Armageddon_ A Novel of Berlin - Leon Uris [159]
Winter chilled the air. The cold brought new terrors as the great forests of the city dropped their leaves and the waters of her seventeen lakes danced under wind-whipped whitecaps. It was that time of year when heavy gray clouds looked eternal and sleet and snow poured from their misery.
Schools and factories closed, transportation froze to an agonized trickle. The old died in bed of freezing and the young lay under piles of rags and papers in numbed confusion.
Berlin was a spawning ground for those who lived best in slime and who moved best in shadows... . Hildegaard Falkenstein was drawn to them.
It began, innocently enough, with an accidental meeting of an old schoolmate, Elke Handfest, who had also been in her troop of Hitler Youth.
Before the war Elke was remembered by Hildegaard as plump, acned, and homely. Elke covered her physical misfortunes with a riotous sense of humor with which she played out the part of a buffoon. Her humor was a defense created out of sorrow, but proved of great value later.
Elke’s search for love taught her that, as a woman, there were things men wanted from her and many would overlook her appearance if she supplied the commodity liberally.
In the wild years of the war, Elke Handfest plunged from one affair to another. Although she looked quite presentable now, her humor had deepened to a morbid and scathing kind of self-damnation. She had been forced into sex for recognition; she had never received happiness from it. The more she tried to find its pleasure, the more it eluded her, the more it all became distasteful. And she drifted powerfully toward her own sex and began to find it fulfilling.
When the Amis dispossessed the Falkenstein family from their Dahlem home, chance placed them near where Elke lived with her aged and helpless parents.
At first meeting Elke was excited by Hilde’s beauty and encouraged a renewal of their friendship. Little by little, Elke revealed tangible evidences of good fortune.
“Elke! Where did you get this Ami cigarette?”
“Just enjoy it.”
“I insist on knowing.”
“Where does anyone get anything these days?”
The black market?”
“No. More of an exchange market.”
“Elke, stop teasing me. I’ve smelled your perfume and I’ve drunk real coffee and tasted real butter.”
“I have good friends. Perhaps some day I will introduce you to them.”
“Today.”
“You were always jealous of anyone having anyone or anything you didn’t.”
“It’s been so long, Elke.”
Maybe long enough, Elke thought. Maybe she is hungry enough to want these things. “I must think about it, Hilde. Why don’t we visit in a few days and I’ll let you know.”
Hildegaard thought of it too; she thought of little else ... cigarettes, coffee, silk underwear. Elke’s luxuries gnawed at her innards.
Elke, too, thought of little else. She appraised her own situation with murderous objectivity. She was neither as beautiful as Hilde nor even very pretty. The competition among women in Berlin was growing unbelievable. The first harbingers of winter pushed more and more out on the streets. Elke wondered how long she could last under the competition.
The physical beauty of Hilde thrilled her, but she knew she had to approach that with care. First, she had to let Hilde’s greed trap her. Then she would train Hilde carefully.
With a partner like Hildegaard Falkenstein and her own connections she could make her life last much longer. Her fulfillment with Hilde would come later.
“So, you are still interested in knowing my friends? “
“Yes.”
“It is a matter of taking dates with occupation soldiers.”
“You mean, sleep with them.”
Elke shrugged. “It is better than working on a rubble pile. Besides, I have my parents to keep alive.”
“Do you ... walk the streets?”
“Of course not. That is for the old hens. I have one of the best connections in Berlin to arrange my dates.”
Hildegaard pondered it for days. Elke Handfest lived well under the