In the evening, candles lit up the dining room. They stood on the table between the meals, on the old chest of drawers under the mirror with the thick gold frame, even on the windowsill a candlestick flickered in the gentle breeze from the open mullioned window on the stone windowsill.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSezOTh9IhV
Pola beamed into the room. She was visibly pleased with the many bowls on the table. I was almost surprised that it didn't bend under all the weight.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRTqMgNcE7
Oleg next to her took a close look at everything and then fixed his gaze on his favourite dish. Roulade from the crust and filled with mustard and gherkins.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07ajF4jiGI
Nila and Hassan looked at me and David attentively.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXDvwOZlSW
David cleared his throat. ‘So ... The season has gone exceptionally well so far and I'm delighted that you're all going to get a big bonus next month. Without you, nothing would run here and Hanni and I wouldn't be able to keep up.’ He raised his glass of water solemnly. For Hassan's sake, we had skipped the wine. We would drink it later with Oleg and Pola in the conservatory. ‘No!’, Pola said and, unlike Hassan and Nila, didn't raise her glass.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPfKKusYbz
Oleg also shook his head.
‘We don't need a bonus. We have everything here. Flat, food, family. Keep the money and save it!’ Oleg rapped his knuckles firmly on the thick tabletop. ‘For a wedding.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jNIPjWEOH
’Oleg, we're not getting married!’ I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. The old groom with the weather-beaten face shook his head reprovingly. ‘It’s about time!’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuohC3eLG5
You could see that Nila wanted to laugh, but Hassan nodded as well. ‘I agree with Oleg. He's a wise man. Time passes quickly.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUStl3U9LrP
Pola snorted softly and reached for the spoon from the huge bowl of potato salad. ‘These are different times, Hassan. These Germans. They sleep together, but marriage is like a swear word. Back then in Poland, they'd be beaten to the altar.’ Perhaps in her Poland, but even there times had certainly changed and had become much less obdurate. ‘People do talk in the village,’ Hassan interjected in her support.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pKLnYaLiU
‘People talk a lot. And a lot of rubbish! Hassan, you just shouldn't listen to them.’ David grabbed my plate and passed it to Pola.
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‘David?’ Nila drew his attention. ‘You studied politics, didn't you? How far?’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPBYlphNQ2
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Up to a master's degree. I could have saved myself the trouble. Why do you ask?’ A year ago, he had raved about his master's thesis. I had proofread it and almost felt like I was looking at a text from my father when he was younger and full of ideals.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwUo03NdiY
Nila looked at me. ‘They're talking on the news about the right-wingers getting stronger and stronger. Should we be afraid?’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZaxIdgcY6
I swallowed. That was a question I was asking myself. Ever since the last state elections. I just didn't voice it. The fear of the answer was too great.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalJiQBdIbZ
‘Don't worry, Nila! Nothing will happen to us here.’
‘Even if the right wins the election on Sunday, they would first have to find a coalition partner and things are looking rather bad for them right now. No reasonably normal party will form a coalition with these arseholes,’ David agreed with me. ‘And even if they did, it would take time for them to achieve their goals if they didn't dismantle themselves first.’ He took my plate from Pola. ‘The people who voted for them will understand that too.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFaydnLrkP
‘In Poland, the right-wingers were such a stupid decision that they were gone very quickly.’ Oleg smiled gently at Nila. ‘You don't have to be afraid, little flower.’
Hassan leant over the table and pulled the bread basket towards him. ‘Still, asylum centres have been burning again. That makes you wonder whether it's still safe here. I don't want to have to flee again. I survived one regime and who knows if Allah will be so merciful with my fate again.’ A cold knot formed in my stomach. He had once told me everything while peeling potatoes. His escape. The fear. How his little daughter was so weak that she died just before the border. After that, I had nothing but admiration for him. Nobody could be that strong. Nobody could stand up straight after everything that had happened to him. At least I couldn't and I was pretty sure that he had left out some details.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5NM3tSZ3F
‘Is your right to stay still limited?’ David asked immediately.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIE1VVjz7W
Hassan shrugged his shoulders. ‘The mills grind slowly in your country. I'm already grateful that I can work.’ He used to be a vet and now he was a groom and rider for whom we couldn't be more grateful.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSqwjdQhWV
‘It's crazy!’ Nila had instructed Pola to give her a big dollop of potato salad. ‘They shout out foreigners and say it's all so bad, but then who's going to look after their old people. My sister said that they have so many migrants working in the old people's home. My parents also came here to work back then. There's far too much work and far too few people who want to do it.’ She blew a dark curl out of her face.
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‘When we came, there was a lot of talking too.’ Pola narrowed her eyes. ‘We weren't talked to. Or we were just given orders as if we were slaves. I remember when I came to Germany with my sister as a seasonal labourer and a farmer spoke to us as if we were too stupid to understand him.’ She once said that she had financed her studies that way. Unfortunately, it was never recognised in Germany at the time and she ended up working as a housekeeper for David's family after Oleg was hired as a stable manager.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpj8cEYW29b
‘Whichever way you look at it, there will always be people who don't want you.’ Nila sighed softly. ‘When is Katja actually coming back?’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw85DVc1m8
‘She wanted to come at the weekend. I think on Saturday.’ I reached for the peas in the bowl in front of me. ‘Do you want to come for a ride?’
She shrugged her narrow shoulders. ‘Maybe.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKarKkjR69v
’You're welcome to come along. Maybe Sabse will come too. She has to see if she can leave Nico with her father.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDXwpS2qeI
David took a deep breath. ‘Please! Not another one. I can't take it. Looking after Jonas is exhausting enough as it is.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4WE4DEWFa
Pola snapped as if on cue. ‘Take them to the kitchen! I'm happy to look after them! I did for you and your sister too. Did it do any harm?’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQWa96gkjn
David raised his hands in defence. ‘But you're not always supposed to do everything.’15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbk8K71pFCB
‘Are you saying I'm old, boy?’ She raised an eyebrow admonishingly. David, you've got the wrong end of the stick. David's gaze flicked to Oleg, who was chuckling softly and had the mischief deep in his neck.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9w0fHdiUZ
That's exactly what I loved about this stable master. He was always up for a laugh. ‘You've already got a bit more flab, Kochanie.’ He pinched his wife's side with a grin. He immediately caught a blow to his fingers with the spoon, followed by an insult in Polish.
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The rest of the meal was comparatively quiet. We simply avoided politics and celebrated the deal with the Luxembourgers.
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When Nila and Hassan had left. We sat with Pola and Oleg in the conservatory. Fireflies buzzed like little fairies across the dark lawn. You could hear the little stream rushing and the crickets chirping. It was a beautiful summer evening. The stars twinkled in a navy blue night sky. I squinted my eyes and tried to spot the Little Wagon. I had always done that with my dad as a child. When I moved out to study, I had promised him that I would look for the car in the stars whenever I could. He did the same and so we thought of each other.
Oleg uncorked the wine bottle with a loud pop. "Good wine. Is it even drinkable?"
"Let's find out!" David brought the glasses in and placed them on the small, round, white-painted table around which we were sitting. As he passed, he stroked my shoulders, leaned down, and pointed upwards. "There."
I had to chuckle as I followed his index finger. He had been the first to not find this tradition silly. It had almost become a competition between us to see who could find the Little Wagon faster.
"Not so much! I don't need to get drunk!" Pola admonished Oleg, who was busily pouring wine into the bulbous glasses.
He smacked his lips. "Good wines have to be enjoyed after they've had even a little breathing room! And I like you drunk, too.”
Smiling, I tore my gaze away from the stars and turned to David. He was sitting so close to me that I could feel his shoulder against mine. "Let's be like that someday!"
He returned my smile. His warm gaze fell on me through his thick, dark lashes. "Oh, so I should try to get you drunk too?" He lightly poked me in the side. "You can have that now!"
I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean!" I gently stroked his forearm and thought that this summer would never end. Last summer, everything still had to fall into place, but now, now it was simply sweet. Sweeter than honey.
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