“Frau Hermann, kommen Sie herein! Danke, dass Sie sich die Zeit für mich nehmen.” She gestured for Eva to come in.
“Ich warte in deiner Wohnung auf dich, Eva. Ist das okay?” said Krista as she backed out of the apartment. Eva looked around. Things did not seem very clean and she was nervous about her dress. She didn’t want to get it dirty. She settled on a plastic-covered kitchen chair across from Gabi after brushing it off with her hand.
“Sit down! Sit down!” Gabi said.
“I am sitting, thank you!”
“Ach, my eyes are not so good anymore. First the back and then the legs, now the eyes and ears. It is one thing after another. Thank God for my Krista. I would be dead without her.”
“You’re very lucky to have such a devoted daughter,” Eva said. This was true. Whatever else Eva thought of Krista, or worried about her, really, she was devoted to her mother. Although she should keep their apartment cleaner.
“How is your daughter? Your Elena?”
“Very well, thank you.”
“And I hear your niece Maggie from America is visiting Berlin again.”
“Yes, she is. She is here to stay, in fact, indefinitely.” There was a pause. Eva felt her face color. “In fact, I am going to see her tonight. Perhaps Krista would like to come?”
“I know she’d be delighted to. She remembers the visit with her so well. You know how young people are, obsessed with America, and everything American. But I don’t mean to sound disparaging. Your niece was so sweet to Krista. They are about the same age, and . . .” Frau Haufmann stopped, breathing heavily from the effort of talking.
“She’s welcome to come. We are all meeting at a café. Maggie is here with her boyfriend, Tom, also an American. And my daughter will be there also. Maggie and Tom were staying with Elena and have just found their own apartment. So we are celebrating, you see.”
“Are you sure it’s a convenient time for Krista to join you?”
“Yes, yes. Kein Problem.”
“But this is not why I asked to talk with you,” she said, lowering her voice. Frau Haufmann rubbed her hands together nervously; they made a rasping noise. Eva noticed that her neck was also lined with dirt. Why wasn’t she properly bathed? Her irritation at Krista grew. And then she wondered how much longer this would go on, the slow spiral downward. Her health, her everything. She thought of Hugo. No one can know how long. How long did it take Hugo? Even when she remembered more or less the number of months, there was nothing exact. The time of demise is a warped time, endless and nothing.
“No? Über etwas anderes?”
“No. Well, no. But I did want to talk about Krista. She thinks so much of you. She enjoys having you as a neighbor.”
Eva thought of Krista, angry and mean, the things she’d said about her that night. And yet, now, seeing her contrite and sheepish while asking Eva to come over and speak to her mother. She was still a child really, and behaved like one. But she was in a woman’s body now, and when she’d been cruel, she’d shown something else, something like the black liquid that Eva knew existed not only in herself.
“I enjoy having you both as my neighbors as well. Krista is often so helpful, getting my mail for me, for instance.”
“She likes to get your mail for you. She does.” Again, Frau Haufmann rubbed her hands together. And then, in a very low voice, “I am worried that I am too much of a burden for her.”
“I think she is proud that she takes such good care of you.” Eva looked at the old woman. She couldn’t be that much older than Eva herself, and yet she was so close to death. Her rheumy eyes betrayed little emotion, but her mouth was held tightly, her neck bent.
“She will get my apartment when it is my time to go.”
“Oh, Frau Haufmann! You are not going anywhere.”
Frau Haufmann smiled. “But as you know, this neighborhood is not what it used to be. I worry for her.”
“She’s young and bright and will make a good life for herself,” Eva said firmly. “You shouldn’t worry about her.”
“I am worried about her. This is what I wanted to say. I don’t see well. I don’t hear well. And Krista doesn’t talk to me like she did a few years ago. But she is all right? You think she is all right?”
“She is fine,” Eva said, and it came out easily. The lie. It was her job to protect Frau Haufmann, not worry her. “Don’t worry about your daughter. Take care of yourself.” It was true. The young, no matter how crazy and messed up, would almost always be fine. They had time on their side. Eva patted the old woman’s hand and stood up.
In the taxi, on the way to Café Einstein, Krista sat huddled against the door, decidedly away from Eva. Eva didn’t call anyone to let them know she was bringing Krista. For some reason, she felt she was failing Maggie again. As she had failed her when she and Tom came to visit, and she left with Hansi. But she tried to reason with herself. She wasn’t disappearing this time. She was just bringing someone who was, essentially, uninvited.
Krista faced out the window. She was trying not to smile. Well, it was making the girl happy, so God must be pleased. Eva closed her eyes for a minute and said a silent prayer: Thank you, God, for making this lost soul happy. Please show her the way to You.
“Does Maggie know I’m coming?” Krista asked, still looking out the window. It was a splurge, taking a taxi. Eva felt pretty and special in her dress. But she was also hoping that Maggie would pay for the
