Chapter 7 Section VII

My mother ignored my protests and insisted that I continue to go to school.She said that if Dad was still alive, he would do the same.On the one hand, it is for the sake of my future, and on the other hand, I think that if something happens to her, I will have to shoulder the responsibility of raising Nicholas. Of course, she's absolutely right.The shorter the life path a person has traveled in childhood, the more difficult it is to plan for the future journey.At the time, though, I just couldn't help but suspect that Mom just wanted me out of the house. An incident that happened a few days ago confirmed my thoughts even more.On that day, I was allowed to go home from school early because I was very unwell.

As soon as I walked in, I found Mom was with a sergeant in uniform.I panicked immediately, afraid that he was here to take her away, just like he took my father back then.However, my panic turned to extremes when I noticed his jacket draped over the back of a chair and his boots off by the door, looking like an invited guest—Mum's guest. Puzzled. I remembered what my mother had said about these people before. Think of what they did to Dad. I rushed to my room and slammed the door, tears welling up in my eyes. They were tears of bewilderment; tears of frustration; tears of betrayal. My mind was in a mess, and all kinds of thoughts were in a mess. After my mother comforted me for a while, I regained my senses and could talk to her calmly.

With tears in her eyes, she tried to justify herself.She told me he was Romanian like us, not German.Officers of the Iron Guard, not the Gestapo. As if that would lessen her guilt. However, when I asked her what she was doing to treat the officer, she taunted me and screamed out of her senses, and hid in her room, shouting that keeping her children alive was more important than anything else. I was undoubtedly too young to understand her sacrifice. The bells of the church sounded, reminding the rush of time, the night passed, and the morning came again.The sound of the bell brought me out of my contemplation, and I realized I was going to be late for school, and I hurried down the road, screaming at my mother that I never wanted to see her again.