Come Back To Us - 5. Chapter 5

“You know, I don’t think lying is actually a good idea…the Lieutenant General is quite clever; he will never buy our lie… Besides, he knows this has already happened once. Thank God he didn’t catch you red-handed while you were fighting…”

Karl knew he was right. He may have not known the ma as well as he did, but his intervention last time had been enough.

“I don’t want you to lie for me anyway. It’s between me and that jerk. Neither you nor the others have anything to do with it.”

Jørgen looked almost shocked. He only smirked as he glanced at him.

As they were heading to their respective classrooms they came across someone Karl wished they could have not run into. Not because he didn’t like him, but because he knew he was going to question him about his bruised face…and they didn’t need that… Now that their eyes met, it was too late…they couldn’t keep walking and pretend he hadn’t just seen him.

“What happened?” He looked baffled as the words left his mouth.

“Nothing. I mean nothing serious…”

He glanced at Jørgen for help.

“It’s my fault…I could have prevented the fight…”

He looked even more shocked now.

“The fight…? What fight are you talking about? What the freaking hell happened?”

“He and another roommate had a small argument…”

“A small argument…are you freaking kidding me? A small argument doesn’t end up with a black eye!”

“It could have been worse-”

“Consider yourself as lucky that it wasn’t!”

“It won’t happen again, I swear. Just please, don’t penalize Karl.”

Said male was impressed to hear how well he spoke English.

“Because you were the one to start the fight?!”

Really? What could he say now? That he was sorry? That it was stupid? That he wouldn’t do it again? He could have said all of these things. But he just didn’t feel like saying them. So he just shrugged, probably looking like he didn’t care at all, but could he really be blamed?

That jerk had been the one to start the whole thing anyway. So he should be the only one to blame.

He didn’t look that shocked anymore. He kind of looked like he would have preferred not to have to deal with that.

“If Danes start fighting each other now, where are we going?”

“Just because we fight for the same cause doesn’t mean we can all get along. We’re not the same, we have different personalities, different backgrounds. We just need to find a good balance.

He just stared at them silently for a little while before he sighed.

“Sorry, but I can’t keep this kind of thing to myself.”

“Don’t bother, we’re going to say it ourselves.”

Karl’s tone was firm. There was nothing kind in it. He may have sounded rude, but he couldn’t help it. He walked past him, without waiting for Jørgen.

“Don’t take it this way. I-”

“I take it like I want,” he stopped and turned around abruptly.

Edgar looked too scared to talk back.

Karl just walked away.

“Karl! Karl!”

Karl couldn’t remember having ever acted so cold, but he was too caught up in that character to go back to his normal self. He considered himself as kind, always ready to help people, but this was definitely not the case right now.

“Wait! What are you going to do?”

“Tell the lieutenant-general directly. I won’t wait for someone to tell him, I’m gonna take responsibility for what happened.

“Alright. You deserve credit for it, but you can’t go now! If you do you’re going to miss your classes. It can wait until tonight.”

“No. Between now and tonight he will have plenty of opportunities to tell him before I can. W have to find him now.”

His silence seemed to reflect his resignation.

“Do you know where we can find him?”

It took him a few moments to reply.

“He must have left his quarters at such an hour. I know he has a habit of going for a long walk outside quite early in the morning before getting to work, even in the worst weather… If the timing is right, he must be going back inside at that moment.”

“Perfect.”

They headed toward the entrance of the main building and just like Jørgen had said it, the man they were looking for was walking through the door. He stopped as their eyes met and looked surprised to see them there.

“Sir.”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

He guessed it wasn’t the right time to exchange greetings.

But he must have already guessed just by seeing his face anyway…

“I was the one to start the fight.”

He wasn’t even afraid, though he guessed he should have been. The silence was heavy, and his gaze spoke for itself. It looked like there were no words good enough to describe his behavior.

“Let me remind you one thing, young man. We are here to free our country and to fight against the Germans, not to fight amongst ourselves.”

For some strange reason, he was reminding him of his mother when she was unhappy…

“He insulted my mother. She may have many flaws, but she’s not a whore.”

His words left him speechless. Sometimes, Karl wished he could read people’s minds, just to know what secrets they tried to hide so hard behind their looks.

He cleared his throat after a while.

“Go to work now. I don’t want you to be late. Being on time is one of the most important things here.”

“What are you going to do?”

Their eyes met again.

“You’ll see in time. Now get going.”

“Come, Karl,” he put one hand on his shoulder as he spoke.

There was something in that man that he couldn’t get right. But he just decided to shrug it off.

He had enough things on his mind already to get a sudden interest in that man.

***

That same evening, they didn’t see Dierk once they were back to the dorms.

“What happened? I mean where is he?”

“He was transferred to another station, to avoid further conflict,” one of the men explained. “So you can sleep without fear. We’re sorry we didn’t stand up for you. But you proved you could fend for yourself.”

So it means they were finally ready to accept him? Because they didn’t show any sign of goodwill with regard to him…

“Come,” he added as he put one hand on his upper back. “It’s Friday night today.”

“And so what?”

“It means we forget why we’re here,” another one answered. He turned his head to glance at Jørgen who only smiled at him.

How could they forget why they were there in the first place?

“How…?”

He soon understood what that Friday night consisted of. And…well, he didn’t like it. Not at all.

They shared personal memories. Whether they were stories that had happened to them personally or about their families. His jaw clenched mechanically and he couldn’t do anything about it. His lips were pressed in a thin line and his gaze was blank, lost into the void as he seemed to be invisible among the echo of the loud voices. He didn’t say a word, wouldn’t, couldn’t.Even if his eyes didn’t show anything, his heart was crying.

At one point he couldn’t take it any longer. He guessed he should have been happy to be with other Danes talking about things related to home, but he really couldn’t.

He looked at Jørgen who shared his own stories as well, eliciting laughs and joy from the other men. It seemed to make him feel good to talk so freely to people that could relate to him. He captivated his audience when he spoke, his positivity, joy, and energy were catching, like extremely catching.

Unfortunately, this time it didn’t work on him. His spell didn’t do its thing.

He didn’t want to ruin the moment. He didn’t draw anyone’s attention to him. He just left quietly and wandered through the desert corridors, like a ghost who no longer had a home.

He thought the walk would help, but it didn’t. After going around the entire building several times, he ended up sitting down in one of the long corridors, leaning against the wall, finding nothing better to do. He was sure his roommates still hadn’t noticed he was gone.

He wished his head could stop thinking; there were memories he’d rather forget, and others that would be best to leave aside for now.

But his brain was stubborn.

He lost track of time. He just noted it seemed to pass so slowly.

“What are you doing here all alone at such an hour?”

He started slightly as he heard the voice he couldn’t forget. He looked up to see the men standing near him.

What was he doing here? Trying to accept the pain and reality? Definitely.

“I wanted to be alone for a while.”

He stared at him silently for a while as he was himself trying to read his mind.

“Have you got problems with some of your other roommates?”

Why did he care about it anyway?

“No. Everything’s fine with the others.”

But he didn’t look convinced by his answer…

“Why are you here then?”

“Because I like some solitude. And it’s not exactly what you can get with six people surrounding you. But it’s not against them at all. I have nothing to reproach them with.”

Whether he was convinced or not anyway, he didn’t care. He knew how he felt better than anyone.

“You know, it’s important to socialise when you are bound to live with a group for a long period of time.”
Why was he insisting?

He remained silent for a long while, unwilling to speak. But he felt he wasn’t going to leave him alone… Now that it was against him, but he just wished he could understand.

“They’re talking about home.”

His tone was flat, devoid of any emotion. He didn’t even mind the long silence or the insistent stare of the man.

“It’s never easy to leave what we have and the people we love. But if we want to go back home to the way things were before, we have to make that sacrifice. Endure, keep our greatest fears and formats locked deep down where they can never be found by anyone. This is the only way to succeed.”

Sacrifice… It was maybe a bit too strong a word for him. It sounded weird to his ears.

But he hadn’t chosen to come there for no reason after all.

They shared a look. Why didn’t he go to see the others? He was sure he could have nice memories to share with them.

“Since we are going to spend a certain amount of time together, we might as well get to know each other. What do you think?”

Was he really serious?

But it’s not as if they weren’t going to become friends anyway, right?

“Do you do that every time a Dane arrives here?”

He looked somewhat embarrassed, not knowing what to say, and Karl found it amusing. To his great surprise, the man smiled and made some noise that sounded like a light chuckle.

“It’s important in a community-”

“To socialise, I know. I may be a son of farmers, but I’m not that dumb.”

He looked taken aback by his words and the way he said them. He remained silent for a while, still staring at him with that same look. Stupefied and thoughtful.

“I could never think such a thing. Just because I am from Copenhagen and born into a well-off family doesn’t mean I despise people from the countryside.”

He guessed right. He was from the big city.

“My brother and sister both live in Copenhagen.”

He had a small voice as he said that. There was another long moment of silence.

“And I guess they are still staying there now.”

Karl met his gaze, but only for a few seconds. He shrugged slightly as he looked down.

“‘Guess so. I couldn’t even see them one last time before I left.” He paused before he spoke again. “I wished they could have stayed home.”

It was silent again. Karl glanced at the man. He looked like he truly didn’t know what to say or do. He probably knew that trying to comfort him and give him hope would be useless too.

“You know, I may be wrong, but perhaps your siblings managed to leave Copenhagen and that they are now in England without you knowing it. It may be unlikely, but it is not impossible.”

He looked up again. That was something he had never thought about…

Wait. If such was the case and since he was visibly not the only Dane to join the RAF, it meant his brother could have joined too…

“My brother could be here too, then.”

But the man didn’t look so sure about it.

“What’s your brother’s name?”

“Johann. Johann Nielsen. He’s twenty-six years old, almost twenty-seven.”

He didn’t seem to agree with him…

“Erm…well, if there were a Johann Nielsen amongst our men, I would know about it. Unless he is staying in another station…I can’t be sure about it.”

Too bad…it would have been nice to see his brother again, even in such terrible conditions.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid I am giving you false hope more than really cheering you up.”

Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t be angry at him for it anyway.

“That’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

He only meant well, there was no being mistaken about his intentions.

He gave him a sympathetic look.

“This is rather hard to be reassuring and comfort others in such a tragic context.”

“Yes, I know.”

They should probably start talking about something else, but he didn’t know what. He had to think about it first. He was sick and tired of hearing about everything related to war and home when it was so far, and seemed so impossible to reach again…

He thought about his roommates. They were just like him, except that they knew how to stave off the pain, something he would probably have to learn if he wanted to last there…

How come he hadn’t known before there were so many Danes that were like him?

“You know there are not only Danes here. there are plenty of men with different nationalities too, not only here, but in different stations as well. So you can try to befriend them as well. I like this idea, several nations united against a common enemy. Even though I wish we could be at peace.”

Except for Danes and English people, he had never met any other nationalities. It could be interesting. But their different nationalities wouldn’t make them any different from the other Danes though.

“Well, I’m going to leave you alone for tonight. I’ll see you later.”

He watched as the man walked away.

He guessed he would have to get used to that. People going through the exact same thing as him.

Hey! How are you all doing on this lovely weekend?
I can't help thinking I should edit a bit of this beginning.. Am I the only one ?
Take care ❤️