Battle of the Rhine

The first two weeks after the move were not easy for Michael.He traveled across the ocean and crossed two continents. His carry-on luggage was very little, just two suitcases.The entire second floor was as empty as a storm, a bed, two chests of drawers, bookshelves, a desk, and an uncushioned armchair.The dull gray and white curtains are like damp wall coverings.Looking out, you can see two rows of houses and street gardens.The German artificial bees are busy, and the neighbor Muller takes care of the garden in his spare time. Michael suspects that he is wiping every blade of grass with a rag.

Quincy gave Michael a rental contract, four full pages, listing the terms in detail.The contract was written by hand, with smooth, beautiful letters and a slight slant, ten thousand times stronger than Michael's "dog-gnawed" font-if it can be called a "typeface"-.Michael found page four to sign with a ballpoint pen; Quincy handed him a pen and said dryly, "Read it first."

"Don't be so troublesome." The pen is heavy. Michael bought one when he was in middle school. Old Michael scolded him as a prodigal, because pens cost extra money for ink, but pencils don't.Michael signed his name as neatly as he could; he didn't have a middle name, which seemed rather informal.

"Read it," Quincy insisted.

Michael could only sit under a light bulb and read the contract.The words that appear most frequently in the contract are "prohibited" and "not allowed". According to Michael's rough calculation, there may be dozens of items, such as, "It is forbidden to play music before [-] am and after [-] pm on weekends", "Prohibited in any Put up posters at the location", "No nails on the wall", "No furniture on the first floor", "No garbage in the room", "No taking men home overnight without permission".

"Man." Michael read the word several times. "What does that mean?"

"If you want to bring someone back to live, you must notify me in advance." Quincy sat opposite Michael, and he has been sitting diagonally from Michael since then, "That's what it means."

"Who the hell am I taking home?"

"I don't know that."

Quincy folded her arms and wrapped herself in the dusty shag coat.Other prohibitions include no eating in the room, no dancing after eight o'clock in the evening, no smoking in the room... There are not many things you can do, you can take a bath, you can eat in the living room, and you can burn the fireplace, but the expenses are at your own expense.The water, electricity, and miscellaneous bills are settled and paid every month. Michael looked through the contract, "How much is the rent?"

"No rent."

"What?"

"I'll use your money to build the house, so you don't have to pay rent at the moment." Quincy shrugged his shoulders, as if it was very cold, and he was still trembling even though the stove was burning, "You cook your own meals. "

The refrigerator is divided and Michael gets half of the space.The refrigerator looked new, and Michael couldn't remember the last time he'd been in the kitchen with one in it.He opened the refrigerator and was not surprised to find it was as empty as the house, and Quincy put a pat of butter in it.

In this way, Michael began a new life.He didn't dare to mention the rent, he was sure that if he dared to mention the half-word of the one hundred and seven dollars again, Quincy would definitely go crazy again.Michael gave the red wine to Mr. Muller, and the German thanked him politely, but his expression must have suspected that the wine was poisoned.

"How did you and Karl meet?"

"Because of work."

Mr. Muller's wife was more direct than her husband. "Oh, we all don't think it's necessary for Mr. Quincy to rent out his new house...it's new, isn't it?"

Especially rented to an American, the subtext is self-evident.Michael scrambled eggs with butter in the kitchen with one hand. He was very good at scrambled eggs. Stir a little cheese into the eggs, pour them into the pan, and quickly fluff them up. "The neighbors hate me." He said casually.

"They were worried that you would rape Hannah." Quincy scowled. "Their daughter is only 13 years old."

"...How could I do that!" It was so unfair, Michael felt ridiculous and pathetic, "I fucking—"

"Yeah, you don't rape little girls, you only rape men," Quincy said, shaking again, "Mr. and Mrs. Muller absolutely smell you disgusting, nasty rapist... ..."

It's always like this, always like this, a sentence, a word, a look, can trigger Quincy's hysteria.Luckily without the help of alcohol, that's all.

There was only one person in the world who was genuinely happy that Michael moved here, and that was Charlie.Charlie came over to her brother's house on Saturday with freshly baked bread and a nervous little boyfriend.As soon as she met her, she held Michael's hand and shook it affectionately, "Hello! Mike, that's awesome. With someone at home, it's really much warmer than before..."

Michael has already started looking for a new place to live. It is most convenient to move back to the dormitory. He doesn't have to get up early and can sleep for more than half an hour.Sooner or later he would suffocate in this house, or be killed by Quincy.Every time Quincy gritted his teeth chopping wood in the backyard, he felt a cool breeze on his neck.

"Carl is easy to get along with." Xia Li was elated, "Don't think he doesn't talk, but he has a very gentle temper."

Franz probably disagrees with this, as can be seen from his expression. "Go to church?" Charlie asked. "I've never been to a Christian church, so I don't know much about it. But churches are always nice places, aren't they?"

Michael went to church, and the parishioners were friendly.His current relaxation is to have a drink with Oliver on Sunday afternoon. Alcohol is not allowed in the house, and before he goes back, he has to find a place to blow a cool breeze to dissipate the smell of alcohol.

"Is your new landlord demanding a lot?"

"No smoking in the house, no knocking nails, no singing and dancing."

"You still sing and dance?"

"It won't."

"The Germans are like that. They care about everything." "Little German" said, "You haven't seen my grandfather! He weighs even a nail, lest the Jews and Italian peddlers take advantage of him."

"I'm going to move out after one month." Michael stretched out his legs with a Camel cigarette in his mouth. "If this continues, I'm going to be bored to hell! I can't even listen to the radio... Another two weeks..."

"By the way, did you find 'The King'?" Oliver asked. "Is the address correct?"

"Yeah." Michael nodded painfully, "That's right, that's right."

"How is he? Does he look like a human? Let me tell you, this kind of guy is much richer than us..."

"His wife is dead," said Quincy Michael, feeling depressed. "Let's say she was frightened to death by the Allied forces. The plane bombed and blew off the head of her maid—what a pity, a weak woman... "

"You deserve it," sniffed Oliver. "You're soft-hearted, Mike. Think of London! It's been blown up everywhere, so many people's heads have been blown off. The Germans deserve it. If they didn't attack others first, then others would Will not attack back..."

Oliver was right. If the Germans could stay in their home safely, then Michael might spend his whole life as a cattle farmer in the Arizona countryside and spend his life peacefully with Mary.He dragged his heart and legs back to the red house at Quincy, and lay down early to sleep.Unexpectedly, on this calm Sunday night, he almost died.

Quincy clung to his neck, reeking of bad Russian wine.