Page 5 of Hearts of Resistance
‘Have a little something to drink,’ Sophia said, filling a glass with water and passing it over. She went to sit across the table, folding her arms as she watched him.
He sipped from the glass, slowly, and she smiled.
‘I haven’t seen my family,’ he said, voice low. ‘My father disappeared first. He was seen being beaten in his store, and we never saw him again.’
Sophia glanced at Alex, saw the grim set of his mouth.
‘And your mother?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘We were separated. She was taken with my sister. The only family I’ve seen since is my uncle.’
‘I was parted from my family, too,’ Alex said, his voice low. Sophia had heard the story so many times, knew it like it had happened to her personally, but it still cut deep every time. ‘My parents didn’t want to leave, especially my grandmother, but when she passed away we made the decision to try and get my mother and sisters out of Berlin.’
She saw Alex’s hands shaking and stood to find him a glass. She poured him a small amount of gin, and he took it gratefully and downed the lot.
‘Do you know what happened to them?’
‘I know that my father is being worked to death in a camp somewhere. He was part of the roundup. I wasn’t home when they came for us, and I hid until it was safe enough to come to Sophia. I’ve been here ever since.’
Alex didn’t share that he’d been told his sister had been raped, or the fact that he had nightmares every day about hearing her scream and being helpless to do anything before she’d been dragged away. Or the fact that his mother had had the butt of a rifle slammed into her face as she’d been taken. Sophia knew his guilt, had cradled his head and held him through so many nights, but he was alive, and she was doing everything she could to help him.
‘There’s little we can do once they’re taken,’ Sophia explained, reaching for Alex’s glass and pouring more for him. She took a sip herself, savouring the burn as the liquor scalded her throat. ‘It’s the ones still hiding here in Berlin who we can help. Sometimes.’
She watched as Alex pushed the plate back towards their guest. This time he ate more slowly, chewing each mouthful more carefully.
‘Thank you for risking yourself tonight to hide me.’
Sophia nodded. ‘We all need to do our bit.’
Alex downed the rest of his drink, and Sophia stood to tidy up, needing to busy herself and do something to stop from worrying and overthinking everything.
‘You might be here two hours, it might be two days. But this place is as safe as it gets,’ she heard Alex say.
‘I’d better get some sleep, then. It’ll be the first decent rest I’ve had in a while.’
Sophia showed him to her bed, ignoring his protests. She wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep until he was gone, and it was best that he was rested before he left, whenever that would be. She turned and walked out of the room, wanting to give him at least a little privacy for now. She had no idea what he’d been through, what horrors he’d faced in his life, and she wanted to leave him be.
‘Come here.’
Sophia went gratefully into Alex’s arms.
‘Every day gets worse,’ she said.
‘You did a good thing tonight,’ he whispered into her ear. ‘A wonderful thing. You’ve been so brave.’
She tried to ignore her fears as she stood in his embrace.
‘I have something to show you,’ he said, touching her hand. The smile on his face made it easier to push her worries aside.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
‘I’ve been working on a new place to hide,’ he told her. ‘I think you’ll like it.’
Sophia laughed despite her worries. ‘You’ve been working on something in secret?’
He shrugged, but she could tell he was pleased with himself as he opened two cabinet doors and bent down, pointing in. ‘I’ve made this false wall here, one I can hide behind. It used to be the back of the cabinetry, but I’ve moved it forward, and now I can fit in behind it and lie down instead of being folded in half in that damn ottoman.’
Alex moved back as she crouched down to inspect it.
