The Day The Flowers Died by Ami Blackwelder

Autumn in Munich was always the most beautiful time to her. The leaves changed colors and fell beneath her feet. She loved to walk over orange, yellow, and brown irregular leaf shapes on the cobble stone sidewalk near her home and listen to the crunch. The skies were filled with chalky white clouds and streams of variant blues. She hopped off the sidewalk and onto the wet grass, lowering to the rose bushes aligned around her apartment.

She plucked a few of them with pruning scissors she kept in her side skirt pocket, a pocket stitched just below a dangling 1920’s German Dresden Wire Mesh purse strapped around her left shoulder. She chose it because of its lavender colors and flowery design. Her long brown skirt dangled over the grass and moistened around its seam. Her black blouse was missing its top button and it ruffled out of her skirt as she bent.

‘Rebecca! Rebecca!’ A man’s voice yelled down to her from five stories above. She placed the flowers into her left hand and glanced up against the sunlight, raising her other hand to her head to protect her eyes. She didn’t recognize his voice. She squinted to make out his face, his shape, anything, but no one she knew came to mind. She heard the sound of the window above closing and then the sound of boots clogging against the hard cement steps as he raced down to greet her. She placed the roses into a brown paper bag she nestled under her arm.

A man a foot taller than her with eyes chocolate brown and wavy dark, short hair stumbled out of the door. His beige wool trench coat caught the door’s latch as he fumbled with his silk embroidered pale blue tie which swayed over a crisp white shirt. ‘Rebecca.’ He said warmly. His kind eyes sat on his soft shaven face under thick eyebrows. He reached his hands out to untangle his coat from the door and rolled his eyes at himself. ‘I always get stuck here. They ought to do something about this latch. It’s a hazard.’ He says clumsily.

Rebecca glanced up into his eyes and giggled, holding her hand over her mouth to keep from being impolite. After a few minutes of awkward acquiescence, he reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out an envelope. ‘I meant to give this to you. It came to my mailbox by mistake.’ Rebecca reached her worn out hands with miniscule amounts of dirt underneath the fingernails towards the envelope and brushed across his soft, manicured hands.

‘Thank you.’ She said surprised and then relaxed.

‘I don’t think we ever formally introduced.’ He said. She smiled. Her summer sky blue eyes widened and her honey touched dark brown hair dropped over her shoulders. ‘My name is Eli Levin.’ He reached his hand out to shake hers and she cordially reciprocated. She stepped back, allowing him room to walk away from the door and like children with lanky arms dangling and not knowing what to do with them, they walked together to the sidewalk.

‘How did you know who I was?’ She asked. The sounds of the cars and buses from the street vibrated through the busy city.

‘I’ve seen you around. I live, ‘Eli pointed up to the fifth floor, ‘right above your room.’ He cleared his throat.

‘I think I’ve seen you, ‘Rebecca thought back in recollection, ‘two nights ago. You were coming in holding a leather briefcase.’ She said.

‘That was me.’ He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I get home late from work. I remember seeing you heading out that night.’ He smiled.

‘I was meeting friends for dinner. It was an unpleasant day.’

‘What do you do?’ Eli asked with curious wrinkles in his forehead.

‘I’m a waitress,’ Rebecca spoke with her hands, ‘at the local diner down the block.’ She pointed up the street with her out-stretched forefinger. ‘Do you know the place?’

‘I’ve tried the food.’ He said with a stressed smile.

‘Didn’t like it?’ She tilted her head.

He shrugged with a half gesture of uncertainty, ‘my friends enjoy the culinary experience there.’ He answered diplomatically. Rebecca straightened her back and wiped her nails with her fingers.

‘But you don’t like the food there?’ Rebecca caught him off guard with her blatant honesty.

‘It’s not my favorite.’ He fidgeted with his umbrella in his hands, ‘I’ve eaten there once, maybe twice and it wasn’t my favorite.’ His eyes widened, ‘except now that you work there, perhaps I might have a change of heart. ’ The corners of his mouth rose and he blushed in his audacity.

‘It’s not my life’s ambition, but it pays the bills.’ She said frankly.

‘What do you want to do?’ Eli emphasized.

‘I’m going to the University of Munich for nursing. I want to help people.’ She said with hope.

‘That’s wonderful.’ He played with his tie. ‘Are you about finished?’

‘Next summer.’ She glanced away into the street and noticed the cars rushing to get home from work. Then she returned her stare to Eli and brushed her fingers through her thick hair. ‘What about you, what do you do?’

‘I’m helping the family business.’ He kept his sentences short. ‘The only son.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘The eldest.’ His lips wiggled a bit and then he finished, ‘my father wants me to learn the business. I finished school at the university of Ludwig Maximilians a year ago, business school. Didn’t have much choice in the matter.’ He wiped his chin.

‘Don’t you hate that, parents choosing our lives for us.’ They looked at each other and smiled at her remark. Rebecca lashes fluttered upward towards the sky and Eli stared at her.

‘How about your parents? Did they force you into nursing?’ Rebecca laughed at his question and out of habitual high class expectation, covered her mouth with her hand again.

‘No, no. I fought tooth and nail to convince my mutti I was not destined to be a house wife.’

‘At least you convinced them. I can’t even get a word in edge wise with my father.’ The guffaw of both faded into a comfortable silence which they rested in before Eli cleared his throat again and spoke. ‘So, I guess you were on your way upstairs before I rudely interrupted you?’

‘No intrusion. Thank you for the letter. I don’t know what’s wrong with the postman these days. This is the second letter I haven’t received. At least this one found me.’

‘Let me walk you back to the door. It looks like it’s about to rain.’ Eli opened his grey umbrella in his left hand. As the umbrella cascaded around them, the rain began to pour and the sound of rain pellets dropped and slid off the grey canopy. Eli kept most of the umbrella on Rebecca’s side and walked her to the front metal door where the apartment ledge offered another kind of canopy from the rain. Rebecca reached for the door knob and then turned around briefly.

‘It was a real pleasure speaking with you. At least now we won’t be strangers.’

‘True,’ Eli smiled, ‘and if I get any more of your mail, I’ll drop by your room.’ Rebecca beamed at his suggestion with a certain flirtation that Eli was accustomed to receiving through-out his studies at university from interested women.

‘Perhaps I’ll stop by sometime later in the week,’ Eli said with a tone of propriety, ‘perhaps when we are both free?’ He paused for her reaction. She grinned and her brows rose.

‘I’d like that.’ She said. They moved in close without realizing it, their eyes peered into each other’s and their breath was close enough to be felt on each other’s skin and then they pulled away just as suddenly.

‘I have to go.’ Eli stumbled with his words and Rebecca turned to go inside while her long hair bounced about her. Eli took in a deep breath of her, the woman he had seen for months wishing he had the courage to speak with. He turned towards the street with a jaunt smile as Rebecca ran up four flights of stairs to her apartment room. The door squeaked as she opened it. The room was musty with a variety of room deodorizers. She pulled the roses out from her paper bag and took out a clear crystal vase to fill with water. She positioned the roses inside the vase and set it on her kitchen table.

‘There, perfect.’ She moved the vase a bit to the left and it sat in the center. She used a wash rag to wipe down the table and dust off her small vanity and dresser chest against the living room wall. She wiped off a picture resting on the dresser, a picture she imagined through the black and white exterior of a blond, blue-eyed doting father and dark haired, blue-eyed mother holding their hairless blue-eyed baby wrapped in a thick quilt.

‘I’ll see you guys soon.’ She said and strolled to her bedroom. The one bedroom apartment was small, but the furnishings were minimal and Rebecca preferred this, allowing more space to move about. After showering, she pulled out a plate of chicken with broccoli from the fridge, sat on her white sofa with her caramel colored robe and ate it cold while watching her British 1928 Baird Model ‘C’ television set her father, with adamant resistance from her mother, had bought her as a birthday gift a couple years ago after his business trip to London. He was always buying her expensive presents and could afford to do so even during the depression since his mind for business always kept his family living an affluent life style.

She sat with her legs curled underneath her, admiring the mahogany detail of the wooden rectangular shaped television styled in bureau like fashion propped on four long wood legs. At the high left and right hand corners clear circles covered with glass ornate and help operate the rare mechanism her friends were envious of her to receive. The reception came in by electro-mechanisms and though it carried no sound, the pictures kept her well entertained. She sifted through many channels of white fuzz until finding a black and white silent program. Her eyes drooped as she watched and she fell asleep.

The next few days Eli and Rebecca had caught each other’s glances in the hallways as one was leaving and the other was coming in. Each hoped to have more than a fleeting moment to spend with each other, but their busy schedules and hectic lives only allowed a few stolen moments. Occasionally Eli said, have a good day. Rebecca would smile and wave her hand motioning she had to depart. Sometimes while Rebecca had free time she would look in her mailbox on the first floor. Eli would brush past her in a hurry for work as she smiled and greeted him. But minutes were all they had that week. When the weekend finally arrived, it allowed Eli the time he desired to accompany Rebecca.

Rebecca nestled on her sofa in her robe in front of her television which was her habit after a shower in the evening. Eli knocked lightly on her door a few times. She pulled her hair to one side, letting it dangle over her left shoulder and pulled on her skirt and shirt before answering. The safety latch kept the door barely ajar as she peaked outside to see who it was. She relaxed as she recognized the face and released the lock.

‘Are you available?’

‘Yes,’ Rebecca tried to conceal her enthusiasm. She opened the door wider to allow him entry. ‘No duties to attend to? She joked.

‘Freed myself up.’ Eli returned the humor while mimicking the breaking of cuffs falling off around his wrists.

‘Freed from your business plans or your parents?’ Rebecca raised an inquisitive brow.

‘From parental expectations.’ Eli confirmed. ‘Besides it’s almost evening and my father doesn’t like me to finish up work on Sabbath.’ Eli finished the last word as he walked through the opened inviting door into her apartment room. He sat his briefcase by the door and headed to her living area. His eyes absorbedly gazed around and broadened at the presence of the television set.

‘My home.’ Rebecca closed the door behind her as she followed Eli. ‘It’s miniscule, but its mine.’

‘You’ve made the space very accessible. It’s quaint.’

‘Thank you,’ Rebecca went into the kitchen, ‘would you like some milk, tea or coffee?’

‘Tea, please.’ Rebecca brewed a cup of water in the kitchen which was separated from the living area only by the sofa she arranged there.

‘How long have you lived here?’ Eli sat on the beige sofa.

‘For three years, since college. I left when I was nineteen. My parents live outside the city and I didn’t want to commute. It makes it easier for me this way.’

‘My mama would never have allowed something like this for my sisters, away from home while attending college.’

‘I’m an independent lady. I’ve always been. I fought my mutti on it, but my father was on my side.’ Rebecca snuggled herself between the sofa cushion and a pillow sitting next to Eli.

‘Papa’s girl?’ Eli questioned.

‘My mutti is now used to the idea of me being away, though it was difficult for her my first year. But I had my mind made up and I wasn’t going to change it.’

‘You have a television.’ He gestured with his hands toward the wooden box eager to ask about it. ‘I’ve only ever seen one other in another home.’ Eli stood a brief moment to brush his hands over the soft wood frame and then sat back down next to Rebecca.

‘My father.’ Rebecca grinned and lowered her chin.

‘How are your parents doing since the depression?’

‘My father saves a lot and has been able to take care of tuition for me, but it has hit them too, even with their successful business. We can’t buy the luxuries we once did.’ Rebecca’s voice stressed the last sentence, ‘My mutti is still not used to that.’ She turned towards Eli with her lean legs moving closer towards him.

‘Why do you work then?’ Eli laughed in his question.

‘I told my parents I wasn’t going to take their money for living expenses, only for tuition. My father did not want me working. But I want to make my own way and found a job.’ She spoke quickly as if to get her story over with and emphasized her question, ‘what about you?’

‘I went in ‘24. My parents do well and we haven’t had to worry about money. As long as I followed my papa’s plans for my life, he paid my way. So even after the depression hit in ’29, my last two years of law school were taken care of for me. I have been working for the last two years at my papa’s firm.’

‘And you are a successful lawyer now?’ Rebecca’s right brow quirked upward.

‘I handle business law at the firm.’ He said. Rebecca met Eli’s eyes with her apologetic sensual gaze and Eli’s long lashes flitted as he approvingly watched her in return. Eli reached his hand out to touch hers and softly caressed her hand until the kettle on the stove whistled –toooot. Rebecca leapt off the sofa, forgetting herself and stood behind the sofa to take the kettle off the burner. She felt Eli’s careful eyes on her as she moved. She poured Eli a cup of tea and then one cup for herself, placing them on wooden coasters on her coffee table in front of the sofa. Eli sipped a few times and then stood in anxious propriety. ‘I should be getting back to my room.’

‘I’ll see you again?’ Her eyes invited him back.

‘Most certainly.’ Eli scrambled to the door and Rebecca slowly followed him out, waving goodbye as he scurried upstairs to his room. Eli took out his file of papers from inside his briefcase and laid them on his teak table. It was big, rectangular and in the middle of the living room. It was covered with books and papers resting on top of place mats for eating. He went to his fridge and took out his cup of juice and swallowed in one gulp. His phone rang and he raced over to pick it up.

‘Eli?’

‘Yes, mama it’s me. Who else would it be?’

‘Are you going to make it to the feast this year? You know it’s just two days away. I don’t like it when you’re not there. It’s not the same.’

‘Yes, mama, I’ll be there.’

‘It’s going to be real nice with lots of food and all your relatives.’

‘Should I bring anything?’

‘Don’t worry about it, son.’

‘Your place again?’

‘Yes Eli, of course.’

‘What time?’

‘Try to be here by six. I love you.’

‘Love you to mama.’ He hung up the phone and walked to the shower.

Rebecca cleaned up the cups from the table before snuggling into bed and wrapping herself up in expensive quilt bought by her mother. The alarm sounded when the sun barely rose in the sky. Rebecca lifted herself in slow motion out of the bed and rushed her bath before dressing in two beige shirts layered over each other and a long white skirt. She dressed her neck with a black scarf and then headed out the door, fastening the double locks, walked to the street and hailed a cab.

The streets were saturated with busy workmen, homeless and fathers struggling for their family’s survival. Rebecca, born into an affluent family with luxuries in her grasp when most couldn’t afford food, sympathized with the struggle, never flaunting her wealth and never fully understanding the sacrifices each man and woman made. Though her upbringing was rigid in polite mannerisms and social expectations, she remained as free as the flowers she picked blowing in careless winds. She carried a crisp white lace apron inside her school bag for the job she procured and would attend after nursing classes at university.

Eli tightened his button down blue shirt and fastened his dark blue tie around his neck before heading out to his office. The dark blue car he parked in the lot was still wet from last night’s rain. He wiped his window off with a towel and opened his door, laying the damp towel into his glove compartment. The streets were busy with vehicles and people rushing to get to work in the very early morning. Anyone who had a job was happy for it and employers were not taking excuses for tardiness.

Everyone felt the tensions of Germany. Families were falling apart, children were going to bed hungry and more layoffs were on the way. The future of the country was uncertain, except for the promises made by eager politicians. Eli pulled up to his building a few streets away from his apartment home. It was like a second home to him, filled with family and friends. He walked in with a big grin and a beige brief case swinging in his hands.

‘Eli! Just the man I wanted to see.’ A tall man with a short brown beard ambled up to him and handed him a few papers. ‘We need these checked this morning.’

‘I’ll get on it.’ Eli walked through the hallway passing a few doors until reaching the one with his name embroidered into a metal tag attached to the door. He went inside his office and sat down comfortably in his cushioned chair.

Rebecca’s cab drove her to university and she hopped out while handing the cab driver the fee. She frantically ran to her first class and then her next two classes until her academic day finished and she took another cab to the local diner. She rushed inside for the afternoon shift, pulling her hair into a bun and fixed it in place with a few bobby pins.

She walked briskly to the counter, smiled courteously at the cook with his head bobbing behind the pots and opened the cash register. She meticulously handled the cash, counting it twice to make sure it was all there. Then she pulled her apron out of her school bag, threw it over her head and tightened the thin apron string around her waist. She placed her purse inside a locker underneath the counter and the owner of the diner walked in through the front doors. His pin striped shirt dangled out over his black pants and loose belt.

‘Good to see you Rebecca. How is everything today?’

‘Good sir.’ She politely lowered her head back to the cash register and tended to her morning duties. The owner walked with a limp, caused by an accident some years ago and his rounded stomach, up to the counter and then behind it into his small office and disappeared behind the shut door.

The day passed usually long for the both of them until they found their way back to their apartment building just before the sun was beginning to set. The next day was almost as un-notable until Rebecca found an envelope waiting for her underneath her door after work. Eli? She thought to herself, and with innocent and unbridled enthusiasm she opened the envelope to read the letter.

Dear Rebecca,

If you are not otherwise engaged tonight, I would be very happy if you would accompany me to dinner. I will be waiting for you outside our apartment building at five.

Looking forward to seeing you,

Eli

A sure smile spread across Rebecca’s face as she read and then placed it on her coffee table. She showered and changed into a long white and pink dress with a flower print. She gazed out the window and saw Eli waiting below with his hands to his face, blowing in them to keep warm. She pulled on a marsh mellow colored sweater and skipped down the steps to meet him.

‘Eli!’ She said with giddiness. He turned around not expecting her so soon.

‘Rebecca!’ He walked to her and wrapped his arm around her waist to usher her off into his 1925 bluish Chevrolet parked on the curb. He opened the door for her and then entered his side. They drove down the street, past a few blocks and then over a road that inclined on a hill to a radiant restaurant with elegance caused from high lighting and extended windows which let Rebecca know this dinner would be expensive. Eli pulled his car into the parking lot and escorted her with his hand over hers into a posh dining facility.

The hostess glared at them under an elegant smile which hid the façade of propriety. She walked them to their table, careful not to linger too long, irritated in her movements, glared a moment, turned around and walked back to her position in the front of the restaurant. Neither Eli nor Rebecca noticed the discourtesy which had been so carefully hidden while wrapped up in each other’s own glances and emotions. Eli brought his hands up to his chin as if in prayer.

‘I must confess something.’ He whispered loud enough for her to hear and quiet enough for the nearby tables to remain undisturbed by his presence. Rebecca moved in closer to him, leaning over the table, stretching her hands out to his.

‘What?’ The light from the high ceilings highlighted her eyes as she played with her lips with her pinky as if she were undressing herself.

‘I have had my eye on you for some time and have been trying desperately to find a way to talk with you.’

‘I’m flattered.’ Her eyes squinted, ‘but what kept you away so long?’

‘Humility? Fear? Work? Take your pick.’ Rebecca laughed at his jester, picked up the menu and read over the items.

‘I think I’ll have the Roast Pork Loin with mushrooms. Eli coq au vin.’ The waiter noticed Rebecca across the room preparing to order and before she could ask for him, he was beside her. ‘I would like to order this,’ she pointed with her forefinger ‘and this to drink.’ She moved her finger to the water with lemon. The waiter jotted the order down skillfully and walked beside Eli. He cleared his throat while waiting for Eli to decide. Rebecca noticed the impatience of the waiter and flipped her menu open facing Eli. ‘How about this?’ She pointed to the German sausages with sauerkraut.

‘No, I can’t eat that.’ He said mostly to himself. The waiter flinched at his remark. Rebecca looked at him confused. ‘Pork.’ He clarified. ‘I’ll just take this.’ He pointed to the sautéed chicken with vegetables and then moved his finger up to his favorite white wine. ‘A bottle with two glasses, please.’ The waiter briskly moved away to fulfill his orders.

‘You don’t like pork?’ Rebecca asked naively.

‘I try to keep kosher. My father would kill me if I didn’t.’ Rebecca smiled in child like form.

‘Do you mind if I eat my pork in front of you?’

‘Go ahead. Enjoy. This is your night.’ Eli said and touched her unwavering hands, resting close to him across the table. An elder couple at the next table stared at the two of them in their unfettered mingling and then the look of disgust appeared just before they turned away and whispered in quiet.

The wine was placed in the center of the table with two glasses beside the bottle. The food was brought on expensive porcelain white plates. The chicken was placed before Eli and the waiter winked at Rebecca as he placed the plate before her with his back to Eli, hoping to acquire some of Rebecca’s attention and then folded his hands and stood beside the two of them before departing.

‘Will there be anything else?’ The waiter asked.

‘No, thank you. That will be all.’ Eli confirmed his departure and the waiter turned around and left.

‘This looks delectable.’ Rebecca began eating and Eli smiled, watching her enjoy each bite.

‘I’m glad you like it.’ The room was quiet except for the sounds of soft chatter and glasses clicking. The music was soft and the sounds of French and German language filled the air. Eyes circled around the room, over at them and then away again: eyes curious, eyes confused, eyes of distain.

As they were nearing the end of dinner, Eli looked at his watch worried.

‘Are you alright?’ Rebecca asked concerned.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m heading to my mama’s Sukkot feast tonight and I can’t miss it. She will be especially upset with me if I’m late since I missed last years.’

‘Oh.’ Rebecca empathized more with her facial gestures than with her words.

‘My mama makes a big deal of it every year and my relatives are expecting me to be there too.’

‘Maybe we should get going then?’ Rebecca recognized the gravity of distress on Eli’s face. ‘We can finish up. I’m just about done and then you can drop me off and head to your parents for the evening.’

‘You don’t mind. It’s so rude of me to be departing early.’

‘I don’t mind. I’m getting tired anyway. We can go out again when you have more time.’ Rebecca slid out of her chair, eager to encourage Eli to return to his parental expectations and he plodded dutifully with Rebecca to his dark blue car.