The Day the Flowers Died (8 page)

The floor filled with more couples eager to escape the clutches
of civil culture. Twirling and swirling became a ruse to disregard
propriety.

Laughter and music drowned out minds throbbing with the changing
face of Germany.  Food and drink offered splendor to savor
what might not be there tomorrow.  After a few times around
the mock dance floor, frolicking to a jazzy beat, Eli cuddled with
Rebecca in a corner of the room, standing next to a bookcase with
his hands clasped over hers.  The two lovers whispered in each
other’s ears with intermittent bursts of laughter, whispers and
laughter seen throughout the room.

“Could you get me something to drink?” Rebecca asked. Eli
scattered to the other side of the room to the table covered with
plates of food and drink.  A dark, curly haired young man,
taller than Eli and more plump, surprised him from behind, pinching
his shoulders.  Eli spun around, spilling a bit of Rebecca’s
drink.

“Aaron.”

“Eli.”

“Glad you could make it.  I wasn’t sure if you were
coming.”

“Well, I managed to get out of my prior engagements.”

“Good.  It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”

“Is that her?” Aaron pointed toward the secluded spot near Eli’s
bookcase.  He’d seen Eli whisk Rebecca away there after the
dance.  Eli’s face lit up, gazing at her, and nodded.

“Yes.”

“She is beautiful.” Aaron admired her for a moment and then
returned to Eli, “…and not Jewish.” Eli’s eyes retreated away from
Rebecca and looked at Aaron with harsh sharpening around the edges
at the words not Jewish. “Have you told your family yet? No, you
couldn’t have; they would have killed you.  Specifically, your
father would have killed you.”

Aaron asked, “Do they even know you’re dating someone?” Eli
relaxed with the worried words from his friend who only meant well,
a good friend he had known since University and saw regularly at
Synagogue.

“I will tell them. It’s complicated. I’ve been waiting for the
right time.” Eli bit his lip.  “Besides, it doesn’t matter
what my family wants, what my father wants.  I’m the one
dating her, not my family.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked, knowing that solid
friendship between them protected him from any hard truths. Rebecca
looked Eli’s way, smiling, washing away all the nuances of unspoken
prejudice, shades of differences that seemed to only disappear in
this room on this night in this very moment between the two of
them, and then she looked away and they all returned.  The
harshness of reality always returned to him like cancer, knowing it
could only be ignored for so long before rupturing.  Eli
watched Rebecca’s gaze over his face and her smile under the
moonlight.  He knew in this moment with absolute certainty
that they were meant to be together and he would let nothing tear
them apart.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Eli said, patting his good friend on the
shoulder, then he walked away to return to his Rebecca. Her arms
opened wide to wrap around him and with their embrace, Eli’s left
foot moved up into the air and their lips pressed together. He
handed her a glass of pineapple juice mixed with a touch of rum.
When the music slowed down, the table with food and drink became a
center for political conversation, everyone taking views and
offering their advice. Aaron stood by the table, speaking with his
hands.

“ The Nazi party is growing at alarming rates.  Something
has to be done to stop them,” Aaron protested. A taller young man
in a white sweater and beige slacks joined the topic.

“You’re right. Berlin was sterilized of its wild ways. In the
twenties, it was one of the most free cities in Europe, and look at
it now.  It’s only a matter of time until they sterilize us
all from our indecencies.” A blonde with long hair pulled back into
a pony tail wrapped her arm around the young man in the white
sweater and used her political wits gained from reading the
newspaper.

“The papers say they are the largest political party in Germany
now.” Her voice carried a refined sophistication to it.  “They
say it as if it’s favorable,” she ended in dismay.

Rebecca overheard the dialogue and pulled Eli with her towards
the table on the other side.  She interjected as she poured
another glass of juice, “This time next year, Hitler and his party
won’t be here.  It can’t be.  Everything he stands for,
everything he is pushing for is wrong.  His ideas strangle the
very fabric of what it means to be free, until there is nothing
left to breathe,” Rebecca said and sipped her juice from its
crystal glass.

Eli smiled at her dedicated persuasions.

“I must admit, Rebecca, I hope you’re right, for all our sakes,”
Aaron said, staring at Eli, and his forehead wrinkled with
thought.

“What is it?” Eli asked.

“Nothing.  It’s just there is so much going on with Japan
and China and now with our Nazi Germany, the future is starting to
look bleak…” Aaron looked at Rebecca, “but don’t let me digress
down that train of thought and spoil everyone’s New Year’s
Eve.  Besides, I haven’t met the new lady in Eli’s life.”
Aaron smiled at Rebecca and took her hand to his lips.  “I’m
Aaron, one of Eli’s closest friends.” Aaron played with his hands
like boxing fists at Eli’s chest and then dropped the playful fists
to his side.

“I’m Rebecca,” she said and slid her fingers through her
loosening braid to pull it tight.

“And I see you are on the side of throwing Hitler and his Nazi
regime out of Germany. That is a good sign.” Aaron smirked in Eli’s
direction.

“How can anyone be on his side?” Rebecca intensified her
expression and in the corners of her mind, she wandered back to her
mother.

The young man with the white sweater interjected, “With the
stress from the Great Depression and the war that has left Germany
in economic ruin, it’s no wonder everyone is gripping towards
extreme nationalism.” He rolled his eyes.  “People need
something to hold onto in times like these, someone to tell them
everything will be alright.” Bernard listened and directed his
views at the table with Louise standing behind him, “But we can’t
prejudge the party’s abilities.  They may make good on their
promises and bring Germany to its once splendor.”

Aaron darted his eyes at the man.  “At what cost?” Aaron
didn’t ask to receive an answer, but to leave a trace of question
in his mind.

The young man with the white sweater kissed the blonde with the
ponytail. “Let’s not spoil our evening with political talks,” he
replied and they spun off toward the mock dance floor.

“He’s right.  We shouldn’t weigh down our last night of
1931 with heavy discussion.  We should be weighing it down
with lots of alcohol,” Eli joked and lifted up two more glasses of
rum juice for Rebecca and himself to enjoy.  Then the two of
them twirled off under the dim lights with refined feet bouncing
against the wood floors to the sweet sounds of swing music.

Everyone wore sophisticated garb with a hint of frivolity in
it.  Even the young man with the white sweater brought a tall
black hat with him in case the feeling emerged. Big gold
butterflies in metallic design embossed Rebecca’s shoes, her
felicity for the year’s end on her feet.  Eli’s grey tie when
swaying and overturning in dance was clearly decorated on the
opposite side with silver glitter.

The night filled with more gaiety and delight than deep
political discussion, but the mix represented a small paradigm of
Germany’s existence.  It was the last night of an upcoming new
year that would hold such pleasure and merriment combined with
civil discourse before Hitler’s regime changed the face of
Germany.

Rebecca grew tired and Eli walked her to her floor. They said
goodbye at her front door with a kiss and a hug that told them both
they wanted more. Eli’s hands caressed Rebecca’s back, leaving his
tender touch over her shoulders, they both knew then that the
moment would be soon. Eli let Rebecca move into her room without
following her as he was mannered and didn’t want to take advantage;
therefore, he found himself wandering the apartment halls
inebriated and alone.

Eli swung his feet up the steps, clicking his heels and singing
the jazz music he had just left in his room, elated at the
relationship blossoming between himself and Rebecca.  Losing
his way, he walked up two flights of stairs and knocked on a
stranger’s door.  She answered with long red hair and light
green eyes and a pale white face, appareled in a white night
robe.  She looked as if she had missed all the festivities of
the New Year’s Eve night.

“Yes?” Her tiny voice asked like a baby bird just waking.

“Sorry.  I’m looking for my room.” Eli stumbled and hit his
head on her door.

 The redhead held his wobbly form up and asked, either
because of politeness or because of earnestness to return to her
bed, “What is your room number?”

“104…no, no.” Eli thought for a moment, his mind wandering to
Rebecca and then back to the question, “room 404.”

“You’re one floor too high,” she said and directed him to the
stairs.  “You have to go down one floor.”

“Thank you.” Eli struggled with her name and then realized he
didn’t know it.

“Betsy.”

“Betsy, thank you.” The redhead smiled shortly and returned to
her room, hiding from the night. Eli pranced down the steps and
fiddled with the doors, following the sounds of boisterous noise
until he made his way back into his room.  The party was half
as crowded as when it began and Eli fell to his sofa against the
wall with his head on the armrest.  Aaron walked over and sat
next to him.

“What a night.” Eli slurred his words.

“Sounds like all the alcohol is hitting you. Did you get Rebecca
safely back to her room?”

“Yes.” Eli stared at Aaron with stark concentration like a boy
to his father.  “Yes, I did.”

“She seems like a nice lady.”

“She is. She is the most wonderful woman I have ever met in my
whole life.” Eli exaggerated his words from the unrestraint
provided by the rum.

“And your family has no idea about her, the reason you’ve been
missing so many Shabbos at synagogue.”

“And you are not going to tell them,” Eli defended her, “not
until I have spoken with them.”

“I promise.  This is your dilemma.” Aaron patted Eli’s leg
with his last words.

“And I gladly take it.” Eli pounded his chest with one fist over
his heart like a gorilla in war and then fell on top of Aaron’s
lap.

“Why don’t you get to bed? I’ll take care of the party.” Aaron
helped Eli to his feet and wobbled with him into his closed bedroom
in a familiar wobble the two had participated in at a previous New
Year’s Eve party.

* * *

When Eli awoke, his room door was closed.  Stumbling over
his exhausted feet from a long night of showing Rebecca a good
time, he made it to the door.  He gazed around the living room
and saw cleaned tables, the leftover food and drink refrigerated,
and his good friend Aaron sprawled out on the sofa.  Eli
thanked his friend in a whisper, though he still slept, then
unrolled the quilt in the corner of the sofa and laid it over
Aaron.  Aaron shifted his body, rolling his face towards the
cushions and hugging the pillow.

Eli remembered today was the first day of the new year and his
eyes lit up.  He gazed at his floor, knowing Rebecca was just
below him, the woman he had his eyes on for several months, the
woman he had been enamored with before even speaking with her. Eli
walked to his kitchen, planning to make scrambled eggs for himself
and Aaron, shuffling pans and pots around to create enough room to
cook.

The smell of the eggs flowed into the living room, over the sofa
and into Aaron’s nostrils. His head lifted from the couch with his
eyes still closed and, like a carrot leading a rabbit, he sniffed a
few times before opening his eyes and asked, “Are you cooking
something up for me? I’m starved.”

“It’s the least I can do after all the help you gave me last
night.”

“It wasn’t all me.  I have to admit, I had help.  The
political squad swept while I wiped.” With the words political
squad from Aaron’s lips, Eli knew exactly who he meant, the tall
blonde in a ponytail and the man with the white sweater.  Eli
hadn’t learned their names, but he knew they were friends of
Aaron.

Aaron often referred to the three of them as the political squad
because at his office every discussion inevitably led back to the
state of the country.  His two friends, who dated each other,
would huddle around his workroom, impassioned by all the latest
news.  The three of them enjoyed thinking of themselves as the
rebels of the office, the rebels against the growing Nazi party,
though in truth, the only rebellion manifested in whispered words
and private conversations among them.

Everyone knew the power of the country was shifting like a wave
from a storm in the ocean heading towards shore — forceful and
sure.

The President of Germany, Paul Von Hindenburg, had a failing
mind, and political intrigue plagued the previous year, destroying
the young republic Germany tried to develop.  Political
parties squabbled over issues, never directing a certain
course.  Disrupted proceedings by the hundred Nazi elected
officials in Reichstag left a crippled government. Coupled with the
economic crises of the Great Depression and the desperately needed
reparations caused by War World I, the country yearned for
leadership.

Many people began to believe the Nazi party was this
leadership.  The party’s power grew and tensions increased in
Munich.  Facing reality, Eli and Aaron both knew a rebellion
to the Nazi party would cause problems for them in the city and at
their work. So political discord became a whisper, a nuance left in
the shadows where few could see its disturbance.  Adolf Hitler
offered decision and a better future to the six million unemployed
and, like a stranger tempting a child with candy if he would get
into his car, few could taste its poison while savoring its
delectable flavors.