Grey Matter of an Irish Aries

A Smile like Hitler

It was a cold January afternoon when Cody Maher pushed up the trapdoor that led to the long forgotten attic. She entered the room, only to be hit by a hurricane of dust and mothballs. Coughing, she swung at the dust until the storm had died down. She wandered around, examining the keepsakes that her family didn’t realize they had; she looked at her grandmother’s priceless jewelry, her father’s war guns [they weren’t loaded, of course], some old clothes that looked like hers when she was younger and some old pictures of the family years ago when she was just born. She could tell it was she in the picture being held by her mother because it said her name on the back.
Seeing an old trunk in the corner of the room, she sauntered over to it and tried to lift the lid. Unfortunately, it was locked. The girl paused and stared at the chest, thoughtfully. Finally, she kneeled down in front of the trunk and stabbed at the lock with her hairclip. In seconds, the rusty padlock gave way and opened. She removed the lid and pushed it out of her way. She peered into the darkness and curiously pulled out the insides of the chest. She removed random and unlike objects; she pulled out a checkered apron and a pair of moth-eaten socks. She picked up a weird hat that was slender but too big for an infant, and then a dishtowel. Digging deep, she uncovered some more photos, but these were different from the others. They were pictures with people she couldn’t recognize.
Despite this, she felt drawn to these people. She was interested in them and was keen to see who they were. Oddly enough but not surprising to Cody, she couldn’t tell where the pictures had been taken. Perhaps these were relatives she didn’t know. She tucked the pictures into her pocket and decided to confront her parents later about them. She could have cousins in a foreign country that she didn’t know even existed! That excited her. She looked around for a little bit longer before heading downstairs, where her mother was already setting the table for dinner.
“Cody, sweetie, could you get out some cups for dinner?” she asked, sweetly.
Cody did as she was asked and soon the family of four was gathered around the table, eating a home cooked meal of chicken with fried rice and string beans. As she chewed her buttery string beans, she thought about the pictures she had discovered and decided to ask her parents about them.
“Mom?” She made sure she had no food in her mouth before she asked.
“Yes, honey?” her mother replied.
“Who are these people?” she inquired, pulling the photos out of her back pocket. She handed the pictures over to her mother, who examined them closely before reacting.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” she muttered to herself. Her husband, who had never noticed anything but his dinner, glanced up at her.
“What is it, dear?” he asked, through a mouthful of chicken.
“These are pictures of Andrew’s family,” she told him, her eyes widening as she looked at him directly in the face.
His chicken dropped back onto his plate as his wife handed him the pictures.
“Where did you get these?” He glared at his daughter, somewhat angrily.
Cody didn’t know what to say.
“I found them in the attic,” she said, truthfully. “I swear, I was just looking around and I found them.” She closed her mouth and kept in her tears.
“I never want you in the attic again!” Her father raised his voice.
“Why?” Little Cody couldn’t just leave this alone. She had to know who those people were. And it wasn’t like it was a hard question…
Her mother took her hand.
“Cody, we don’t,” she paused. This wasn’t easy to explain to a child. “Cody, your father has a cousin named Andrew, who is,” she paused again, “not quite right in the head.” She poked at her own head as a visual aid.
“What’s wrong with him?” Cody wanted to know.
“Something terrible happened to him a long time ago and he hasn’t seemed to have gotten over it yet.” Her mother sighed, but kept eating, despite the fact that her daughter, and now her young son, was looking at her in a very confused manner.
“What?” she asked.
“Like what happened to him?” Her mother seemed to be stalling which, as her daughter had noticed by now, she often did to hide her nervousness.
This made her sigh again.
“I don’t think we should discuss this now,” she added, leaning over and kissing her child on the forehead.
Cody dropped the subject and finished her dinner. She asked to be excused and returned to her room, where she flopped down on her bed in frustration. Why couldn’t her parents talk about these people? Who was Andrew and what was so bad about his family? She couldn’t think of anything that would be so bad that a parent couldn’t tell his or her own child about it.
She closed her eyes and only woke up when her mother came up to speak with her.
“Cody? Cody, wake up!” Cody opened one eye and rolled it upward. She opened both her eyes when she noticed her mother towering over her, smiling.
“What?” she asked, sleepily.
“We want to talk to you about those pictures,” her mother told her, pulling her daughter to a sitting position.
After Cody was fully awake, she went downstairs with her mother. She sat down next to her baby brother, Jordan, and waited for her parents to speak. They gathered in the family dining room and were sitting at the table when Cody’s father cleared his throat.
“I guess I should start,” he said, softly.
The others looked at him.
“Cody, those pictures were taken a long time ago. They are of my cousin, Andrew, and his family.” He stopped. Cody couldn’t tell whether it was because he didn’t know what to say or because he didn’t want to say what he was going to say.
“Andrew and his family are Jewish. Do you know what a Jew is, Cody?”
His daughter nodded.
“Someone who isn’t Catholic,” she replied.
He looked at her for a few seconds before shaking his head.
“Close enough,” he said. “Anyway, back when mommy and daddy were kids, America was in a war with the rest of the world.”
“World War Two, dad,” Cody said, bored. “So what?”
“So, you know about Hitler and the Germans who persecuted the Jews?”
Another nod.
“Was Andrew and his family persecuted?” she wondered aloud.
“No,” her father, “it was worse for them.”
“Why?” Cody leaned forward and rested her hands on her knees.
Her father hesitated.
“Well, Andrew had a very odd way of smiling,” he began.
“What?” Cody raised her eyebrow. “What does that have to do with this?”
“Maybe if I finished, you’d know,” her father said, growing impatient.
“Oh, sorry.”
“Anyway, in Germany, everyone was petrified of Hitler and they never wanted to be reminded of him when he wasn’t around. They wanted to live as peacefully as they could.”
“I bet they couldn’t with Andrew smiling like he was,” commented Cody.
“That’s right,” her father said. “Andrew’s way of smiling resembled that of Hitler’s. Their fear of Hitler was only terrible when he was around. They feared he was some kind of heir to Hitler and that he would do something to them.”
“So, what happened between you guys and why aren’t we talking to them?” Cody looked at her mother, who lowered her eyes to the floor.
“I don’t know.” Her father rubbed his dark beard. “We’re not angry with them or anything. My parents were afraid of him, like everyone else was. We moved to America and started our lives over. I haven’t spoken to him in many years, since we left.”
“Oh, could we visit them?” Cody begged. She curled her lip in a spoiled manner and her parents gave in right away.
“I don’t see why not,” her mother said, raising her eyes, feeling less pressured than before.
“We can call them tonight and ask them,” her father promised.
“Really?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“That’s great!” Cody raced to her dad and gave him a big hug. Then, she turned and skipped to her room. When she got there, she flopped down on her bed, clutching the pictures in her hand. She stared at them, wondering who each person was and if everyone had their own story. She fell asleep on her side, still holding the photos in her hands.
The next morning, she felt a hand gently tapping her.
“Cody? Cody, dear, wake up.” The voice belonged to her mother and she was towering over her.
Cody turned around and her eyes rolled upward.
“What?” She wasn’t quite awake yet. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost ten and we’d best be off soon if we want to catch our flight at one o’clock.”
“What? We’re leaving today?” Cody couldn’t believe her ears. Her questions were going to be answered so soon, she barely had time to ponder things.
“We’ve been thinking about this for a long time and since this is the only weekend either of us has off, we’ve decided to visit them now.” She pinched her daughter’s cheek.
“Mom, I hate that,” Cody said, rubbing her cheek.
“I know,” her sly mother answered.
Cody sat up and her mother pointed to her suitcase in the corner.
“It’s about time you used that thing,” she said, reaching over and picking it up. She placed it on the bed, causing her daughter to bounce a little.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Cody replied, pushing the covers off.
“We’re leaving in half an hour,” her mother said, heading out.
“Are you packed?” Cody asked, curiously.
“Of course,” her mother responded, a bit offended. It seemed as if she had been ready for this trip a long time before.
“Okay.” Cody started packing some shirts and pants, her toothbrush, hairbrush, socks and some other things. She picked a random book off her bookshelf and stuffed it in her bag for a bit of light reading. She wondered what Germany would be like, if it was a nice country with nothing but beautiful ocean views or a hateful state of broken down palaces and streets full of beggars. Then, she thought of something.
It could be a mixture of both. After all, America certainly has its highs and lows.
After she was done packing, she closed her bag and dragged it downstairs where her father had been waiting to load it into the Jeep.
“Ready to go, honey?” he asked his daughter, patting her on the head.
“Yeah, dad, let’s go,” she answered, rolling her eyes.
Even though she was eleven, her parents still treated her like a little kid.
They reached the airport in a mere half hour and hurried as fast as they could to get settled. After going through the security a few times, they finally managed to get to their proper flight area, where they waited until they heard that their place had arrived. A few minutes later, they were settled in and ready to go.
The flight lasted a few hours and, of course, Cody fell dead asleep. When she woke up, she looked out the window and gazed down at the land. She saw a huge blue spot that she realized was water. It gleamed in the afternoon sun and she rubbed her eyes to get a better look at it.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Cody turned in her seat and faced her mother.
“What time is it?” she asked, not really caring, but just a bit curious.
“It’s a little past noon,” her mother told her, “and that’s in German time, not ours.”
Cody nodded and rested her head against the comfortable seat. She stared out the window and began to wonder.
What were these relatives like?
How were their lives different from hers?
How would they react to seeing her?
Before she could wonder another wonder, Cody’s mother poked her.
“We’re leaving now, sweetie,” she said, gently. “It’s time to go see your relatives.”
As Cody followed her mom and dad out of the airport and into a taxi, she began to feel as if this trip was going to be the reunion that everyone would remember as the best ever.
The taxi driver barely understood Cody’s father’s poor German, but managed to arrive at the right destination. As they pulled up to the little house, two people emerged from it, a big burly man and a smaller well built woman. As Cody and her parents got out of the car and unloaded their belongings, the couple who had appeared to be waiting for them hurried up to them.
“Greetings, cousin!” the man said, in his thick German accent.
The two men hugged while the women smiled and kissed each other on the cheek. After a few minutes of long lost greeting, the Germans faced the girl and grinned.
“She’s a pretty one,” complimented the female.
Cody smiled and curtsied, not knowing what else to do. The adults were amused by her reaction.
“That’s not necessary,” her father told her, laughing.
“Oh, okay,” Cody replied, trying not to be embarrassed.
She followed her mother and father into the house. It was a pretty house, which yellow daises and lilies growing along the side of the front walk. The house itself had been painted blue to match the morning sky. The shudders were a bright yellow, to match the afternoon sun.
Cody had a smile on her face as she entered the greeting hallway of her relatives’ home. The people who had been waiting outside the house were now taking their guests’ luggage and dragging them upstairs, the bags not the guests. When they returned, they took their guests for the complete tour.
“This is where we eat,” the wife, otherwise known as Eva said. She led Cody and her parents in and out of each room, telling what it was used for in her broken English. Cody wondered if she was the only one who could barely understand her distant relative through her heavy German accent.
Looking at her mother’s trying face, she knew she wasn’t.
It wasn’t until they reached the second floor and had stopped at a closed door that Eva physically paused.
“This is Andrew’s room,” she said, softly. It sounded as if she was ashamed of him.
Seeing this, Cody asked what she frequently called “a happy question.”
“Is Andrew your brother?”
This made Eva laugh.
“No, sweetie, I’m not that young!” She smiled. “He’s my son.” She stood still, smiling on the outside but on the inside she was debating whether or not she should open the door and introduce Andrew to his cousin’s family.
Cody, seeing as how she had traveled all this way, knew it was the right thing to do.
“Can I meet him?” she practically begged.
Eva half smiled, but gave in.
“All right,” she said, still unsure. She knocked on the door and called to her son.
“Andy, your cousin and his family have arrived,” she said.
There came a grunt from inside the room, but no actual words. Cody grew too curious of this man and decided to take matters into her own hands.
“Andrew, this is Cody, can I meet you? I really want to meet you.” Her mother and father shot her evil glances, but at this point, they were just as desperate to meet this distant cousin.
A few seconds passed by and nothing happened. Eva was about to give up when the door inched open a bit.
“I’ll be right there,” a squeaky voice said. In a few moments, the door opened and there stood a six feet five inch male with untamed black hair with a few strands of visible grays, large oval green eyes and a pointed down nose. He stared blankly at Cody and her family, including his own mother, Cody’s father’s aunt.
A time of silence occurred and to break the ice, Cody decided to end the curiosity.
“Hello, I’m Cody,” she said, bravely, though inside she was petrified.
Andrew eyed her up and down and had to stop himself from smiling.
“I’m Andrew,” he said, “but you can call me Andy.” There was something in his voice that told Cody that there really was something wrong.
“How are you, Andrew, um, Andy?” Cody asked, sincerely.
The man paused for a minute and it was then that Cody thought nothing of the way he spoke.
He seems normal to me, she thought to herself. I don’t know what the big deal is.
“I’m okay,” Andy replied.
There was another moment of silence and it was only broken when Eva suggest Cody head up to the third floor to meet her distant cousins.
They continued up the staircase and arrived at the third and final floor.
Cody smiled, but wondered where these children had come from. She didn’t move at first and Eva picked this up.
“I have two other children, but they don’t live here anymore,” Eva said, sadly but proudly, like a happy mother.
“Where are they?” Cody wondered aloud.
“They went out to dinner and should be back by tomorrow,” Eva replied. “Their children are staying overnight.”
Cody nodded and went over to the couch where the four children were sitting. Their eyes were glued to the Bugs Bunny cartoon playing on television. Cody tried to listen, but gave up after she realized her German wasn’t that good.
When the cartoon reached a commercial, Cody decided to try to talk to her relatives.
“I’m Cody,” she attempted.
Four heads turned and stared blankly at her.
Cody turned and faced Eva, who told the children something in German sternly that Cody couldn’t understand at all.
After that, one of the children rose from her seat and came over to Cody.
“Molly,” she said, extending a hand. She leaned back and nudged the closest of the three sitting next to her.
The closest one was a boy who looked about seven with short brown curls and chocolate chip colored eyes. He was glued to the television and didn’t even look at his cousin as he waved. The younger boy, who looked about five, was even more attached to Bugs Bunny and didn’t even bother waving. Beside him was an older girl, who was probably the same age as Cody. She smiled at Cody and moved over so she could sit down. Cody was grateful that at least one of her relatives liked her. Molly had gone back to sitting and watching, like a mindless zombie.
Cody sat beside her cousin, who introduced herself as Bach. She pulled out a small doll from her pocket and said, “Play,” which Cody did. Soon, the two girls were playing with dolls and a dollhouse that had been placed in the corner of the room. It was big, pink and had lots of tiny furniture.
A few hours passed and before she knew it, it was time for bed. Cody was going to sleep with Molly on the second floor in one of the three rooms Eva’s kids had slept in as children.
Cody lay awake next to a twisting and turning Molly for a few minutes and finally closing her eyes. She smiled and felt happy, like all her questions had been answered, therefore making everything right with the world.
It was one in the morning when Cody woke up. She pushed the cool sheets off her and tiptoed out into the dark hallway. Her only light was a dim candle that was barely flickering.
Eva had showed her the bathroom before so she had no trouble finding it. A few minutes later, she was on her way back to the room when she heard muffled sobbing. It was coming from Andy’s room, so she knocked quietly on the door and waited for an answer.
“Come in.” She heard a whisper that sounded like Andy’s voice.
She pushed the door open and wandered inside, being polite to shut the door when she entered.
“Andy? I heard crying in here,” she said, not thinking about the language difference.
Luckily, for her, Andy understood English.
“That was me,” he replied, wiping the tears away.
“Oh,” Cody said. She looked at him. “Why were you crying?”
“I’ve been sad.”
“Why?”
He hesitated.
“Come on,” she said, stepping toward him. “I’m a very good listener.”
“I’m sure you are,” he told her, “but this is a very odd thing.”
“Try me.”
“Fine.” He paused to figure out how to translate the words.
“People don’t like me,” he started. “They think I smile like Hitler and I’m his…hair.”
Cody lowered her eyes, confused. “Hair?” She scratched her head. “You mean heir?”
“That means like descendant?”
“I think so,” Cody said.
“Yes, heir.”
Cody had heard this part from her father. She knew that he had lived through the Holocaust and that people thought he was going to be another Hitler.
But, she couldn’t understand why.
“Can you smile for me?” She asked him.
Andy froze and stared.
“Why would you want me to?” he replied.
“I want to see,” was her reply.
“I don’t think I should.”
“Please, it’ll be fine.”
He didn’t want, but Cody kept insisting, so he finally did. He curled his lips and he smiled.
Cody examined his lips, his dimples, and his teeth. People were right. He did smile like Hitler.
But, so what?
“So?” he asked her after everything had gone quiet.
“So what is what I have to say,” she told him.
He looked at her, puzzled.
“So what if you smile like Hitler does? You’re not evil or anything, are you?”
He shook his head.
“So, people need to stop being dumb.”
He seemed impressed.
“That’s smart for a ten year old,” he complimented.
“Thanks,” she answered, blushing a little.
There was something else.
“Do your parents think there’s something wrong with you?”
He frowned.
“They don’t like it when I smile,” he told her.
She shook her head.
“That’s dumb,” she said, truthfully.
He shrugged.
“I’m going to talk to them,” she stated.
This pleased him, but he didn’t smile.
“Great!” He hugged his young cousin, who was startled by this, but tried not to show it.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
A few minutes later, she went back to her room and fell asleep, dreaming of a perfect world where nobody was hated for the way they smiled.