn’t need.”

Wolfy looked at him.  “Well, now you can spend some for something Dieter does need.  Cough it up, boy.”

“Just how long are you people going to keep calling me ‘boy’?”

“Until we’re dead; get over it and move on.  Pry that damn wallet open and contribute.  In the words of those bible guys on T.V., 'give ‘til it hurts'.”

“It’s hurting already.  But yeah, I’ll contribute.  How much are we all putting in?”

“Don’t be a miser; just give what you think is fair.”  Wolfy looked at Peter.  “How much do you and Greta want to contribute?”

Peter smileed at him.  “Greta and I already talked about it this morning; we’re paying for his final year; all of it.”

Wolfy shoved Jan aside and walked up to Peter and hugged him.  Alex and I were busting up.

“You sweet, sweet man; I love you.  I love your wife, too; but that’s between her and me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I already knew about it.  We have more plans, but I’ll tell you about them over breakfast; let’s go eat.”

We spent about an hour at breakfast; eating, drinking enough coffee to float a ship, talking about Dieter and his college fund, and making plans for our remaining day in Germany.  Our waitress was lucky enough to know Dieter and gave us his last name; we’d forgotten to ask him the previous night.  We made it to the Deutsche Bank and got money transferred from home and got a check made out to the school for 20,000 DM, got 14,000 DM in cash, and opened an account for Dieter and dropped another 20,000 DM into it; that money coming from Jan and Alex evenly.  I looked at my watch when we walked out of the bank.  0950.  We had forty minutes before we could go to the school, and I felt really nervous walking around Berlin with that kind of money on us.  I had a crazy thought in my head and started laughing.  Wolfy turned to me and grinned.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was feeling nervous about walking around Berlin with so much cash on us, but then I had a bad thought.  If it was 1942 and we were wearing our black uniforms, nobody would dare fuck with us.”  They all lauged.

“Hell, no; they’d clear a path.  That was one of the nice things about that uniform; it made people get the hell out of your way.”

“That’s no lie.  I had one lady, standing there yelling at her husband one day on the street, and as soon as I walked within 2 meters of them, she shut up instantly and stepped out of my way, looking down to the street.”

“Yeah, those were the good ole days, huh?”  He smirked.

“Smart ass.  What do we do until 1030?”

“Let’s go walk along the wall; we still haven’t really seen it from up close.”

“Do you think anyone will mess with us?”

“Willy, we’re five big men, nobody’s going to fuck with us; even if we are old.  Besides, unless you look nervous, nobody’s just going to assume we’re walking around loaded with money.”

“OK.  I see your point.  Old age has made me a chicken, I guess.  I started feeling vulnerable when I turned 80; it just seemed so old to me.”

“You’re not old, dammit.  It’s just a number, liebe; you’re as old as you feel.  And it was just yesterday you told me you felt like you were 30.”

I smiled.  “I was only feeling that because of where we were.  But yes, I know what you’re saying.  I’ll shut up now.  Let’s go see this stupid wall.”

We spent the next hour walking along the wall, and then going through Checkpoint Charlie, walking a little on the East and then coming back through Checkpoint Charlie.  I’m not sure how difficult it was to get through this a couple of months ago, but today we just walked right on through.  We left the wall and made our way over to Dieter’s school, and after asking at least 10 young people how to get to it, we found our way to the finance office.  Wolfy told the 30-ish woman behind the desk that he was Dieter’s grandfather and was here to pay off his tuition; and how much was it for the whole thing.  After pulling Dieter’s file and doing some calculations she presented Wolfy with a total of 23,388.30 DM.  Wolfy handed her the check and then counted out 3,389 DM in cash and gave it to her.  She smiled broadly and wrote him a receipt, handing it to him, along with the change, and thanking him.  That was easier than I’d thought; and I’d never thought of just telling anyone we were his grandfather.  My man was good under pressure; or just sneaky.  I never did decide which.

We did some more sightseeing after we left the school and ended up back at the hotel by 1300.  We got cleaned up and went down to lunch, meeting Dieter at the podium; he’d been watching for us.  He took us to our same table and brought us drinks and then took our order.  After putting the order in, he asked us if he could sit with us again, while it was being prepared.  We were happy to have him join us, and we talked and laughed with him; told him a few stories of the war and our families, until he went to get our food.  When he brought us the check in the little credit card folder, we stuck the check amount and a 10DM tip in there.  We sat at the table to see how he handled the check.  He came back and asked if we needed anything, and after we told him no, he just grabbed the folder and stuck it in his apron, smiling at us and thanking us again.  He said he couldn’t wait until 7:00 when we’d be back.  He was the professional we all hoped he’d be; he didn’t look in the folder.  That’s what we’d been hoping for.

We went back to our rooms after lunch and Wolfy and I flipped a coin to see who got the bathroom first; the coffee had hit with a vengeance.  Wolfy won and I danced in the room until he came out.  When I finally got in there it hit me that we had actually pissed side by side before; we could’ve just done that.  I didn’t care, my bladder was draining and I was becoming happier by the milliliter.   When I was done I came out of the bathroom to find him on the bed, looking like he was trying to sleep.

“Are you tired?”

“A little.  I thought a nap sounded like a good idea; it’s going to be a long night.  We don’t leave here until 2230, and then we have to do a lot of walking in Frankfurt to get to the international departures, and then wait until 0010 to get on the damn plane.  Come join me.”

“You’re right.  I’m still really glad you talked me into business class, though.”  I kicked my shoes off and lay down beside him, putting my arm over him and snuggling in close.

“I like that.”

I smiled.  “Good; I’ve always liked this.  What if they come banging on the damn door?”

He grinned.  “I’ve covered that; I called Peter while you were in the bathroom and told him what I just told you.  He agreed and he’s going to do the same; and said he’d pass the word to Jan and Alex.”

“Damn, you’re a smart man.  I love you.”

“I love you, too; now go to sleep.”

“Yes, Sir.”

We slept until a little after 1600, Wolfy waking first and then playing with my nipples to wake me up.  I kept my eyes closed for a few minutes, just enjoying what he was doing.  He finally busted me when I grinned a little.

“That’s cheating; you’ve been awake.”

“Hey, it’s payback for all the times you’ve done the same thing to me.”

“OK.”  He smiled at me.  “What should we do now?”

“You can keep doing that, if you want.”  I smiled at him.

“I’d love to, but I need to piss again, and I just have the strangest feeling they’ll be knocking on that damn door anytime now.”

I laughed.  “You’re probably right; go pee.  Do you think we should put some coffee on?”

“I’m still pissing out what we drank this morning.  How big do you think those bathroom tanks are on the plane?”

I laughed and rolled away from him, getting up out of bed.  I decided to make some coffee anyway; we may need the caffeine just to make it to Frankfurt.  I’m stuck with the hotel swill because Peter took the good stuff.  After getting the coffee started, I called Peter.

“Guten tag; mien freund!”

“How did you know it was me?”

“Oh, Willy; I thought it was someone else; sorry.”

“Blow me, old man.”  We both laughed.  “I have hotel swill brewing; would you like a cup?”

“I’m having real coffee; would you like a cup?”

“Smart ass.  Bring the pot; my man’s not allowed to leave, he’s afraid he’ll wet himself before he gets to another bathroom.”

Peter busted up laughing.  “Still working that breakfast coffee out, huh?”

“He is.  He threatened the rubber room again when I said I was making more.”

“OK.  I’ll be down in a second.  I’ll bring the pot and what’s left of the grounds my beautiful wife sent me.”

“OK.”

Within half an hour of Peter’s arrival, Jan and Alex both showed up and we spent the rest of the afternoon talking and drinking swill; we’d wiped out the good stuff.  By the time we were ready to leave for dinner with Dieter, we were all able to float to the lobby.  We took our suitcases down with us; we wanted to be able to make a quick get-away before Dieter opened the folder.  We went ahead and checked out at the front desk, and since we still had our little mini-bus, we loaded our bags into it and walked over to the restaurant door.  The food there really wasn’t 5-star dining, but it wasn't bad, and the waiter was a personal friend of ours.  We could’ve had better food downtown, but no better waiter.  We spent almost two hours with Dieter, though not all of it with him sitting with us; he did have other customers.  Before we did anything with the little folder, everyone took a piss break.  We don’t want to be in a traffic jam with our dicks hanging out of the windows, pissing on the ground.  When we’re all back at the table, Jan looked at me.

“How the hell do we hide such a big bundle of stuff in that folder without him getting curious?”

“Good point; I hadn’t thought of that.  Shit.”

Alex looked at me.  “How about if we just tell him we have a bunch of singles left over from the strip club, and we’re leaving them with him instead of changing them back to Pesos?”

I smiled.  “I love you; you’re so smart!”  He grinned.

Dieter brought us the check in the little leather case and set it on the table, sitting down next to Wolfy and looking a little sad.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want you guys to go.”

“Ah, süß (sweety or cutie); we don’t want to leave you either, but we need to get home to our families.”

“I know.  I’d like to get to know you better, though.  Are you coming back anytime soon?”

“We don’t know; we haven’t talked about it.  Just think, in a couple of months, you’ll only think of us as the old guys you met one night.”

“That’s not true!  You’ve become my friends, and I’ll never think of you as the ‘old guys’.”

“I’m sorry I said that.  I know we’ll always remember you fondly, too.  We’ve loved every moment we got to spend with you.”

“Thanks; me, too.”

“Hey, we have a small going away gift for you.  We went to a strip club this afternoon and got a bunch of singles.  We’re leaving them with the check; we want you to take Benjamin to a go-go boy club and watch him stick some bills in a jock strap for us.”

He laughed.  “You guys are bad!  I would’ve loved to be with you guys at a strip club; that would’ve been great!  Did you go to a go-go boy club or girls?”

“They had both; we had to be equal opportunity for the straight boys with us.”

He laughs.  “Were there any hot guys dancing?”

“I think it was too early in the day; that’s why we still have singles.  You and Benjamin enjoy them and have fun watching the hot boys dance.”

He grinned.  “OK.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my friend.  Now be a good soldier, keep your head held high, and just give us all a hug and walk away.  It’ll be easier that way; I promise you.  Don’t watch us walk out that door; you’ll cry, and so will we.  OK, liebe?”

He nodded his head; fighting back the tears.  “OK, Wolfy.”

“I promise, it’s easier this way; I’ve said goodbye too many times, I know what works.  Now stand up, please, and give me a big hug.”

Dieter stood up and took a step back a little for Wolfy, and then pulled him into his arms, holding him tight, sniffling.  I grabbed the folder and slipped everything inside of it and closed it, setting it down in the middle of the table.  We all got up one by one and got a huge hug and wet face from Dieter.

Dieter looked at all of us for a moment.  “I love you guys.”  He turned and walked away.

We turned and walked quickly out to the car park and got in our little bus as quickly as we could, and Jan started it up and backed out of the space.  We were out of the lot within a minute and a half of leaving the restaurant.  The only sound in the van as we drove is sniffling from every one of us.  Wolfy was right; we’d said goodbye too many times.  We drove in silence to the airport, checking the van in at the car rental agency, and taking the shuttle to the terminal.  By 2225 we were on the little 737-200 that was taking us to Frankfurt and it was being pushed back from the gate.  In what seemed like before we’re even at altitude, we were descending into Frankfurt, and touching down on the runway.  I looked at my watch.  2320.  We have almost an hour to kill before getting on the big bird to go home.

We were informed at the gate that the inter-terminal baggage system was kaput and we had to claim our bags and take them to the international terminal with us.  After standing in front of the carrousel for 15 minutes, we finally had our bags and made a bee-line for the international section.  We had to wait in line to check our bags back in.  We could’ve just gone to the damn gate if they had known how to keep the belts working; we already had our tickets.  By the time we got that done, and got through security again, it was 2350.  Shit, I thought we’d have to kill time.  We were jogging to the damn gate so we didn’t miss our flight.  We finally arrived at the gate and waited in a short line to get our boarding passes.  The flight was already boarding and we walked down the jet-way to get on the plane and find our seats.  We were all sitting next to each other in one row, so that made it easier; we didn’t have to step over people who were already sitting down.  The flight attendant checked our passes and pointed to the row.  We finally got our bags stowed and sat down, buckling in.  I was out of breath; it had been a wild ride just in the last hour.  I looked at my watch.  Midnight.  Another flight attendant stopped at our row and looked down at me.

“We still have 10 minutes before we close the door, would you like a drink?”

I smile.  “Do I look that bad?”

She laughed.  “No, Sir; it’s just something we offer business and first class passengers.”

“In that case, I’d love one.  I’ll have a scotch and soda; light on the soda.  It’s been a long day.”

“Yes, sir.”  She looked at Wolfy, next to the window.  “Sir, would you care for a drink?”

“I’ll have what he’s having; same mix.”  He smileed at her.

“Yes, sir.”

“And just for future reference, where’s the nearest lavatory?  We’ve been drinking coffee to stay awake long enough to get on the plane.”

She smiled.  “The closest one is 3 rows behind you; right in the middle of the cabin.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, sir.” 

She toddled off to get our drinks.  I looked over at Peter, grinning.

“Ha ha; we get drinks.  You’re sitting in the middle so you get nothing.”

He laughed.  “She’s just trying to get you to pass out so she can talk to me.”

“Nice try, old man.  This is the same kind of airplane we came here on, right?”

“Yes.  It’s a 747-300; it’s the largest airplane in the world.”

“The military doesn’t have bigger ones?”

He rolled his eyes.  “OK, smart ass; it’s the largest commercial airplane in the world.”

I grined.  “I knew that; I’m just yanking your chain.  It’s sure a hell of lot bigger and nicer than that first airplane I ever flew on.”

“That thing would fit inside of this one; several of them.”

“No doubt; this thing is massive.

The attendant showed up with our drinks and I drop Wolfy’s and my tray tables down for her to set them on.  She smiled and set the drinks down, and then turned to Peter.

“Would care for a drink, sir?”

“Sure.  I’ll have what they’re having.”

She smiled.  “I’m guessing you three know each other.”

Peter laid-on his best smile.  “I’ve never met them in my life.”  He laughed.  “No, I know them.  The five of us on this row are all traveling together, actually.”

“Oh, OK.”  She looked up at Alex and Jan.  “Same poison?”

We all lauged.  Alex and Jan both looked at her.  “Sure, why not?”

She chuckled and left to get their drinks.  Peter turned to me.

“Ha ha; she likes me more.”

I laughed and rolled my eyes.  “Oh, grow up!”

She returned in about a minute or so with their drinks; handing them out, walking behind the row to get to Alex all over there by himself.  She looked at all of us.

“They’re actually pushing us back a few minutes early and I’m about to close the door.  You can keep the drinks, but just hold on to them during take-off; they tend to slide off the tray tables.”

We all assured her that we won’t let a drop spill, and she smiled and walked over to the door, talked to a man standing there, and then pulled it closed, locking it up.

While the plane was taxiing to the runway, I finished my drink and turned to Wolfy.

“That was a very beautiful way to do that — to have Dieter say goodbye that way; you’re a wonderful man.”

“No, it was a chicken-shit way to do it, but I didn’t want to cry.”

“There was nothing chicken-shit about it, bärchen; you were doing what you could to get him to hold on and not fall apart.  You did good.”

He turned to me.  “You really think so?”

“I know so.  We were all on the edge of tears, but he was on the precipice; you spared him watching us leave, crying.  He may have gone back to the back to cry; but his other customers didn’t see it.  You really did do the right thing.”

He smiled.  “I guess so; I hadn’t thought of it that way.  I just didn’t want to cry; not there.”

I took his hand in mine, looking at him.  “I love you, Dieter Wolf; I wouldn’t trade my life with you for anything.”

He smiled.  “I love you, Willy Becker.  You are my life.”

I squeezed his hand a little and then turned my head right, looking at my other three brothers.  We were turning onto the runway and they all grabbed their drinks.  I smiled.  They always listen to orders.  I looked at them for another moment, relishing the knowledge that I’ve spent almost 48 years with these men, and I could imagine no better way to spend that time.  The engines went to full thrust and we started rolling, picking up speed.  I turned my head back and leaned back in my seat, still holding Wolfy’s hand.  I watched as the front of the cabin rose, and I felt the bumps on the runway ceasing, the pitch of the nose increasing a little.  We were airborne; we were leaving German soil for the last time.

The End.

Posted: 02/08/13