Newark Minutemen by Leslie K. Barry

Author:Leslie K. Barry [Leslie K. Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

KRISTA:

Bunkhouse. Camp Siegfried. Long Island, NY

In the bunkhouse tent, I bury my head into my sun-warmed skirt. Feels good to be out of the wet one. Something in the pocket crunches in my hand. I shake my skirt and the crinkled photo of Yael and me drops to the floor. I smile for a moment. Then my throat parches. If someone finds this, my next breakfast will be on a submarine to Germany. I tear a small opening on the underside of my mattress and slip the photo inside.

Out of the blue, a heavy breathing outside my window jars me. I cover myself with my clothes. I peer out the window and rub my eyes. Führer Vandenberg is scurrying behind nearby tents. Gott im Himmel! Was he with someone or alone?

Dressed in a clean uniform skirt, I’m about to leave, but another noise stops me. There is sobbing from the back. From under the cover in a bunk, Sascha’s strawberry blonde hair bows out like a scoop on an ice cream cone.

I sit on the edge of her bed and rest my hand on her back. “Sascha? What’s wrong?”

“I’m so tired,” she groans. Strands of hair ribbon across her face.

“Were you up late?” I ask her. Of course she was. We all had activities last night that have left our eyes red-rimmed.

“We took the Reutli-Oath last night. We unified with Germans around the world.” When Heidi and I were young, our father told us the medieval tale at bedtime about three men from different cantons who swore to unite against the Austrian-Hapsburg empire.

“We swore to all stick together in America and to eliminate enemies of the Fatherland.” Sascha yawns so big I see her tonsils.

They want us to stick together as Germans? “But aren’t we Americans?” I ask.

“Oh! They say it will all be the same very soon,” Sascha answers.

“What will be the same?”

She changes the subject. “And they matched partners last night.”

“Matched partners?” The pieces of a puzzle click in my head.

“Yes,” Sascha says. “They said not to feel ashamed if we get pregnant. Our duty is to have children so Germany can grow.”

I close my eyes. “Sascha. What exactly are you saying?”

“It was my first time and it hurt,” Sascha says. “Coupling for the Führer.” She forces a crooked smile. “Like Lebensborn in Germany. Giving babies to German families. Only here, it’s mostly for German-American families, of course.”

“You had sex?” My chest constricts. That was Sascha in the woods.

“Well, yes. It’s my duty to populate America with Aryans,” Sascha says. She hugs me and her damp face feels cold against my neck. “The nice part, they say, is we will all have babies together.”

With the sudden sound of a flock of geese scattering, Frank and two officers burst through the door flap. “Krista, you’re late for drills. Schnell!” Frank barks.

“Sascha isn’t well, Frank. She needs my help.”

“You will not interfere!” His plebe shoves me out the door. Inside, I hear Daggy’s guitar bonk against the floor.

“Please Frank, not now, not again,” I hear Sascha beg.

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