Page 76 - To Family with Love

Thomases – just listen to this – now that we have our own state and are not oppressed by foreigners, withdrew their money, I just kept on investing. So now, when I add up all that interest and the principal amount, it turns out that I have seven hundred thou- sand marks which, truth be told, I am not currently able to with- draw due to the war and other objective circumstances. And as the scent of wealth tends to spread around like children’s wishes in a toy store, the bandit scum immediately sniffed me out, and now they’re asking me for seven hundred thousand convertible marks, in twenty and fifty mark bills nonetheless, and they also want a Darwil watch just like your mother’s.
Of course, he won’t give them the money, although he could, but he’s not crazy. He will not inform the police because something tells him that someone from the police could be in- volved in all that, but he will go to the appointed place alone, so that he can finally put an end to that gang.
− Does it really say that?
− Word for word!
My old lady stared at him intensely, marveling at his cour-
age and sighing anxiously.
I fell silent, and then it hit me that we had lost my old man
irretrievably and forever, because against that kind of liar the truth was a rusty and small weapon, and I had no ace up my sleeve. But then, little by little, mom began expressing doubt in the story, especially in the amount and even more so his courage, so it seemed like their relationship had hit its first bump in the road, seemingly opening up the possibility of my old man getting back in the picture.
At that exact moment, the salesman said:
− Okay, please pay up!
My ma and I threw ourselves under the seats at the same
time, looking for at least one good reason not to pay on the car floor, and since we searched for it for quite a long time, we even-
76