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Natal

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[FONT=&quot]Hartem - Freistaat Warnen - Vereinigte Republik Warinien
Hartem - Free State of Warnen - United Republic of Varinia
19th of May 1957 - 0430 hours

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[FONT=&quot]Ermis Rallis woke up feeling the atmosphere too hot and humid in the room. Spring came in Varinia and this meant that the days were becoming longer and longer, the differences extremely easy to notice and temperatures and humidity were rising, which were bringing with it all kinds of mosquitoes and the appearances of bogs everywhere. He opened his eyes and saw a mosquito on his arm. With a slap he squashed it. The sun could already be seen on the window appearing over the horizon. The Rallis family moved to Varinia in late Januar, coming over as what the immigration office called "ideological refugees". Vasilis Rallis was a member of the DKKP, together with his brother, Chrysanthos, but even if both of them were communists and members of the party, there was a difference between them. Chrysanthos couldn't disavow his religious beliefs and still attended mass each Sunday, even if he was doing it in secrecy so that the party wouldn't get suspicious of it. His brother, Vasilis knew of this and the subject of religion brought many arguments between the two brothers as they were becoming hotter and hotter, in the end Vasilis was always threatening to report him to the party, but he never did it in the end. Both of them came to Hartem to join the International Legion and both of them saw action first in Warnen, on the Milesian border where they fought against attacks and raids coming from the White-held Milesia and then around Din Rheged and lastly in Pennsans. Now both finished their services in the legion and they have returned back to their civilian trades, Vasilis working on the assembly line at the Altmann Motor Works and Chrysanthos at Hartem Farben, a dye factory. Ermis was the oldest son of Vasilis, being now 17 years old. He was enrolled in the Arend Gerber Gymnasium, in a special class for immigrants and ideological refugees in which they were studying intensively for a whole year in a single semester, so they wouldn't lose a year. Ermis knew German so he didn't had to take German classes too, though he studied the southern, Eiffellandian dialect and there were many things that the Varinians were saying that he didn't understand. He had colleagues coming from Kadikistan, Eiffelland, Ivernia, even the Yiddish Free State. Of all those, he preferred to befriend the Eiffellanders, especially Astrid Hauer and to stay as far away from the Kadikistanis as possible, who were always finding trouble. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Ermis got up and went to the window to open it. He could feel the cool fresh air filling the room and he loved it. He returned to bed, but no more than two minutes passed, that his father went to close it. Ermis got up again, but he was stopped by his father: "[/FONT]Don't even think of it!" he said with a nearly growling voice. He sighed and looked at the clock and saw that there was just an hour left before the alarm would ring, so, feeling fresh, he decided to go out and take a morning walk in the city. The flat in which the Rallis family was living, was horrid. In a studio apartment, Ermis was living with his father and his sister. His mother died in an accident in Pelasgia, though his father said that it was an account settling between some fascists and the DKKP. She died when Ermis was 6, he had some memories of her, but didn't remember her very well. His father, Vasilis was speaking of her fondly and when Ermis came with him to some of the meetings of the party, he observed that many other communists were speaking of her with much respect so as much as he hoped for it to be an accident, he started to think more and more that his father's story was true. Next door, the other Rallis family was living in a studio too, with Chrysanthos, his wife and their three girls. The kitchen and bathroom were shared. The building was built in the first systematization of Hartem, in 1875, when the medieval town with it's small and narrow streets was demolished and gave way to classicist buildings and wide boulevards. The Rallis were living in the Gut Moor borough of the city, on the eastern side, along the coast. Ermis loved to take walks in Mitte, as the white bauhaus buildings there reminded him the most of Propontis, but he was mesmerized by the life in Mitte, as it was really rising up to the images the Varinians were creating as the World Capital of Culture. He barely managed to go downtown since he came to Hartem for a few times, as the school was in his neighborhood, his dad was very authoritarian and protective especially during the war, when he was forbidden to go anywhere else than school and home, out of fear of possible attacks and bombings. The city then was also under curfew and was was kept in darkness during the night, out of fear of a potential Ivernian involvement in the war leading to a possible bombing campaign of the capital. But now, the war ended and with Sabine Schneider, the Varinians were saying that things were returning to normal. For Ermis, everything was completely new now. The warring atmosphere completely created a new city and now it was like he was discovering Hartem again. People of all kinds, from pale red headed Kerns to black Himyaris coming from Loago to everything in between could be found in Mitte, each spoke it's own language, shiny commercials for all kinds of products were every where, pubs, theaters, cabarets, everything could be found in Mitte. Ermis was born in Propontis but after his mother died, the family moved to a village near Therme. Even if he had a some near forgotten memories of Propontis and went to Therme a few times, Hartem with it's size and completely different mentality from a conservative orthodox Pelasgian village, was fascinating him. A clock ringing on the street 6 am made him return with his feet on the ground. The city was coming to life, as the people took to the streets to go to work, U-bahn, trolleybuses, trams and busses were already filled going from the city center to the factories concentrated in the north and eastern sides of the city.

Ermis knew that he stayed a bit too much outside so he decided to wait for his father to go to work before returning to take his backpack and go to school. He felt hungry so he went to the first diner he saw, The Treffpunk. He was the only customer, even if he saw that it was non-stop. He seated himself on a stool at the bar. No one was inside, but he could hear some noise coming from the backroom, Himyari music in Engellexian could be head. Probably from Camden or somewhere, Ermis thought."If you're hungry, you're lucky! I was heating the pan," said the barman as he came in front. He was a black Himyari, from Loago, a huge man. "I really am then," said Ermis smiling and feeling amused by the enthusiasm of the man. "I'd like a coffee and something for breakfast." The man didn't wait and immediately poured coffee in a cup and gave it to Ermis. "If you want milk on it, just tell me. I will make you some omelette with some wursts." The man didn't wait to receive an approval from Ermis and immediately, though he couldn't see him, he could hear the cracking of eggs and the frying of the sausages and the omelette. "So, were you lucky or not?", asked the man again from the kitchen. "What do you mean?" asked Ermis. The man first brought the plate with an omelette, a bratwurst and a pickled cucumber. "I mean tricks... like... those guys", said the man showing a bunch of young men, no that much older than Ermis staying outside chilling on the sidewalk many of them smoking. Ermis was shocked to see that many were wearing female clothing, one even wearing a skirt. "Are they..." Ermis wanted to ask, but was interrupted by the man. "Puffs? Yeah they are. Prostitutes? Yeah they are that too..." He changed his looks towards Ermis afterwards. "But if you aren't from that scene... What's with you? Where are you from?" Ermis wasn't really sharing the same political views like his father or his uncle so he didn't really want to say that he is Pelasgian. "Where would you think I am from?" he asked. The man smiled. "Ok, mysterious... Let's play this game then. First, looking at your light brown hair, I say that you aren't Kernish or Gaelic. Looking at your skin though, I can see that you are tanned. This means that you aren't a Varinian German and seeing the way you were looking outside so shocked and surprised, I'd say that you barely arrived. So considering that your primary language is German, you must be Eiffellandian, though I don't think you get tans, not even in the southern, Eiffellander winter. No, you are surely Himyari, like me. I'd go then statistically and use the biggest people in Himyar to raise my chances and will say that you are Pelasgian. Am I right?" he said with a triumphal smile. "That was... on spot... Yeah I'm Pelasgian. My dad came to fight here and it was a stupid mistake as the Imperial secret services came after us and it was the only way to have my family continue a normal life..." said Ermis looking at the emptied coffee cup. "Well, I was born in Loago and I too would give anything to return to the warm beaches of Maseru, but life in good here in Hartem and as much as you see it or not, you are privileged here." Ermis looked surprised. "Privileged?" he asked. "Yeah. Look at them again." said the man showing the prostitutes from across the street. "They are mostly Celts who came to the south to survive. You came from Pelasgia, received a citizenship and a house from the government. I even saw German youth becoming like the ones there. I've seen too much things from this bar. If you want to keep your life good, or at least keep it at the same levels you are living it now, stay away from people like them." Said the man sternly. "It would be 100,000 Bonns. Now, go, you are going to be late for school or something." Continued the man as he took the banknote Ermis gave it to him. "So you really see anything from here?" asked Ermis. "Heh, yeah... First were the Bohemians, then the Celtic Unionists, then Anarchists, then the Kadiki Guys and now puffs. You see everything on Kastanien Allee".
 
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Natal

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Hartem
27th of May 1957 1730 hours

Each day after school, Ermis came to Mitte, to eat his lunch late in the afternoon at the Treffpunkt. He was fascinated the by diversity of the people living in Hartem, from more rural and traditional Loagins who were still wearing some of their traditional white clothing to Varinians, Celts, Eiffellanders, Yiddish, Kadikistani, Burgundians and even Pelasgians going up and down the oldest boulevard in the city Kastanien Allee. Someties, Astrid Hauer, his Eiffellander friend also came to him. She was too the daughter of a too zealous member of the communist party from Eiffelland who still kept close to the Leninovist principles and for many times he tried to keep his daughter away from what the Leninovists were calling decadent culture and cosmopolitanism. But even if she was living in such a "moralist" environment, she still managed to read enough magazines and was up do date with all kinds of things from fashion to yellow press. She was even more enthused when after going there for a few times, both observed that the Treffpunkt was actually a popular hub for artists, hedonists and bohemians. Astrid liked it too to come there, but her father soon found out and confined her in the house to keep her away from all those influences. For a moralist marxist-leninovist it might have been shocking, as the characters coming to the Treffpunkt were the farthest away from the way the party cadres were educated to be. Among those were cabaret dancers, painters, writers, prostitutes and students who were enjoying coffee, a meal, some good music, all at good prices. Astrid was even excited when she recognized Anita Berber in the diner, the actress and cabaret dancer. After a short talk with her, Astrid told Ermis very victoriously that she wanted to be like her, as she said it: "To live life for two things, to love and to be loved".

This time even if Astrid couldn't come with him, Ermis came alone. As he was eating his typical lunch and talking with Banga, as he found later the name of the owner who was sometimes the cook and the barista too about his life in Loago, the gang Banga was talking about enters the diner. They were led by a tall handsome man with short hair and a cropped beard, both ginger and green eyes. He was followed by another with blonde hair and beard and two more, one with short dark hair and eyes and olive skin and a black Loagin with an Afro haircut. The last two were wearing feminine clothing.

"Hi Banga, care to give us some coffee and some food?" asked the ginger guy.
"Rewan, I told you... This is a diner, not an alms house. As long as I don't see a few thousand Bonns con the counter. You will see nothing but a glass of tap water from me and that only if you ask nicely for it," said Banga with a stiff voice, trying to frown but still smiling at them.
"Oh, come on, papou, our shift is just starting..." said the swarthy one, with a disappointed growl...
"I'd hardly call that a shift... It would mean that I start my shift right when I come home and I have a common one with my wife... and yet here I am, talking to you, with four more hours of my real shift," said Banga.
"Oh, come on, Banga, you know that we always pay our dues when we end our shifts in the morning..." said Rewan in an ingratiating voice.
"I heard about you and your honeyed words, Rewan... Just keep the Pelasgian away from knives. He scares me," said Banga laughing. Ermis startled when he heard Pelasgian, but preferred to wait to see the scene unfold.
"Oh come on... Don't be racist... He is just filled with olives and feta instead of pretzels, that's all," said Rewan as Banga was giving them all coffee and was preparing some plates for their food. As he took his first sip of coffee, Rewan turned towards Ermis and observed that he was being stared at. He first smiled condescendingly and then said: "If you want it, it costs only five million Bonns per hour or twenty of the whole night." At first Ermis didn't knew what to say:
"Sorry... what?"
"Of course, if you want just a wank that is 250,000 or 500,000 for a blowjob," said Rewan still smiling at him.
"Oh, oh... whoah... no... no... no... I... I do not... I... I... no..." he stopped as he observed he sounded funny and probably blushed too.
"Leave the boy alone! He is yet another victim of the moralist marxist-leninovists and instead of being home or at the party meeting he is here. This is problematic enough," said Banga as he brought some fried sausages with some boiled potatoes and a cup a mustard.
"Well, if he is here and not at the party meeting making plans to kill us or something like that, it is clear that he has some certain tendencies... how do the Leninovists call them... degenerated. And again, the fact that he is here not at home crying or hating himself because of that, says a lot about him" said Rewan. He then looked back at Ermis: "So, what is your name?"
"Ermis... Ermis Rallis," he responded feverish.
"And yet another Pelasgian... Oi, Thanos, we've got another one like you," said Rewan looking at the swarthy one in the group, but he was too busy eating, so he returned back to Ermis. "I am Rewan, this guy here is Udo," said as he was showing the blonde man, "Thanos is there, the one usually scaring off our clients and now eating all our food and the last one is Wonai," showing the Loagin man who now was talking to Banga about some spices used in Loagin food. "So here you probably have the strangest and most diverse gang in Mitte. I myself am a Kern born in Roz an Arvor and raised in Pennsans. The strange one, Thanos is Pelasgian, came here as a revolutionary orphan. Parents were commies in Pelasgia or Tephanon or something and they were arrested so the Communist Party sent him first to Kadikistan and then here. Wonai over there is probably the best of us as he came to study engineering in Hartem but his scholarship ended when Loago remained an empire and we went commie so he is now on the streets as he doesn't have a recognized Loagin passport and isn't yet a Varinian citizen and with the bad relations between the two countries currently it will take some time before he could have the chance to return."
"And don't forget me," said the blonde guy as he approached and kissed Rewan on the forehead.
"This beauty here is Udo," said Rewan looking at him affectionately. Ermis was in shock. His interest in Mitte and in Hartem as what his father called a "Sin City" has been fueled by an attraction towards men too, not only women, but it was the first time he saw a man kissing another man and calling him a beauty and things like that. He talked with it with Astrid and dreamed about it but to really see it was a shock for him.
"So, what's your story?" asked Rewan.
"My father came to fight against the whites... He then moved the whole family to Varinia to live the socialist life, but it seems now that he doesn't like it and yesterday I had a huge fight with him because he wants to start searching for work in Calidia, because from his point of view, Varinia and Kadikistan have rejected real socialism and Calidia is the only one left. I do not want to move on a monthly basis and I started to like it here, in Hartem," said Ermis annoyed.
"Well, if he wants to move and you want to stay, the easiest way would be to move away and live by yourself here. Win some money and live your life," said Rewan.
"Live... Like you?" asked Ermis.
"It's never a crime to survive," said Rewan. "Plus, we are in the lands of revolutionary socialism," he continued mimicking the voice of Nikolai Leninov, "what is more revolutionary than tearing down all reactionary taboos that the society is so filled of?"
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Could I stay with you guys in the future?" Asked Ermis.
"Sure, and every time you need a place to sleep, come to the Treffpunkt and ask Banga where to find us, as you're part of the family now, especially since I saw you here on a daily basis recently" said Udo.

A tall, skinny man entered the diner with long brown hair and a long beard. Ermis observed that Banga sighed and immediately turned away going in the kitchen.
"My guys! Look who's back! Banga, don't run, I've come bearing gifts!" said the man screaming for the whole diner to hear. The gang looked at him and they started screaming and hugging him.
"Who's that?" Ermis asked Udo, as he was the only one who remained close to him and didn't seem very impressed of the apparition.
"Nah, he's a strange guy. His name is Aed Mac something in Gaelic. He is obsessed with Toungoo and all those Oriental things. Annoyed the fuck out of me with his continuous preaching..."
"Udo, my friend, I've brought you this," said Aed giving him a small bag. Udo looked at it, opened it and sniffed it. "I don't smoke, Aed. Especially not opium," said Udo giving the bag back to him.
"Oh, but you should. It helps clear the mind. Plus, I brought so much of it. Guy, you should see it, Toungoo is great, they have those huge ancient temples and so many people are into the spiritual life there, not like here..." Ermis looked at the clock and saw that it was late. He quickly said goodbye to Udo and Rewan and left, as he wasn't interested in the stories from some far away country that he barely heard about in school. But as he was leaving, he was happy that he felt for the first time that he belonged to something.
 
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Natal

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Rallis apartment, Gut Moor
1st of June

"Where have you been going?" asked Vasilis Rallis screaming.
"Just around town!" yelled Ermis back.
"Where? Where you going in Mitte where all those bohemians and prostitutes are? Do you understand that you may put us in danger?!" asked Vasilis screaming even louder.
"How could I put us in danger, if this country is so free as you say it is?!" yelled Ermis. "If socialism was so great why should I try to hide or to shut up? Wh..." he couldn't continue as he was slapped by his father.
"You will listen to me, while you still live in my house!" screamed Vasilis. "Leninovism teaches us to concentrate on the revolutionary path and to stay away from cultural decadence!" he continued.
"Leninov is dead and Kadikistan is a shithole!" screamed Ermis, but he was slapped again by his father, this time to hard that he had fallen down.
"Listen, you smartass, if you think you know so many things, you should understand some things about life!" Ermis couldn't say a thing, as he was shocked by the force of the slap that brought him down and bloodied his lip. He was in the end skinny having only 60 kilos, compared to his father, who was approaching 110 kilos. "In life, you will need the party. Without it, you will be nothing! Do you understand?! I am not saying this as a member of the party, but as your father..." he toned his voice down, as he was concerned that someone might hear what he is saying without thinking that in the end, Varinians didn't really understood Pelasgian, especially when it was spoken so fast and precipitated. "... You need to understand that the so called Volksfront is a farce. The same is with the Nationale Front, the same with the Prometehists. The only ones that matter are the Communist Worker's Party and that is because we are living in a worker's state so they are the only ones that have legitimacy to represent the people. The others, even if they support the government and are allied with the communists, like the prometheists, are bourgeois parties. They are just there to show the capitalists that we are living in a democratic state, because they cannot understand that workers don't need any other party but the Communist one. I't like an orthodox who doesn't need any other God, only the Christian one. If you turn against the party, it's like you turn against God. The Church excommunicates you for apostasy, in the same fashion, the society excommunicates you for turning your back on the party!" he ended up raising the tone. Vasilis seated himself on a chair and sighed. "I... I know why you go with those degenerates... I could have foreseen it... You mother played with you when you were small, clothing you in her dresses and all that... I... It's probably also because she disappeared from our lives... I don't know..." he stopped to make a pause, sighing again and looking around aimlessly. Ermis was shocked that his father knew, he could feel his cheeks burning, probably blushing and his lip pulsating after the hit. He got up and then sat in a chair in front of his father.
"In a month you will be an adult, a legal one... I will not be able to tell you what to do and what not to do. I just hope that I raised you as well as your mother would have like it... But you must understand... That lifestyle... that acceptance... will make you problems. The best thing to do is to join the party and marry a woman... and stay away from that hub of decadence, the Kastanien Allee... This is all that I have to tell you. Other than that, you are free to do, if you want to live like that... but you are doing it without my approval and with it without my support, both ethically and financially. If you want to be a good proletarian, you will stay and live a dignified life," said Vasilis in an exhausted voice and left the room.

Treffpunkt, Mitte

Ermis met with Astrid and then both of them decided to go to the Treffpunkt as the diner started to become the place where they spent more than half of their day, even to the point in which they were doing their homework at the diner and Banga, Anita Berber and Rewan, Udo and the gang were helping them, as they became full members of the Treffpunkt family. Astrid was shocked too that his father knew but was even more shocked to see that Ermis decided to still come to the Treffpunkt than to follow his father's advice and stay hope to still have financial support. "You need to understand, Astrid, that my dad is no intellectual. He actually hates them, saying that they don't bring anything valuable to society, unlike proletarians. He's not like an Eiffellander. He is a rural Pelasgian. He was even before thinking to make me abandon school, as the last two grades are optional. He wants to bring me in the workforce, that is why he also made me join the party. So no, I will talk with Udo and see what I can earn from around here." As they entered the Treffpunkt, he could see Udo sitting at the bar, smoking a cigarette while reading a newspaper. Banga was cleaning the counter and the diner was pretty calm. Ermis could feel that the atmosphere was tense. Him and Astrid sat eachother near Udo.
"Hey kiddo, what's up?" he asked not moving his eyes from the newspaper.
"Hi, Udo. I just decided to go on my own..." said Ermis looking at him.
"Mhm... What do you mean?" asked Udo, again, without moving his eyes from the newspaper.
"My dad found out about my... thing... and he said that he was already thinking of taking me out of school to join a party and become a proletarian and said that if I want to continue on this path, I must go on my own... so I decided to go on my own..."
Udo turned his head concerned. "So you just left home?" he asked extinguishing the cigarette and letting down the newspaper.
"It was the only way... I hoped that he will change when we arrive in Varinia, but he got even worse. We is outright brainwashed by the commies. He said things about the party being like God and stuff like that. I barely waited to leave home since I started high school and to go to university, but he didn't want me to become a student," said Ermis revolted.
"What a dense idiot... He's the best for the Communist Party. If you want, you could stay with us, but it's pretty insalubrious and very crowded, with the whole gang," said Udo looking again at the newspaper.
"Hey, what happened?" asked Ermis curious.
"The king is dead. He was shot down by communists in Loago," he said slowly and then turned towards Banga: "I pretty much believe that it's the bitch's fault," said Udo loudly so he could be heard by Banga who was on the other side of the counter.
"Who's the bitch?" asked Ermis confused.
"The workers' queen... Sabine Schneider," said Udo disgusted.
"You could tone it down a bit, unless you want the SVB knocking on our door," said Banga sternly. "Where are your comrades?"
"Rewan is with a trick to bring us some money to pay the rent, Thanos found himself an old party geezer with unorthodox passions and is now enjoying communist life in the Rotbach Mountains, but he will be back and the Loagin is with another trick," said Udo.
"Right, how do you feel about Rewan and you working... you know, like this... and still being a couple?" Asked Ermis.
"Well, at the beginning it was hard, but in time you learn to make the differences between tricks, you know... jobs and real love. As much as I would like you to live a better live, now that you preferred to come to us, instead of remaining with your father, you will have to work this way too, for around two years, until you take your Abitur and enter university. I am not letting you lose yourself in this shit, you hear me?" said Udo sternly.
""Yes, dad..." said Ermis smiling. "But I heard from the others that you graduated a university. How come you are here?" asked Ermis.
"Well, my father was a prominent member of the Prometheist People's Union and my mother was also in good relations with the Prometheists... Let's say so good that Lena Rees, the Chancellor the communists have assassinated was one of the witnesses to their wedding. When the commies came to power my parents have been arrested and sent to the Roz and Arvor camps and disappeared before the northern rebellion started. So instead of arresting me too, the communists are now denying me all the qualities of the life of a Varinian citizen and I am obliged to live my like as a sophisticated cocotte. Yep, I may have all the degrees I want. I studied foreign languages and studied Engellexian and French and currently is a huge need of French speakers around, but thanks to politics I will never be hired, I will never own something in my name, I cannot go to a hospital if I am sick or wounded, I cannot marry, I cannot do anything. I am like a man without a country in everything but name," said Udo embittered. "Tell your father that this is the real face of communism!" he continued angrily.
"I told you to speak more... restraint..." said Banga as he pointed towards a man in black SVB uniform coming towards the diner. The man entered and Banga sighed relieved. "Look who's back and decided to make us a visit!" he continued cheering. The man was wearing the black uniform of the SVB, the Bureau of State Defense, with pink epaulets, signifying the Counterintelligence division. He was tall, with brown hair and a short cropped beard. It was something that Ermis observed since he first came to Varinia. Nearly everyone here wore beards and they cared very much of the appearance of their facial hair. He found it attractive and wanted to also wear a beard, but his father wasn't allowing him, saying that it was decadent.
"Andreas! It's so good to see you again!" said Anita Berber, the famous cabaret dance who was before drinking a coffee and speaking with Astrid about her performances. She went and hugged him. "My my... it seems that military life was good on you, you got bulky," she said smiling. Andreas hugged her back and then went towards Banga with a livid face.
"Can we talk privately in the back?" he said, not before greeting Udo by patting him on the back. Him and Banga went in the kitchen.
"Who's that?" asked Ermis interested. As much as he felt that Rewan was attractive, he thought that he didn't stand a chance in front of the intelligence officer.
"That is Andreas Keil. He is one of my best friends. It is yet another friendship that the Treffpunkt welded together. In the last years of Prometheist rule, when Lena Rees was still imposing the public morality codes, it was me, Andreas and Anita who were openers in the ways of bohemianism here. I was just a teenager like you, interested in men, cigarettes and drinks. I probably just looked like a boy about town, while Anita and Andreas, both orphans didn't have anywhere to go so they were wining money like our current gang. Those were the good days... At least I had a nice youth... I was so fucking innocent back then," said Udo. Ermis could see some tear drops forming in his eyes. "Well, Banga was the one who helped them. They really needed it, otherwise they would have probably died or would have been raped in the streets. Banga found a theater that took Astrid as an actress and he put pressure on Andreas to finish school and go to university. He let him sleep in the diner and gave him money to buy books and he got so high grades at the Abitur that the secret police came and asked him to go to the Academy and become an intelligence officer. Now he lives in his own apartment, not on the streets like us, or in shady apartments with high rents... That why you should concentrate on school too" said Udo looking at Ermis in the eyes. Staying closer to the kitchen and also being curious at what would an intelligence officer would tell Banga, Ermis tried to listen what they were saying but he heard just snippets about some codes, something white, the dead king and he could hear the last thing, Banga telling Andreas that he will "pass the information on", before both of them coming out of the kitchen.
"Andreas, can you do me a favor?" asked Udo.
"Sure, what is it?" said the officer. Ermis was hypnotized by him. He felt his voice so comely and warm.
"Can you take the boy to stay with you for a short while? Until I manage to get some money to find a play to stay, as we were evicted for not paying the rent. And I do not want him to stay on the streets," said Udo with a concerned voice. Andreas looked at Ermis and then at Udo.
"What about you? You look horrid... tired and weakened," said Andreas. Ermis could feel he was pitying him, but he knew that there wasn't anything else for Udo to do. "I will take the boy, but on one condition. Come too. I feel you need a good night's rest in a warm place," Andreas continued. Udo closed his eyes. Ermis could see tears again forming, before Udo nodded. "Where are the others?" Andreas asked.
" Rewan is with a trick, the only one this week. I think that if Banga wasn't here we both would have died of hunger and the other two found some well positioned party secretaries and transformed in their own personal courtesans," said Udo as he raised from the bar stool.
"Very well, let's go," said Andreas as he took both of them of the shoulders and walked from the diner towards his apartment.
 
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