Chapter Four
Mr. and Mrs. Deutsch were immigrants from Berlin. The story was
told that they arrived together years ago without money or food at Mrs.
Greenleaf’s open door, emphatically demanding a position as double-threat
housekeepers in return for a small allowance and an apartment. Mrs. Greenleaf’s
then resident husband realized the opportunity was a blessing in disguise. It
would relieve him of the time consuming task of cleaning the place himself, so
he gave them the job while his wife was at her gym class. The Germans
shook hands with Mr. Greenleaf and sternly marched to their newly appointed
rooms on the third floor, with a sense of duty that appeared to be handed down
as a commandment from Herr Gott.
Their command of English was pidgin. It had
not improved much through the passing years, with the result that no one felt
comfortable conversing with them and vice versa. Mrs. Greenleaf was so
frustrated with Mr. Greenleaf and her new German immigrants that she rarely
spoke to them. They marched around the place as if they were in charge,
muttering in their native language as they worked. No one dared drop a wrapper
or spill a drink in that building, for if it was spotted by either of the
Deutsch duo, there would be hell to pay.
As Levene reached his
apartment door he as usual threw the contents of the drink Mrs. Greenleaf had
given him into the huge banana tree plant that grew in an old (and clean)
wooden box outside his door. Over the many years Levene lived in that
building the tree had grown to a monstrous height. It’s broad, heavy leaves
smelled of the sweet drinks he gifted it with. Complaints to Mr. Deutsch didn’t
help. The old man only barked something unintelligible and made motions with
his hands to let Levene know that cutting back overgrown plants was not in his
contract. That left Levene no choice but to speak with Mrs. Greenleaf, which he
could not bring himself to do. What if she guessed her healthy elixirs were
nourishing the banana tree and not him?
He pushed the huge impediments angrily aside so he could enter his
rooms. Once safe within his messy rooms he breathed a sigh of relief and spread
out his lunch over his maps of Russia. A huge country with over six million
miles of expanse, much of it still wild country once inhabited by Goths,
Khazars and other ancient groups. A trip on the Trans-Siberian railway train
would cover more than one-third of our globe, end to end. To traverse the
almost one thousand miles of track the passengers would remain in continuous jostling
motion for a full week.
“Really easy to get lost in,” Levene mumbled as he stuffed corned
beef into his mouth. “Maybe that’s where all my relatives went. Into some
huts in the wide expanse of Ekaterinaburg or along the Don.”
