The Other Half of Life (14 page)

Priska climbed out of the pool. She wore a red two-piece bathing suit and Thomas could see the real shape of her body. She had a small waist that made him want to put his hands around it. He could also clearly make out the curves of her breasts. He looked away, not wanting his own body to embarrass him in front of everyone.

“Who's diving first?” he asked.

“Let's go by age,” Priska suggested.

“That means I'm first,” Günther pointed out.

“I'll throw,” Thomas said. He tossed in a coin, which landed with a plink.

Günther dove in and promptly resurfaced. “That was too easy.”

Soon they were up to tossing four coins. On Thomas's turn he picked the first three coins off the bottom easily but couldn't find the fourth. His chest ached but he forced himself to keep looking. Finally, at just the moment he couldn't stand it any longer, he saw it. He made one last kick, grabbed the coin, and burst out of the surface, gasping for breath. He climbed out of the pool and stood with his arms folded over his stomach.

Günther threw four coins in for Priska. She dove in neatly, barely making a splash, and was promptly back up with the coins, hardly even out of breath.

“Well done,” Günther said.

Thomas saw Günther's eyes on her, much as his own had been. Thomas motioned to where Ingrid stood, poised to dive. “Günther! Ingrid's ready.”

As Günther tossed coins for Ingrid, Priska came to stand next to Thomas. “What have you been thinking?”

“We need to have a look at the cane.”

“What for?”

“Maybe there's a secret compartment and he's hiding something in it.”

Priska's eyes widened. “Like what?”

“Gold. Diamonds. We already know he's a thief.
Maybe he's hiding valuables he's stolen from other Jews. He's going to sell them and either keep the money for himself or, more likely, give it to the Reich.”

Günther threw coins for Jakob and then for Marianne. She emerged from the pool holding her coins triumphantly. “Thomas!” she shouted. “I got all of them!”

“Bravo!” Thomas said to her. Then, lowering his voice, he said to Priska, “The question is how will we ever get our hands on it?”

“Hmm,” Priska said. “It won't be easy, especially if you consider how mad it made him when he thought that old lady had it.”

“Priska,” Günther called, holding out the coins to her. “Will you throw for me? Make it really difficult.”

“All right,” she said.

She scattered them at opposite sides of the pool. Günther was under the water awhile. Thomas hoped he wouldn't be able to get them all, since it was clear he was trying to impress her. But he came up smiling. “Got 'em. You need to make it even more difficult next time. Your turn, Thomas.”

Priska scattered the coins again, as she had for Günther. Thomas took a huge breath and dove in. Again, he found the first three but couldn't find the fourth. His in-sides felt as if they were caving in on each other, yet he kept looking, sweeping the bottom of the pool with his hand. When he couldn't hold his breath any longer, he had to come up.

“Almost,” Günther said.

Just as Priska was about to take her turn, the lifeguard announced that adult swim was starting. The group issued a collective moan. Thomas and Priska went to fetch their towels. Thomas pulled the towel around him, covering his stomach. Now that he was out of the water, the air gave him gooseflesh. He noticed that Priska's fingers were wrinkled.

A few of the adults had meandered in and were wading into the pool for their daily constitutional, much like the ones who walked the circumference of the ship each morning after breakfast. Günther ran back to the pool and cannon balled in, sending water flying over the edge of the pool. The adults shrieked and the lifeguard berated Günther. Thomas was certain Günther had done it for Priska's benefit, and it did have an effect on her, just not the one Günther had been hoping for.

A sly smile came over Priska's face. She said to Thomas, “I think I know how we can get the cane.”

Priska promised Thomas her plan would work. In the late afternoon many of the passengers rested in deck chairs on the middle deck, where the wind was not so strong, closing their eyes and often falling asleep. Priska armed Marianne, Jakob, and Hannelore with long pieces of string, and they dangled their strings over the railing, across the faces of the people below. When the adults showed signs of
annoyance—an opening eye, a batting hand—the kids pulled the strings up, waited, and then let them down again. With the game well under way, Priska ran to alert Thomas, who had been keeping track of where the
Ortsgruppenleiter
was. Thomas rushed up to him and said, “
Mein Herr
, some of the kids … they're bothering the passengers again!”

Holz scowled. “Where are they?”

“I'll show you but you better hurry.”

He followed Thomas to the middle deck. Thomas walked quickly, testing to see if his bad leg would slow him down, but he kept up with him. Thomas was certain his hunch about Holz was correct. Thomas pointed up to where Marianne, Jakob, and Hannelore stood overhead, giggling and dancing their strings across the faces of the people below. A few of the passengers were standing now and scolding them. The
Ortsgruppenleiter
narrowed his eyes and demanded, “Come down here at once!”

Marianne, Jakob, and Hannelore turned and ran. At just the moment Holz was about to give chase, Priska darted out from behind a deck chair. Thomas had faded back behind one of the lifeboats, and he watched as Priska reached for the cane. She grabbed it and ran off, calling, “Try to catch them now!”

“Come back here!” the
Ortsgruppenleiter
barked after her.

Thomas was convinced that Holz could walk just fine without the cane, but he assumed the man didn't want to
reveal as much. Priska circled around the whole deck in order to lose the
Ortsgruppenleiter
. She came back over to Thomas, jumped into the lifeboat, and handed him the cane. He ran his hand down the wood from top to bottom, feeling for grooves. At the same time he searched with his eyes for imperfections in the grain of the wood.

“Hurry!” Priska said. “We don't have much time.”

She leaned partly out of the lifeboat, searching for the
Ortsgruppenleiter
.

“Do you see him?” Thomas asked.

“Not yet, but hurry. You only have a few minutes, at most.”

With his father's tests, Thomas had never had a time limit. His face grew hot as he found nothing out of the ordinary. He had been so sure that Holz was a thief and that the cane would have a secret compartment.

“He's coming!” Priska cried.

Thomas grabbed the cane by the handle and, cursing under his breath, knocked it hard against the bottom of the lifeboat. He paused, cocking his head to one side, then repeated the action. The sound wasn't right. It didn't make enough noise for the force with which he had slammed it against the lifeboat. Not the amount of noise a solid wooden cane should make.

Before he could try it a third time, Priska reached for the cane. “Quick!”

Thomas reluctantly gave her back the cane. She popped out, assuming a charmingly contrite smile.

“Here's your cane,
Mein Herr
. We were just having a little fun.”

The
Ortsgruppenleiter
seized the cane and leaned close, sticking his finger in her face. “Listen to me, you snotty Jew girl. Next time I'll throw you overboard, and you'll be torn up by the engine into tiny little Jew pieces that even the sharks won't want to eat.” He leaned closer so his big face was eye to eye with hers before he hulked away.

Thomas climbed out of the lifeboat, his heart charging in his chest. He was on his way after Holz when Priska stepped in front of him.

“Just words, remember?”

Thomas wanted to run after him and knock him down for what he'd said to her. But it wouldn't get him anywhere.
Live to fight
, he thought.
Be careful, be smart
. He had to find out more about the cane and what the
Ortsgruppenleiter
was up to. He took a deep breath.

“It's hollow inside. I'm sure of it. If we could get our hands on it for longer … I could figure out how to open it.”

“There's no way he's going to let it out of his sight now.”

“No,” Thomas said. They had been so close.

“So where does that leave us?”

Thomas sighed. “Still monitoring him. Even more closely now.”

That night Priska didn't come up on deck. Thomas felt their night watch was more important than ever. They needed to listen for news about the other ships and the validity of the landing permits, as well as anything more they could find out about the
Ortsgruppenleiter
. Thomas waited for her past midnight, when the deck lights were turned off, before he finally decided to go to her cabin. He hadn't planned what to do when he got there, and he stood outside for a few moments considering options. If he knocked, he might wake Marianne. He could slip a note under the door, but he would have to go fetch paper and pen. He moved closer and put his ear to the door. Nothing. He moved back, feeling foolish, when he heard sobbing. It was coming from Priska's parents' cabin. Was she in there? he wondered. Had something happened and that was why she hadn't been able to meet him? Had Manfred or Kurt bothered her again?

Thomas heard Professor Affeldt's voice: “You can't just cry like this for hours. You need to stop crying and stop having headaches and start being part of this family. We need you. The girls need you.”

Thomas stepped closer to the door.

“I can't,” Frau Affeldt said. “It isn't that easy for me. I—”

Professor Affeldt cut her off. “We're on a ship headed to Cuba. In three days we'll be starting a new life.”

From inside the cabin came what sounded like the
pound of fist against door. Thomas jumped backward, his heart leaping. Professor Affeldt said something else, but Thomas couldn't make it out over the rushing blood in his ears. The door opened, and it was too late for Thomas to run down the passage and escape being seen. He was face to face with Professor Affeldt, who startled at seeing him.

“Thomas? Is everything all right?”

“Ah, yes.” Thomas tried to gather himself and think of excuses for why he was there. “Yes, everything's fine.”

“Was there something you needed? The girls are asleep. It's late—you should be asleep too.”

“I just … I overheard something … the crew was talking about our passes not being valid.” It was the only thing Thomas could think of that would be a good-enough explanation for his presence. Also, the closer they got to shore, the more he really did wonder whether they would be admitted.

Thomas expected Professor Affeldt to be surprised, but he nodded. “You know about this?” Thomas asked.

“Yes, I've heard something about it.”

“Is it true?”

Professor Affeldt looked straight at Thomas as if he was gauging whether he could be honest with him. “You're a smart young man, Thomas. And clearly you are smart enough to know rumors often have some truth to them.” Professor Affeldt reached out and placed his hand on Thomas's shoulder. “You're a good friend to my girls, and
I'm pleased you're spending time with our family. They need a friend, especially Priska. She may seem sure of herself but underneath she's still a young girl. I've always tried to protect her and Marianne, and sometimes I think I've protected them too much.”

Thomas thought about how hard Priska tried to protect her father. In fact, they were both trying to protect each other. Thomas assumed that Professor Affeldt meant he had protected them from the many bad things the Nazis did, but he added, “Frau Affeldt and I … well, we don't always see things the same way.” Professor Affeldt paused. “It's nice to know there's another person looking out for my daughter. Thank you for that. And for the girls' sake, let's keep what we've talked about tonight between us.”

Thomas nodded, although Priska already knew the rumor about the passes. Thomas wondered if Priska knew anything else that her father thought she didn't. He thought about how Frau Affeldt never ate and looked so detached most of the time. Upon first glance when he had boarded the ship, he had thought the Affeldts were the perfect family. Priska often acted as if they were. But now he wondered if much of her attitude was a charade.