Battle of the Rhine

Michael had a rough two weeks.His bad mood is like the dark clouds of early winter, gathering around him all the time.Gone was the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of the Yankee, replaced by sullen, angry, powerless, as if he had been cheated out of money.In fact, that's what the workers said, and that Fiennes had the "Munich students" scammed out of every penny, even the travel expenses back to America.

Mr. Franz invited Michael to visit his house, and Michael agreed.Mr. Franz's home is a typical German house, with hand-woven covers covering the sofa.Mrs. Franz is still knitting non-stop, and she says knitting makes her forget a lot of things.The pink yarn made a beautiful floral pattern, which reminded Michael of Mary.Mary wrote several letters asking when he would take Karna back, and she was anxious to take Karna to choose a dress. "We can spend Christmas together," Mary wrote, "and I learned to bake a European cake, complicated but wonderfully finished...she'll love it."

"I'm sorry, but I shouldn't be prying into your privacy. But what's the matter lately?" asked Mr. Franz. "You've been unhappy."

Holding a light beer in his hand, Michael hesitated.It was a cold Saturday, and when he went out, Quincy sat by the fireplace, wrapped in a duffel coat, slowly leafing through a book.They hadn't talked for a long time, and each had their own dinner.Sometimes Quincy worked overtime and came back after eight o'clock.He was in the kitchen packing up and cutting bread.Listening to those small and trivial sounds, Michael felt that the knife was cutting his heart.

"It must be for the girls." Mrs. Franz smiled, and changed the color of wool, "Mark and Alia had a fight before, and they came back with this look... It's a pity, they are a very good pair... ...Alia's baby is two years old and yesterday I saw her holding a..."

Mr. Franz held his wife's hand, "Could it be that you separated from the 'big one'?"

Michael nodded, "Yes, she and I—" He had to be careful not to get the names wrong.But what if you get it wrong?He's a foreigner, a stupid Yankee, born to talk nonsense. "I found no way to marry her, so..."

"You don't love her anymore?"

"No, that's not the question."

At this moment, Michael seemed to feel that he dared to admit it.You see, he can admit that he is in love with a girl, whether the other party loves him or not, he can tell the whole world what he thinks, even if he uses a loudspeaker to broadcast, he will only be complained by his neighbors instead of risking ten years in prison risks of.How strange!In his letters he kept telling Mary how lovely and smart his Karna was, and how he would like to be with her... In reality, he would not even cut a piece of bread for Quincy, leaving him alone Sitting in the living room with a tired body, drinking cold soup alone.

"I can't help it," said Michael, and the only sentence he could use was, "Really, I really..."

Michael didn't go to church on Sunday, but went to drink with Oliver.During this time he was drinking a lot, constantly.German beer is a little higher than American beer, but two glasses of beer are not enough to get drunk.Oliver and Vera Neumann were doing well, and if she hadn't gone to church, Oliver wouldn't have had time to drink with Michael.

"You can't fucking imitate me." "Little German" said in German, with contempt that made him look extra German, "Before I get married, you don't even have a girlfriend Got it!"

"I'm done," Michael said. "I've done a bad thing. I might go to jail."

"Fuck," Oliver put down his glass, "what are you doing? ——If you go back to America first, I don't think the German police will go to New York to arrest you."

"Me," Michael said, staring at the white foam of the beer, "I slept with a...a girl."

He had to use this method, which even made him feel sick.Michael Fiennes slept with a German girl, and it's true!Oliver was puzzled, "Oh, you slept with a German girl. So what?"

"She was a girl when I slept with her," Michael spread his hands, "I don't know, I didn't find out until I was done sleeping—"

"...I'm scared to death." Oliver made a cross on his chest, "I thought you killed someone, or embezzled millions. Sleeping with a girl is not a big problem, is it?"

"It's a pretty big problem."

"Couldn't you fucking rape—"

"No, I am, I just don't know...she was married, when I met her, she was married..."

"Then her husband is impotent?" Oliver curled his lips, "It's too tragic, married and still a virgin. Wouldn't it be great if she was willing to sleep with you? Her husband can't give her happiness, you come and give her. Maybe she thinks you're an angel!"

"I shouldn't have done it," Michael said bitterly. "I've ruined her."

"Fart, you idiot Christian." Oliver ordered a stout, he hated the taste of lager, "sex is a big part of marriage, that man's cock can't get hard, he's a sinner if he wants to—relax Heart! You're just thinking too much, old Mike. Do you like her?"

"……like."

“喜欢就找那男的摊牌，揍他一顿，让他离婚。然后你和那姑娘结婚。这不就完事了？”奥利弗乐观地说，“用你的大家伙让那可怜的女人飘飘Yuxian, this is a good deed! When did you become startled, I think it must have been infected by the Germans."

Surprised?Michael never thought so.He asked a lawyer, and the lawyer showed him the horrible law, and he discovered that it was a crime for a man to have sex with another man.What the hell is this called!Michael also wants to find a therapist and ask how to correct Quincy's wrong thinking.The therapist couldn't find it, but he found a pamphlet in the church, which contained some content: "A good Christian should abandon the idea of ​​adultery... Marrying a wife who believes in God can effectively..."

Seems right.During the first few years of his marriage to Mary, Michael never had any lustful thoughts about men.It's all due to the war. He lost his humanity and bottom line, and his morals were degraded.He took a booklet, put it on the dining table, and deliberately turned to that page, marking the key points with a ballpoint pen.Whether Quincy saw it or not, Michael didn't know.He was busy calculating his account, working out a minimum sum, and preparing to withdraw the rest.He had already filed a return report. He had been in Germany for a whole year, and he deserved the opportunity to return to the United States.

As long as he, the source of the nausea, was gone, Quincy would return to normal.Michael got a reply in early December that he could go back, but first to Bonn, where he would work until the end of June.Or, after all, Quincy had said that, for him, the journey from Munich to Berlin would have cost him half his life.From Munich to Bonn, the distance is nearly [-] kilometers, which is a long enough number.Michael half-heartedly let go.All that was left was how to make it clear... He really didn't dare, and didn't want to mention it to Quincy.Every time he thinks about it, he feels that part of his soul has died.