Читать книгу 'Das Haus' the House and the Son of the Rabbi - Sean Ryan Stuart - Страница 8

Chapter 2

The Discussion

After what seemed like an eternity, Cameron pulled into the driveway of his modest two-story home. The drive home tonight had been particularly hectic and longer than usual. Cameron lived in a fairly nice neighborhood and knew most of his neighbors on a first name basis. His stay at home job gave him the opportunity to know everyone on his block, and he took the advantage to develop acquaintances, and most important of all, time with his daughter Jennifer and wife Ingrid.

“Is that you honey?” Asked Ingrid, as he walked through the front door.

“Sure is. Who were you expecting? The mailman?” Replied Cameron, as he walked through the living room entrance towards the kitchen.

Cameron stopped between the living room and kitchen doorway and admired his wife from behind. Ingrid was of good German stock, he thought to himself, and she looked like she would be more at home on a farm, than a Bank Operations Manager. The years had been kind to her. However she was always very secretive about her exact age. When Cameron questioned her, she would become very defensive and say, “It’s none of your business. My age is a secret.” She would then make a joke of it and change the subject. Cameron always wondered why she was being so secretive, but he eventually accepted her coyness, and did not discuss it anymore.

When Cameron first met her in Germany forty-years earlier she had been a tall buxom statuesque blonde. Despite having Jennifer late in life, and a very busy life; both at work and home, she had not gained more than twenty pounds in the past four decades. She was still very beautiful, athletic looking and Cameron was delighted in his wife’s vigor and good looks.

Ingrid took the news of their upcoming trip with both joy and trepidation. On one hand she was very happy to see her family again, but on the other hand she hated to leave her home in Dixon. It had taken many years to decorate and landscape their yard in such a way that she was the envy of the neighborhood. Starting all over again in Germany would be difficult for her, she thought. And yet the excitement of returning to her Heimat (Homeland) excited her more than she expected.

Although born and raised in Germany, she had married Cameron in her early twenties and spent most of her adult life in California; except for her semi-annual trips to the Vaterland. Cameron and Ingrid never really discussed politics, but Cameron could tell that she was very proud of her Germanic ancestry.

Dixon had become her new home and she was positive that her daughter would greatly miss being taken out of school. Jennifer was actively involved in her school and in the community. Ingrid expected that this assignment would not last more than a year or two, and they could always lease out heir home for the twelve or twenty-four months, during their absence.

When Ingrid first met Cameron, while he was serving as a young military intelligence officer in Germany, he had told her that there would be times when their lives could be uprooted on a moments notice, and I guess this was one of them.

Cameron’s daughter Jennifer like most teenagers was very unhappy. Not only because she did not want to leave her friends behind in Dixon, but over the past seventeen years, Jennifer had become very popular, and did not want to leave just now. She had finally made the cheer leading squad and was really looking forward to the football season, and especially spending time with her new puppy love, James “Jimmy” Prepp, the star running back of the football team. Jimmy was the most gifted athlete in the school’s history and was by teenage girl standards a dreamboat.

Jimmy was six-foot tall, muscular and quite intelligent. He had every major college and university hot on his trail with football scholarships. Jennifer was devastated at the thought of losing him. It was her first true love and she was not about to lose him! She thought of devious plots in order to escape her dreaded trip to Germany.

It is easy to understand why young families moved to this community. Dixon is and was a small bedroom community on the outskirts of Sacramento. However it is near enough to the Bay Area and Silicon Valley to make it worthwhile for the diehard commuter.

Ingrid sat in the living room reflecting on their upcoming move and hoped that their decision would be a wise one. There was so little time left and so much to do. Ingrid knew that Jennifer would be her toughest challenge and she feared it the most. Deep in thought, Ingrid drifted off and thought about her happy childhood in Germany.

Just then, a very angry and upset teenager stormed into their house and yelled at the top of her voice.

“I am not going to any ‘Fricken’ Germany! No way, and you can’t make me! I am not a little child anymore. I have rights too!” Stated a rather angry, distraught and emotional Jennifer.

Her young face was beet red. Her mascara ran down her cheeks, and giant teardrops cascaded down her face. Ingrid had never seen her daughter so upset.

Both her parents stared at her in disbelief. Jennifer had never used that kind of language, or for that matter any fervent outbursts of that sort. She had always been a rather shy and quiet child; both parents were taken by surprised. Neither one of them knowing what to say, until Cameron attempted to reply.

“First of all young lady, you owe us an apology? I am sorry you are so upset, but my job requires me to go.” Answered Cameron.

“Your mother and I did not raise you to behave in this manner! We can understand that you have issues, but I am sure we can work them out? What do you think, Jenny?” Stated Cameron once again with a little more authority in his voice. Jenny was the name he used when she had done something wrong.

Jenny turned and glared at him. Not knowing what to say or do. Her eyes darted back and forth.

“How could you do this to me, without even asking me? I am not a child!” She stuttered, clenching her fists as she did so.

“I had to find out from Jerry’s daughter, Donna at school!” She continued as large tears ran down her face.

His attempt to placate his daughter did not achieve the effect he wanted, because Jenny ran upstairs to her room. All the way screaming and crying, “I hate you, I hate you both of you!”

Both parents stood there in shock and amazement and tried to gather their thoughts together before they had another confrontation with her.

“Well what do you think, Ingrid? How do we handle it? I think its time for a deep mother to daughter talk, don’t you?” Stated a confused Cameron, with a sly grin on his face.

“Sure, sure. You cause the trouble and leave little poor me to solve your mess!” Quipped Ingrid, as she slowly walked up the stairs towards her daughter’s bedroom.

The mother and daughter talk did not go as well as she would of liked. Her daughter was in no mood to listen or understand what her mother was saying. All she knew was that she was being torn away from everything and everyone she loved. Mrs. Clark tried in vain to console her distraught daughter, but nothing helped. Ingrid ran out of the room and begged Cameron to come and help her. After all she reasoned this was all Cameron’s fault, and he should take care of the problem.

“I need your help! She won’t listen to me at all! Maybe you can manage to do it. I am giving up for now! She is just like you, stubborn, stubborn and stubborn!” Yelled an upset and angry Ingrid, as she ran out of the room.

Cameron went upstairs and spent the better part of an hour calming his daughter down. It took every bit of negotiating skill he had to come up with an armistice between them. It was agreed that she would be able to spend two months of her vacation in California, and her boyfriend would be able to visit her twice a year. She eventually understood, how important it was for Cameron to go and work in Germany!

“Let me make sure I understand? You are going to allow me to visit California twice a year? And you are going to pay for it? In addition to that, you are going to allow my boyfriend to visit me? As long as you keep your promise, I will go with you to Germany.” Stated a much calmer Jennifer.