Part Two

Part Two

A few years later things had changed drastically. Everyone had been prepared for the changes that Hitler would inflict on their country, but no one expected them to be as strict as they were. Leo’s mother had had to take all her children out from the school they attended and transferred them to a local Jewish school. Leo and his sibling were inflicted with a lot of racism on their journey home and so they would walk arm in arm, stern looks on their faces and with their chins held high. As long as they were together, nothing could happen to them. Of course, the large yellow “Jude” stars that were sown onto their jackets and coats didn’t help.
The week leading up to Leo’s twelfth birthday was horrible. Leo’s mother seemed to cringe every time she looked at him and his siblings were suddenly very silent around him. He began to wonder if there might be something they knew that he didn’t. It was only on his birthday that he found out what their secret was.
“Darling,” his mother said as she sat down beside him. “Sweetie, you know your father and I love you, don’t you?” Leo nodded wordlessly, not quite sure what to say. His mother smiled weakly and tucked a strand of his long blonde hair behind his ear. “Well, baby, your father and I have decided that for your birthday you’ll…” she trailed off and started shooting nervous glances at her husband. She seemed to be choking on her own words. Leo didn’t like seeing her like this. He raised his hand and pressed it to the side of her face.
“Mother, what’s wrong?” He asked, his eyes wide and serious.
“Well, Leo, darling, we were given the privilege,” she paused, her lips pressing into a hard, bitter line before continuing, “to send one of our children away to safety.”
Leo felt his jaw drop and his heart stutter. “But-”
“No buts,” his mother interrupted. “You’re going. You’re going to England where you’ll be safe. And you will not think of this family, but only of yourself. You are to look out for yourself and make sure you keep yourself safe. If you ever take a stupid risk or a silly chance, your father and I will stir on our dea-” She quickly stopped herself but Leo knew what she had been about to say: on our deathbeds. He shuddered.
“Yes mother,” he replied, defeated. He let his mother pull him into a tight hug and ignored the tears he could feel dampening his cheeks. She thought she was doing the best for her son and, in the long run, she probably was, but Leo didn’t want to be sent away from his family. He wanted to stay here and live with his siblings, his parents and his friends. He didn’t want to go to England. He’d never been to England but he had been the best in his English class here, and the best at the language in his family, so he had no doubt he’d be able to handle speaking it when he arrived. When he arrived, he realised, and not if. There was no doubt he was going now. His mother wanted him to and so, despite the fact he completely disagreed with the decision, he would follow her orders. He tried to think of the positives. In England he would be safe from Hitler, he would make new friends, he would probably be fed much better, and it was he who had been picked to go, not any of his brothers or sisters, but him. He wouldn’t think of the negatives. At least, not yet. Right now he would be grateful. Grateful for all the things that he could be grateful for. And he would put on a happy face to please his mother. Smiling, he jumped up out of his mother’s embrace. He felt the anger begin to boil at the bottom of his stomach but he ignored it. “When am I going?”
“Tomorrow,” his father replied, speaking finally. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Leo’s shoulder. “We would have told you sooner, but we wanted it to be a birthday present for you, since we couldn’t afford to buy you one.”
Leo nodded, looking straight forward at the wallpaper. If he even so much as glanced at anyone they would notice how close to breaking down he was, and he couldn’t let that happen. So, after a few moments of feeling his father’s warm affection spread through his system, he shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and marched to his room.
By the next day he was packed and ready to leave.