Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred
7th June 1974
Tempelhof, Berlin
It was all so bewildering. Supposedly, Sophie had vastly improved her time over the closed course the week before but had still come in third place. How was that possible? Alida Baruch told her that her rivals were older and more athletically mature. Sophie’s job would be to develop in that regard, but not to push herself so hard that she risked injury. Kat had mentioned that Sophie wouldn’t be pressing herself too hard this season and that she was going to be taking a break for a few weeks starting in July anyway. That had been a total surprise for Sophie, what would she be doing that would take her away for a that much time? The answer, Canada, and what part of family vacation had she not understood? While they were taking Marie Alexandra there to see the University which she would probably be starting at in September, they were also going to be visiting Doug’s parents. Sophie and Angelica were coming.
Sophie was a bit miffed that they had made those plans without telling her, but at the same time she had never been further from home than a few trips to the seaside. The idea of getting on an airplane and landing in a country on an entirely different continent was nothing short of miraculous.
Sepp had mentioned that he was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t make it to Schwielowsee this year with the assumption that Sophie was. She didn’t think that he was going to be particularly thrilled that she was going to be headed to Canada instead either and predictably, he wasn’t. And there wasn’t a whole lot that either of them could do about it.
Turning her bicycle onto the street which Sepp lived on, the one with the silly name, Sophie kept a watchful eye out for the drunken lout who had harassed her before. She found it difficult to reconcile that man was Sepp and Didi’s father. She was riding the Bianchi today, it being better for getting around town than the no-name red bicycle that she used for racing. She had found that the quick shifting was less important than the rear rack and handlebar basket that were mounted on Bianchi in that regard. She knew that Sepp would be unhappy to have her show up at his front door, he was a bit embarrassed about the state of his family and the house they lived in. She needed to show him that she didn’t care about that. Oddly, looking at the house, Sophie realized that it was actually far nicer than the rundown tenement that her family had lived in.
Walking her bicycle down the concrete walkway that led through the overgrown garden, Sophie saw a pair of old lawn chairs next to bin with a dozen empty beer bottles. This wasn’t visible from the street. She could only imagine Sepp sitting there, humiliated by his father, and praying that Sophie had not seen him the entire time… It was hardly a surprise that he had tried to keep her from finding out that he had been there. It was proving to be hard to forgive him for it, not when she had so many embarrassing secrets of her own.
Knocking on the front door, Sophie saw that the light fixture was vibrating as someone walked towards the door, there was the sound of the bolt being drawn. As the door swung open, Sophie saw that it was a middle-aged woman who looked at her with tired eyes. Sophie understood that this wasn’t the sort of tired that came from staying up all night. This was the exhaustion that came from seeing too much and getting stomped on every single day. It was a look that she understood a bit too well.
“Is Sepp around?” Sophie asked and the woman gave her a blank look, “Err… Josef… Is he here?”
“I understood you the first time” The woman said sharply.
“Is he here” Sophie asked again feeling very awkward.
The woman gave Sophie a long stare before she spoke again. “He isn’t here” She said, “And I have no idea where he is before you even ask.”
“I’m sorry if we got on the wrong foot” Sophie replied, “I am…”
“I know who are” The woman said, “And I don’t dislike you, in fact I don’t even know you, I just know what you represent. Everything my son is trying to do with his life is being put at risk because you entered it.”
“How is that even possible?” Sophie asked defensively. That struck her as completely unfair.
“Josef was focused totally on his goals until this year” The woman replied, “Then he felt he had to get that job, you, everything else happening with Hagen, all of those things were complications that we don’t need. No one is going to hand him anything and he has had to work hard for what little he has.”
“I wouldn’t get in the way of that” Sophie said.
“You already have” The woman said, “One day, if you have children of your own you might understand. I named Josef after an artist. Did you know that? My hope has always been that he will want to be more than where he came from. I’ve basically lost one of by sons already, if Josef goes that route, it will become three in a heartbeat.”
“I didn’t know” Sophie said, “I’m sorry about…”
“Don’t apologize, just keep that in mind before you come around unannounced” The woman said before closing the door.
