“Yes, he’s right. I should be going,” I say, wanting to end this rendezvous.
“Are you two…?” Daniel asks bluntly.
“No, just friends,” I say. Immediately, I regret my answer. If I had said yes, Daniel would walk away. Luka had popped into my mind before I could think it through.
“How nice,” Daniel says. “Arte, if you don’t mind, I’d love to have a moment to catch up with Ella. I’m happy to make sure she makes it home on time.”
Arte’s eyes light with terror, but it might be due to the two of them not getting along well in school. I shared common friends with Daniel and there was a time when he was persistent about the two of us dating, though things never turned out that way.
“I’ll be all right,” I assure Arte. I’m sure he can hear the lie in the strain of my voice. I don’t want to cause any bad blood with someone on the Blue Police. He’ll take me home and that will be the end of it. Arte is hesitant to walk away, but my forced smile tells him he must.
“Have a good night,” Daniel tells Arte. “Nice to see you!”
His friendly salutation to Arte isn’t fooling me.
“How have you been?” I ask Daniel, hoping this walk and conversation go by quickly.
“Well, and you?” he asks, walking alongside me in the direction of home.
“As well as possible, I suppose.” I could only wish for an awkward silence to follow my response.
“You sure look beautiful,” he says, jumping right to his plan of attack. I should consider myself lucky that the night’s sky hides the sewer grime covering my bare legs beneath the hem of my skirt, and my black boots hide the rest. Since the city reeks of sewage from overcrowding in the ghetto, lack of running water, and broken sewer lines, the clinging odors seamlessly blend into the air, shielding the truth of my earlier whereabouts.
“That’s kind of you. You look sharp in your uniform.” My words come out dry and lifeless, hard to make them sound any other way.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. We should really spend some time together.”
“I work a lot of hours in my family’s store. I don’t get out much except for a quick walk before curfew most nights.”
“I understand,” he says. Without waiting on another breath, he continues. “Say, my family is having some people over this weekend. An end of summer hurrah of sorts. Would you be interested in accompanying me?” He clears his throat and coughs against his clenched fist. “I assure you the party will make you forget about the grimness of the city for a bit.”
I clamp my teeth together and catch the side of my tongue, anger seething out of me. The copper taste of blood fills the back of my mouth, and I regret telling Arte to leave. I should have let him walk me home. But I’m confident this conversation would have been much harder to steer if Arte was walking with us too. This city is grim because of the Wehrmacht. Who could throw a party to forget about life when innocent people are being starved and caged between walls just blocks away? I wouldn’t have expected his father could be capable of such disgrace.
“I’m not much into hurrahs,” I say, repeating his disgraceful word.
“Come on, Ella, you belong with the elite crowd. Come join us. There will be entertainment and life will seem somewhat normal compared to what we’ve all been living through.” This must be a nice way of calling my family poor since we live above our grocery store. Or maybe he’s inferring that I’m just another hungry Polish citizen with no rights.
“Your offer is truly hard to pass up, but I am in a relationship, just not with Arte. In fact, we’re likely getting married soon. My love is visiting some relatives for the next week, and so it wouldn’t be appropriate to join you as your guest this weekend.”
He clears his throat again. “My apologies for assuming you’re free. I should have known someone would sweep you up. You’re quite a catch.”
The fight to stop myself from making a sound or rolling my eyes is becoming painful. “Thank you.”
“Ah, how about the two of you join us when he returns then? Maybe in a few weeks? I would love to meet the man lucky enough to capture your attention.”
“I don’t think that will work out.” I speak too quickly. It’s a telltale sign I’m hiding something. He’ll read right into it.
“Well, why not?”
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Daniel stops walking and grabs a hold of my wrist. “We used to be friends, Ella.”
I yank my hand away. “People change. War changes people. I should get home before my father comes looking for me.”
“I’m quite sure he’ll understand if you’re with me. We used to get along great.”
I’m losing my ability to take a full a breath. He’s crowding me and I can feel his hand all over me despite shaking it off. “No, Idon’t think he will. It was nice catching up, Daniel. Have a good night.”
