Battle of the Rhine

"Get kicked out" was Michael's one-sided term, and in Quincy, the old Mike was purely "run away from home."Yes, he used the word "old stuff," which had already pissed Michael off; and as if that wasn't fuel enough, Quincy yelled at him, "From my house—" Watch out, " My house" - "You don't want to? Then get out of my house!"

Michael was gone, with his passport, driver's license, various membership cards and discount coupons, and cash.He bought a plane ticket and flew directly back to the United States.Thanks to the rapid development of science, now finally there is no need to circle half the world from Germany to the United States.He got off the plane still angry and glad he didn't sell his Arizona ranch, which would have made him truly homeless.

Will Pauliston leased Michael's farm, and he's got some sort of tourist program in town to lure city fools to the country for "Idyll West."Thanks to this, Michael's house did not fall into disrepair.Will is Michael's godson. Hearing that Michael returned home suddenly, he drove to the airport to meet him. "One still has to have children," Michael said. "How many children do you have now?"

"My eldest daughter is pregnant, and I'm going to be a grandfather soon." Will smiled wryly, "I'm not ready yet."

"Oh God!" Michael exclaimed, "you're still a little boy in my heart!"

Michael returned to live in his old house.Going around for 50 years, one circle, standing still.Michael is sleeping on the sofa, and no one cares about him now, he can drink any Coke he wants, eat hamburgers if he wants to, and just take out the hamburger meat if he doesn't want to eat.He has very good teeth and doesn't need glasses or hearing aids.Lying on the porch and listening to the radio, there is a station that plays old songs every afternoon, including his favorite Elvis Presley.Carl von Quinnessy, that jealous bad guy, wouldn't even let Michael listen to Elvis! "Not only do I listen, I also want to buy tapes..." Michael mumbled to the empty living room, "I can listen to whatever I want..."

No phone, no.This "call" specifically refers to the call from Munich, where Quincy apologized for his mistake.No need to think about it, according to what Michael knew about Quincy, that guy would never admit anything wrong.But this incident was originally Quinnessy's fault, he actually!How can he!

This afternoon, Michael took a mid-afternoon nap.At five o'clock he decided to get himself something to eat.He opened a can of Coke first, may God bless the inventor of the can, Michael would like to praise him with all the good words.At this time, several young people who looked like college students walked through the farm happily and came to Michael's door.Michael took the Coke and looked at the backpacks of these little things, "Where are you from?"

"Germany," said a brown-haired college student. "I love cowboy movies!"

"Germany." Michael snorted. "I hate Germany."

"Why?" Several college students were a little surprised, "Why?"

"Because!" Michael hiccupped, "Because—the Germans—are bad!"

The young man left, giggling, apparently taking him for some crazy old man talking nonsense.Michael took out the eggs and milk from the refrigerator resentfully, "Bad German, bad guy, sauerkraut jar..." At this moment the phone rang, and he dropped the eggs and ran over, and there was an anxious voice from there, "—Uncle Mike ?”

It was Carl, but the younger one. "Don't speak German to me," Michael yelled, "I'm American! I don't speak German!"

"Okay, okay, we can speak English, can we speak English? Don't be angry." Little Carl said, "I heard you went back to America? Where are you? Why don't you come to my house?"

"My house", oh, "my house", how ironic!Michael felt aggrieved, "I'm at—my house! Can't I?"

"You're in Arizona? God, is anyone taking care of you?"

"I'm fine. I can eat, sleep, run, jump, and drive a tractor to herd cattle! I don't need anyone to take care of me!"

"Hey, well, well, I know you're in good health—but why did you come back? Did you quarrel with Uncle Carl? Can you forgive him, you know, without you—"

"Oh, forgive him! I don't! Why should I forgive him! Look, you are just with his family... I figured it out! I figured it all out! Why should I forgive him swallowed, he scolds me every day, I’m not allowed to drink Coke, I’m not allowed to eat hamburgers, and I’m not allowed to talk to Mr. Horst in the church choir! When I called my comrade-in-arms, he was eccentric, implying that I spent too much on the phone bill. He relied on himself as a college student, I'm a farmer, so you bully me! I've had enough! What's wrong with me! What's wrong with me!"

"I was wrong, okay, don't forgive him—but you guys were fighting, right? Why? Erwin said he couldn't ask..."

"Yeah, there was a quarrel! He told me to get out, so I got out! I figured it out, I really can't... I'm nothing if I'm not married! I foolishly served the king all my life, and when I'm old, don't I’m useless, I can’t work for him, so he kicked me out!” Michael became more and more excited, “He called me ‘old stuff’... Listen! How ugly! He also said ‘my family’ , yes, that is his home, not mine, and servants are not worthy to live in his magnificent palace!"

"Mike, Mike, what's the matter with you?" Carl Jr. asked anxiously, "Are you crying? My God, I'm going to-"

Little Carl took the night flight and arrived at the farm early the next morning.This is not his first time here, he brought his wife and daughter over several times before.Little Charlie loves to giggle on her pony.Seeing Carl's tired look, Michael immediately felt ashamed, "I didn't cry," he waited for Carl to sit down and poured coffee for him, "I'm just... getting old, um, sometimes..."

"Holy Virgin Mary, why are you arguing?" Influenced by Michael, little Carl unconsciously spoke English with a southern accent. refused to say-"

"I," Michael dared not open the refrigerator in front of little Carl, there were more than a dozen cans of unhealthy carbonated drinks in it, "I... this year is 1995."

"Yeah, at Christmas you're looking forward to the World War festivities?"

"I want him to go with me."

"Uncle Karl disagrees?"

"That's not the problem." Michael sighed, "I used to participate in activities and met some German veterans. I know that after the war, young people in Germany didn't like those old soldiers very much, thinking that they brought disaster to the country. But From a military point of view - well, it's kind of weird to meet again after 50 years anyway. I chatted with them, asked each other what unit they were in, what battles they were in... a lot of them wore iron crosses Medal, very pompous, around the neck. He's got one, but I never saw him wear it, so—"

Quincy doesn't usually seem interested in politics.The most exciting time for him was November 1989, 11, the night the Berlin Wall fell.Michael was with Quincy watching a football match, Stuttgart vs Bayern Munich.Beckenbauer retired, but there was another Klinsmann, and there were always new players attracting Quinnessy's attention.After the game, Michael went to the kitchen to find canned food to feed Arden III. When he was hesitating which flavor to choose, Quincy suddenly called him eagerly, "Mike, Mike!"

Michael thought Quincy was unwell and hurried out of the kitchen.Quincy sat in front of the TV, her back straight.The newscaster's standard German was so clear that Michael thought he had misheard, "...the gates on the Berlin Wall are wide open..."

"Really?" Michael turned the volume of the TV to the maximum to confirm that he was not hallucinating.No, everything really happened.The GDR opens conditions for travel and immigration, effective immediately.Michael saw Quincy standing up, clutching his chest. "Calm down," Michael held him up, "this is a happy event—"

Quincy insisted on going out into the street.Michael took him and drove around the city.One after another, people appeared on the streets in the cold night, and everyone seemed shocked by the sudden news.Quincy didn't sleep that night.Michael was with him—that was the national feeling that Quinnessy had never expressed, something terribly painful inside him that Michael had touched and felt that day.

"I want him to wear the Iron Cross, like those old soldiers." Michael bowed his head. "He didn't like it. I thought it was because of the small problem with the medal-he didn't change the medal in the 50s, and his Iron Cross still had Keep that mark. It's not difficult to remove that mark. There are machines at home. I can easily file that one with a file. I went to the third floor and his iron cross was in the bottom drawer. I searched for a long time... …Finally, I found the medal box, and it was very heavy. You found that box once when you were a child, and I thought it was abnormally heavy. I opened the box..."

"There are not only medals in there?" Little Carl guessed, "What else are there?"

"A gun," Michael said, closing his eyes. "God, a gun, eight bullets—P08 Luger, I thought that was in a museum. I asked him why he hid a gun? He He flew into a rage and said he had a gun license and the law allowed him to own a gun."

"Yes, if Uncle Carl passed the gun manufacturing exam—" Little Carl twisted his shoulders uncomfortably, "but guns are always bad things, right? So you two started arguing?"

"Of course he can have a gun," Michael said mournfully. "I didn't fight with him because he got a gun, but...why did he keep that old gun?"