“No, not yet,” Eva replied.
“Oh, good. I thought I would miss them.” Friedrich sat next to Eva and was silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke again. “Want to hear some good news?”
“Did the Australians win the cricket?” Eva quipped and got a chuckle from Earl, whose eyes were still closed.
“I didn’t know you liked cricket,” Friedrich said in surprise.
“I don’t.” Eva shook her head. “Zoe does. I blame Earl for introducing her to it and to Vegemite.”
“Australia is 5 for 250,” Friedrich replied while he unbuttoned his suit jacket with his good hand.
Eva said, “I thought there were eleven on the team.”
Earl’s eyes popped open and he looked at Eva, who grinned at him mischievously. “Was that an attempt to be funny?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“The comedienne’s union will come looking for their dues if you keep that up. Germans don’t have a sense of humor. And I must remind you that Zoe was eating Vegemite before you met me.”
“I already gave up my dream day job,” Eva said, chuckling. “And yes, we do have a sense of humor, but it’s too sophisticated for you Aussies. Plus, Zoe might have eaten it before, but every time you’re over, the two of you just about go through another jar of Vegemite.”
“Ha, ha, ha.” Earl leaned over and ruffled Eva’s hair. “You’re just too funny.”
“You were saying you had some good news,” Eva prompted.
“Oh, yes,” Friedrich answered sheepishly. “I got a telegram today about Nuremberg.”
“Oh?”
“Muller will be brought before the court in January,” Friedrich stated. Eva leaned back against the wall and grimly stared ahead.
“Well, it’s finally going to end,” she said. “Any news on Rhimes?”
“Hm, not yet.”
“I would go over there and volunteer to help in all the executions. Hang them and then shoot them,” Earl said and then yawned.
“Won’t Muller be dead when they hang him? What’s the point of shooting him as well?” Friedrich asked. “Not that I’m going to complain.”
“Just to make sure he’s dead,” Eva replied. “He survived a bomb blast in Paris, and he survived an exploding house in Larissa. The man seemed indestructible.”
They fell silent for a moment before Eva turned to Friedrich. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
“Not having it,” Friedrich replied. Earl guffawed and nearly fell out of his chair.
“See, I told you Germans had a sense of humor,” Eva laughed.
Friedrich smiled. “Why do you ask?”
“Zoe and I are having our first official Christmas dinner in Australia. We celebrated last year, but we didn’t have our own home and ate with the other immigrants in the public housing facilities.” Eva could not help grinning in happiness. “We would like to invite you, if you want to come.”
Friedrich looked down and sighed. “I’m not a Christian.”
“I know that,” Eva replied. “We want to have our friends celebrate with us.”
“I am honored. I will come, but may I ask one thing of you?”
“What’s that?”
“We have a celebration every year called Hanukah. I usually celebrate it on my own, but this year it’s different,” Friedrich said with a shy smile.
“Freddy’s got a girlfriend,” Earl sang out teasingly. Eva poked him in the shoulder and he stopped and rubbed the area, giving her a mock pout. “You’re no fun.”
“Behave,” Eva said, waggling her finger at him. “When is it?”
“Hanukah is held over eight days, and tomorrow is the eighth day,” Friedrich replied. “Elena and I would like to invite you to attend.” He spoke rather stiffly, clearly anticipating a polite refusal. “I don’t know if you want to come, but if you don’t...”
“We would both be honored to join you,” Eva replied. Friedrich had his head bowed. He seemed to be waiting for a rejection, and when it did not come, he looked up at her in surprise.
“Really?”
“Yes.” Eva put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
Friedrich leaned forward to address Earl and Henry. “The two of you are invited as well, if you want to come.”
“If it involves food, drink, and being with my mates, count me in,” Earl replied. He got up from his seat and stretched. “I’m going to stretch my legs.” He walked down the small corridor and out of the building.
Eva looked at Friedrich. “Did you really think I would say no?”
Friedrich did not answer for a moment. “Yes, I thought you would say no.”
“Last December, we celebrated Hanukah with Elena in one of the immigrant housing rooms we had to stay in before finding and affording our own place,” Eva revealed. “It was a beautiful ceremony, and although we didn’t have the menorah, we made do.”
“I am so used to prejudice and ignorance, but not used to being the ignorant one myself,” Friedrich explained slowly. “I have an apology to make.”
“Why?”
“Because I am a fool.”
“I don’t think you’re foolish,” Eva reassured him.
“Yes, I am.” Friedrich nodded. “I let prejudice blind me.”
“What do you mean?”
Friedrich leaned back against the hard wooden chair and sighed. “I fully expected you to say no because you were...um...”
“I was a Nazi?” Eva suggested. She was not surprised to find Friedrich thought of her that way. She was used to people judging her, but it stung nevertheless that Friedrich thought of her as a Nazi when he had to have known that she was nothing of the kind.
“No, I know you weren’t a Nazi, but you are a Christian.”
Eva smiled despite the serious nature of the conversation. “You know, Friedrich, I’m used to being called a Nazi, but I haven’t had anyone be upset with me for being a Christian before.”
“That sounds even more idiotic when said aloud.” Friedrich shook his head. “I can’t believe—”
“It’s all right. It sounds stupid because it is stupid,” Eva said. “As stupid as killing someone because they are Jewish.”
“I have done what I accuse others of doing.” Friedrich looked over at the classroom door, which remained shut.
“It’s easy to do.” Eva shrugged. “We all have our prejudices.”
“You’re letting me off the hook.” Friedrich wiggled his finger at her. “I’m sorry. Elena has told me a lot about you and Zoe. She loves you both and...” Friedrich stopped.
“You love Elena.” Eva grinned.
“Yes, I love Elena.” Friedrich couldn’t help but smile. “She has been so sweet, helping all these weeks, and she is a beautiful woman.”
“Well, that’s obvious,” Eva said.
“Yes.” Friedrich nodded. “Elena loves both of you very much, and if it wasn’t for you and Zoe, I wouldn’t have met her.”
Eva covered her mouth with her hand and snickered, hoping the noise would not disturb the prospective students in the classroom. “Or nearly got your head squashed or your wrist broken.”
Friedrich glanced down at his plaster cast and laughed. “Ah yes, that would be a reminder.”
“Talk about falling in love,” Eva said, which caused both of them to start laughing, heedless of the test-taking students.
“What’s so funny?” Earl asked as he came back from smoking his cigarette.
“German joke,” Eva replied. The conversation was interrupted when the door to the examination room opened, and the would-be students filed out.
Zoe and Elena were the last to emerge. They were greeted by their friends, with Friedrich giving Elena a very chaste kiss while Earl made gross “kissy” noises.
“Don’t mind him, he needs to sleep.” Eva shook her head and greeted Zoe with her own chaste kiss on the cheek. They fell in step together as they made their way out of the building. “How did it go?” Eva asked.
“Hmm, English
is a funny language,” Zoe replied, “but I think I did well.”
“Really?”
Zoe smiled. “Yeah, we had great teachers,” she said a little louder so Earl could hear her.
“Of course you did,” Earl said proudly, puffing out his chest.
Chapter Thirty-Three
They exited the building into brilliant sunshine. It was noon and the temperature was already overwhelming. Eva could see heat shimmers rising off the asphalt. She winced when she spied a youngster without shoes running across the concrete courtyard.
“Friedrich invited us to celebrate Hanukah with him tomorrow night,” she whispered to Zoe as they climbed into Earl’s car, settling in the back seat together.
Earl opened the door and stuck his head inside. “Hey, Freddy can’t start his beast. I’ll just go over and see what the matter is,” he said before leaving them alone.
“Elena mentioned that earlier,” Zoe said, referring to Friedrich’s invitation. “I saw this beautiful menorah at the store.”
“They would like that.” Eva brought Zoe’s hand to her lips for a quick kiss. “I had a very interesting chat with Friedrich.”
“He finally said more than hello?” Zoe grinned. “Elena is definitely in ‘heavy like.’”
“He loves her.”
“He actually said that?”
“Yep.” Eva nodded. “It slipped out.”
“He told you that he loves Elena?” Zoe said incredulously. “He can’t say more than two words to you without getting all shy.”
“I know. That’s why it was an interesting chat.”
“What else did he say?”
“He asked us to come to Hanukah, and when I said we would go, he admitted that he didn’t think we would accept his invitation.”
“That’s very odd,” Zoe observed. She snuggled closer to Eva’s side. “Did he say why?”
“Because I’m a Christian,” Eva said, giggling.
Zoe looked at her, a very puzzled expression on her face. “And that makes you laugh?”
“Yes.” Eva sat back, a beaming smile plastered on her face.
“I think the heat is getting to you.” Zoe put her hand over Eva’s forehead playfully.
Eva laughed and twisted her head away from Zoe’s hand. “He thought we wouldn’t go because we are Christians.”
“Yes, I understood that.”
“He didn’t say it was because I am a Nazi.”
“But you’re not a Nazi.” Zoe frowned.
“Don’t frown.” Eva smoothed the wrinkled forehead with her fingers. “For once someone has thought of me as something other than a Nazi.”
“Oh.” Zoe finally understood. “This is really making you giddy, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Eva said and pulled Zoe into her arms for a kiss.
“Well, hooray for prejudice against Christians,” Zoe snorted. “You’re finally going to start work tomorrow. Looking forward to it?” she asked, changing the subject.
Eva sat back, closed her eyes, and held Zoe in her arms. She had spent the last three weeks in orientation, then being moved from center to center so she could understand how the entire department worked. It was not really grueling work, and she had found the new employment very enjoyable. Tomorrow she was going to start work on a more permanent basis at the George Street Immigration Center. “I’m a little scared,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“New people. I’ll have to prove myself again… Silly things,” Eva replied. “I don’t know. I’m just a little apprehensive.”
“Want me to come and hold your hand?” Zoe asked, looking into Eva’s eyes. Eva tilted her head down and kissed Zoe.
Just at that moment, Earl got into the car and glanced at their reflection in the rear view mirror. “Hey, you two, stop that! My car isn’t used to women smooching in the back.”
Eva stuck out her tongue at him, feeling quite jovial. She took Zoe’s hand and held it as the car moved smoothly away with Earl at the wheel.
***
“You can’t stop smiling about that, can you?” Zoe said. She opened the door to their apartment and went inside, followed by Eva.
“No,” Eva said and looked at the pile of letters they had brought in with them. “Bill, bill, bill.” She flicked through the mail and stopped, staring at the envelope in her hand.
“Big bill?” Zoe asked from the sofa.
Eva did not answer but kept staring at the letter. Grumbling about giving up her comfortable spot, Zoe went over to join her. “Immigration Department,” Zoe read the English words on the envelope carefully. “Are you going to open that, or are you trying to read it with your X-ray vision?”
Eva handed it to her. “You read it,” she said nervously and started to pace. She could not bear the thought of the letter denying something she had dreamed about since she had discovered the identity of her real father.
Zoe shook her head and neatly ripped the envelope. Eva sat down on the sofa, but she was too keyed up to stay put and sprang back to her feet. “Evy, they’re not throwing you out of the country,” Zoe said.
“I know,” Eva replied. She started to bite her fingernail. Being thrown out of the country was not what worried her. It was the dreaded “I’m sorry to inform you...” letter arriving. “Read the letter, please,” she said.
Zoe took Eva’s hand and held it. “Don’t bite your fingernails.”
“Zoe, can you read the thing?”
“Dear Miss Muller—”
“I knew it! They didn’t give it to me!” Eva threw her hands up and started to pace. “I knew they wouldn’t give it to me…I just knew it… I wonder if I took my mutti’s maiden name…—” she rambled.
“Eva!” Zoe yelled, stopping Eva in her tracks. “Will you please sit down? Let me continue.”
“But...”
Zoe put down the letter. She gently pushed Eva to the sofa and made her sit. “Will you please calm down? I don’t believe I’m saying this to you. You’re always the calm one. What’s gotten into you?”
“I’m nervous, love. I’ve never wanted anything so badly before—”
“Never? Not even me?” Zoe teased.
“You were easy to get,” Eva joked and smiled through her nervousness.
“Pah.” Zoe smiled. “All right, where was I?”
“‘Dear Miss Muller,’” Eva said.
“What was your mother’s maiden name?” Zoe interrupted herself, her curiosity clearly getting the better of her.
“Mitsos,” Eva replied.
“Eva Mitsos? That doesn’t sound right.”
“Zoe! Read the damn letter!”
“Dear Miss Muller, I am writing to inform you that your application to have your surname changed from Muller to Haralambos has...” Zoe stopped for effect, which only made Eva growl. “I love it when you do that.” Zoe grinned and moved away when Eva made an impatient lunge for the letter. “Hey, you asked me to read it!”
“You’re torturing me,” Eva said plaintively. “Please read it.”
“...has been approved,” Zoe quickly finished and covered her ears as Eva bolted up from the sofa, screaming in delight. Ecstatic, she engulfed Zoe in her arms and kissed her soundly.
“Well, hello, Miss Haralambos!” Zoe laughed. “I do like the sound of that.”
“Thank you, Miss Lambros.” Eva held Zoe and sighed contentedly.
“Evy?”
“Yes?”
“Let’s hope the neighbors don’t think we have more Nazis in here and come storming in.” Zoe giggled. Then her tone changed, becoming so solemn that Eva’s good mood sobered as well. “I have something to say to you,” she said.
“Oh?” Eva pulled away a little and looked down at Zoe. “Is something wrong?”
“No, but I’ve been thinking. You know the story we keep telling people about us being sisters?”
“Yes, the one we keep mixing up,” Eva said wryly.
“Yes, well, they wouldn’t ask why we are so different if they
didn’t have to.”
“Right,” Eva replied, a little perplexed at where the conversation was going.
“Well, I’ve been thinking.”
“You said that already,” Eva reminded her. “You’re torturing me again.”
“I want to change my name to Haralambos, too,” Zoe stated very quietly, watching Eva in a clear attempt to gauge her reaction.
“Are you serious?” Eva asked. She had a feeling that what Zoe was proposing was something much more than just a change of name.
“I’m very serious. I know how much it means to you to be known as Haralambos instead of Muller, and we did get married.”
“I despised the name Muller, Zoe, but you don’t hate your name,” Eva reasoned.
“Yes, that’s true,” Zoe agreed.
“I want you to think about this.”
“I have thought about it.”
“No, I really want you to think about this. I would love for us to have the same name, but I don’t want you to give up your family.” Eva took Zoe’s hand and led her to the sofa, where they both sat down. “I didn’t know your parents, but they raised you, and they must have been some very special people.”
“They were special people,” Zoe said. “They would have loved you.”
“Well, why do you want to change your name? Nicholas and Helena Lambros raised a daughter whom I love more than anything in this world. You should honor them,” Eva reasoned.
“I just wanted to share the same surname with you.”
Eva’s frown was replaced with a beaming smile. It was not what Zoe had said, but the sentiment behind the words that made her heart melt. “You own my heart, Zoe.” Her voice broke a little and she swallowed as she held Zoe’s hand against her bosom. “I would love to have you change your name, but you are a Lambros, and the Lambros name stands for courage and love. I don’t want you to reject who you are.”
“I won’t be rejecting my family, more like joining with you. If you were a man, I’d be expected to take your name.”
“If I had never found my real father and taken his name, I would have changed mine to Lambros,” Eva revealed, much to Zoe’s visible surprise. “Don’t change your name, love. Please.”
Eva watched intently as Zoe bowed her head, obviously considering Eva’s words. She finally looked up and nodded in agreement. Without another word, Zoe rested her head on Eva’s shoulder and put her arm around her belly, making her sigh.
Where Shadows Linger (Intertwined Souls Series Book 2) Page 27