Read Online Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson - Free Book Online Page A

dared to come to Poland, we’d wipe them out. There were millions of Jews in Poland and we wouldn’t let that racial madness come into our country.”
    Ben emptied his mug and walked to the sideboard for a refill. He turned to face Catherine. “But life went on, Miss Lockhart. Every day, life went on. People went to work, people went to school, mothers diapered their babies, shopkeepers let out their awnings. Life went on. For us kids, we were in high school and that’s where I met my beautiful Hannah. Shall I tell you about my Hannah?”
    Catherine put her hands together and her expression said “not really” before she even spoke. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Ben, because I don’t want you to get upset with me and start to scold me about a lawyer’s function, but we’ve been meeting for two hours and I don’t think we’re getting any closer to filling in the blanks on your stolen property. Could we just focus on that issue, please?”
    “You do me a disservice, Miss Lockhart. I am filling in the blanks. I know what the blanks are, you don’t.”
    “I have time pressures, Ben. Please understand.”
    “Hannah’s important to my story.”
    Catherine slowly lifted her hands in a defensive posture. “Very well. Tell me about Hannah.”
    Ben nodded and smiled. “All right then. I know you’ll be quite fond of Hannah when I tell you about her. Everyone who’s ever met her has fallen in love with her. Hannah’s family moved to Zamość when I was almost sixteen. I was in secondary school and immersed in my studies. My parents expected me to go to the university and be a professional. I was a top student, you know.”
    He tilted back in his chair with a smile.
    “One day, there she is, a new student taking a seat in the back of the classroom. I think to myself she’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, but of course, I’m way too shy to speak to her. Days go by. I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She sits a few rows behind me, so I look for excuses to turn around in my seat. Sometimes I think she catches me and my face turns red. I smile. She smiles back. Whenever other boys talk to her or make her laugh, I’m ravaged by jealousy but, again, I’m too shy to do a darn thing about it. I curse myself for my weakness and my social clumsiness.
    “Otto, on the other hand, is just the opposite. He’s mister popularity at his school. He’s a big handsome, blonde kid and he knows how to talk to girls. He goes to all the school parties and he always has a girlfriend.
    “One Sunday afternoon, when I’m being exceptionally lazy, lounging on my bed and bouncing a ball off the wall, my mother walks in and announces that she has invited the new doctor and his family to dinner. When she says it’s the Weissbaums, I nearly have a heart attack.
    “‘I hear they have a daughter Hannah and she’s in your class,’ my mother says. ‘Do you know her?’
    “I try to be nonchalant. ‘Maybe. I think so.’
    “All day long I work, helping my mother clean the house. I polish the silver. I dust her antiques and vacuum her oriental rugs. I cut flowers for the vases and prune the window boxes. She’s never seen me so enthusiastic and it doesn’t take long before she gets the idea.
    “‘I thought you were tired today, Benjamin,’ she says. ‘This Hannah, is she somebody special?’
    “I must have blushed because my mother has a mischievous twinkle in her eye before she turns to go into the other room.
    “When the Weissbaums arrive, I rush to open the door. Hannah smiles so confidently. She’s dazzling. Otto, of course, instantly engages her in conversation and I am hopelessly jealous. How does he do that? Damn him, he has enough girlfriends. This is my secret love!
    “My mother serves hors d’oeuvres in the living room, cocktails for the adults, punch for the kids, and while everyone is milling about, Hannah says to me, ‘Ben, did you understand this week’s math lesson?’
    “‘Of course,’ I