Field Study by Rachel Seiffert Read Free Book Online Page B

but they argue less and less, and sometimes when Jochen phones his brother, Hannah notices that he will also talk briefly with his father. And then, just before Christmas, a further health scare helps Hannah win him over. When New Year arrives, they fly with their sons to Germany, because Jochen agrees that it is right for them to see their grandfather. That he should see his grandchildren at least once before he dies. He sends them a letter, the old man, in response to the announcement of their visit. Brief, curt, and in English: Hannah uses it as a page-marker in the book she takes onto the plane to read to the twins.
    Since you are coming all this way, it would seem a waste of time to just stay in Frankfurt. I would strongly suggest that we pay a visit to Berlin.
    – Out of the question.
    Jochen nods at the letter over his complimentary drink.
    – Why?
    – Karl says Dad’s not well enough.
    – Did he ask your father?
    Jochen shrugs. They lose altitude slowly as they approach Frankfurt, and the twins rub their ears and pull their facesinto exaggerated yawns.
    – He wants to go. I want to go. You and the boys can stay with your brother. I’ll take your dad to Berlin.
    – It’s a bad idea, Hannah. He’s too old, ill. It will be a nightmare.
    – How do you know?
    Karl picks them up at the airport. Hannah tells him about the letter and he sighs, pushing the luggage trolley ahead of him.
    – He’s up to something.
    Hannah sits in the back again, between her sons, who are restless after the long flight. She tries to find rusks and toys in her bag and still keep an eye on her husband and brother-in-law in the front. Strains to understand what they are saying, becomes aware that she is the only woman in the car, surrounded by two generations of her male relatives: all tired and tense, with their shoulders hunched around their ears.
    __
    Her eldest male relative responds to her idea of a hire car and a road trip to Berlin with gruff enthusiasm.
    – Very good, yes. I am going to bed now and shall see you in the morning.
    The twins sleep in travel cots in the living room and Karl, Hannah and Jochen eat together in the small kitchen.
    – At least no one will print his stuff now. Even if he could still write.
    Karl rolls a cigarette, exchanges a glance with Jochen, and then tells Hannah:
    – That was the worst time. After reunification, after the Stasi files were opened.
    – He worked for the Stasi?
    – Yes he worked for the Stasi, one of their informers. Informal co-workers.
    – But he wasn’t the only one. Thousands of people did that, didn’t they?
    – Yes, of course, but does that mean he is not responsible for his actions?
    Karl doesn’t raise his voice, but his tone has changed. He looks at Jochen, then continues:
    – He was against the Nazis, he had suffered for the cause. I think he felt that this absolved him.
    Jochen opens another bottle and nods at what his brother says. Hannah sighs at the rhetoric, thinks the sons can be just as dogmatic as their father.
    – One of our cousins, Sascha, he wrote some critical essays when he was a student. Critical of the government, and so he was thrown out of university.
    – What did he write?
    – Oh, unkind things about Honecker: nothing earth-shattering. But they had been following Sascha for sometime, the Stasi. And then without a degree, you see, his career chances were ruined.
    – And that is your father’s fault?
    – Well it’s not certain, of course, but our father lived with them for a while, in Sascha’s last years of school. You never know what piece of information brought him to their attention, do you? Sascha says he read things in his file that only our father would have known.
    Hannah can feel Jochen looking at her. She keeps her eyes focused just beyond Karl’s shoulder.
    – Do you know what he thinks now?
    – No, he won’t engage with me. That’s what pisses me off the most. You just draw this blank with him there. No conversation, just