Read Online Out of Such Darkness by Robert Ronsson - Free Book Online

with a sofa and an easy-chair, and a work space in front of the window which overlooked Steinplatz.
    The windows were strange affairs – stretched vertically and arched, framed in dun ceramic tiles. The space within was busy with green-painted wood frames set with glass and strange harem-style outward-hinged wooden blinds that had no glass behind them. Leo mentioned that I should notice that the architecture was clearly influenced by Rennie-Mackintosh. Frankly, at that time I neither knew nor cared what he was talking about. I had very adequate accommodation and it was a lot cheaper than the hotel.
    Frau Guttchen even provided a breakfast of sorts with a slice of bread smeared with what she called butter. This was served with cheese and a slice of ham or sausage. It was a fixed meal for a negligible price and sitting down to breakfast was a good way of socialising with the other tenants and practising my German. There were four of them with, sadly, not a Sally Bowles character among them. They were all male because Frau Guttchen didn’t take women. According to Leo this was because the sort of single woman who needed this sort of room would be earning her living on her back. So the other four tenants were men. All respectable looking with administration jobs in one or other of the educational institutions strung out along Hardenbergstrasse.
    After breakfast, I worked through the day, except for my stroll down to the square for coffee. From my desk, in moments of inactivity over the next month or so, I was able to watch the trees in Steinplatz bloom and then burgeon with leaf. In the evenings Leo and I would stroll along the railway arches, dodging the beggars, and take in a low-cost meal with beer or cheap wine at one of many cafes that catered for the less well-heeled Berliners.
    It took Leo a surprisingly long time to mention girls until one night, over a plate of ham, cabbage and potato, he said, “Do you have a girlfriend in Blighty, Cam?” The building shook as a train thundered overhead. The candles gutted in unison, creating a theatrical effect of the building being tossed at sea.
    “Nobody special.” Luckily I was able to focus on the forkful of mashed potato in front of my mouth.
    “Me too. But you must need to … relax in the company of a woman some time.”
    “Not especially.” I dared not look at him. “You?”
    He seemed to be oblivious to my discomfort. “God, yes. In fact, I’m thinking of taking a stroll along Potsdamerstrasse tonight after we’ve finished here.”
    “Where?”
    “Potsdamer – the Bahnhof Bulowstrasse part. Where the … ladies are to be found. The ones you’d want to spend time with, anyway.”
    “Right.”
    “Mind you. It’s best not to hang around too late. The Brownshirts get a bit lively later on. Strutting up and down as if they own the place.” He looked round to make sure we weren’t being overheard. “Between you and me, if the National Socialists ever get into power, I’ll have to bail out of Germany.”
    “Mmm.” I nodded as if I knew what he was talking about. I did understand fragments of the political state of the nation but it was mostly too complicated and transient to bother with. You would invest time in finding out which of the minority parties was forming the government and in what proportions and when you had it all off pat another election would come along and change everything. There seemed to be no prospect of one party taking control – not in the foreseeable future.
    “Are you totally blind? My name, Leonard Plomer – what does that tell you?”
    This was just the situation where my eyes go starey and my mind goes blank. I shook my head.
    “My mother’s maiden name is Cohen,” he whispered. “Get it now?”
    “Right. Yes, I see. But the National Socialists aren’t going to get in, are they?”
    “Do you go around with your eyes shut? Why d’you think they have put out all these flags and march up and down all over the place?