In the Presence of Mine Enemies Read Online Free PDF Page B

.”
    â€œâ€˜Haman’s hats,’” Alicia echoed. “I like that. Serves him right.”
    â€œYes,” her mother said, “but that’s why you won’t be taking any of them to school for lunch. People who aren’t Jewish might recognize them. We can’t afford to take any chances at all, do you see?”
    â€œNot even with something as little as cakes?” Alicia said.
    â€œNot even,” her mother said firmly. “Not with anything, not ever.”
    â€œAll right, Mama.” The warning impressed Alicia with the depth of the precautions she would have to take to survive.
    â€œ Is it all right, Alicia?” Her father sounded anxious. “I know this is a lot to put on a little girl, but we have to, you see, or there won’t be any Jews any more.”
    â€œIt really is,” Alicia answered. “It…surprised me. I don’t know if I like it yet, but it’s all right.” She nodded in a slow, hesitant way. She thought she meant what she said, but she wasn’t quite sure.
    She and Anna yawned together, then giggled at each other. Aunt Susanna got up, grabbed her handbag, walked over to Alicia, and kissed her on the cheek. “Welcome to your bigger family, dear. We’re glad to have you.”
    My bigger family, Alicia thought. That, she did like. Aunt Susanna and the Stutzmans had always been like family to her. Finding out they really were a family of sorts—or at least part of the same conspiracy of survival—was reassuring, in a way.
    Susanna turned to Alicia’s father. “I’d better get home. I have to teach an early class tomorrow.”
    â€œWe ought to go, too,” Esther Stutzman said. “Either that or we’ll wait till Anna falls asleep—which shouldn’t be more than another thirty seconds—bundle her into the broom closet, and leave without her.” Her daughter let out an irate sniff.
    Alicia’s mother and father passed out coats. The friends stood gossiping on the front porch for a last couple of minutes. As they chattered, a brightly lit police van turned the corner and rolled up the street toward the end of the cul-de-sac. “They know!” Alicia gasped in horror. “They know!” She tried to bolt inside, away from the eagle and swastika that had suddenly gone from national emblem to symbol of terror.
    Her father seized her arm. Alicia had never thought of him as particularly strong, but he held on tight and made sure she couldn’t move. The van turned around and went back up the street. It turned the corner. It was gone.
    â€œThere. You see?” her father said. “Everything’s fine, little one. They can only find out about us if we give ourselves away. Do you understand?”
    â€œI—think so, Father,” Alicia said.
    â€œGood.” Her father let go of her. “ Now you can go on in and get ready for bed.”
    Alicia had never been so glad to go into the house in all her life.
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    Susanna and the Stutzmans walked off toward the bus stop. Heinrich and Lise Gimpel went back inside the house. Once he closed the door, he allowed himself the luxury of a long sigh of mingled relief and fear. “That damned police van!” he said. “I thought poor Alicia would jump right out of her skin—and if she had, it might have ruined everything.”
    â€œWell, she didn’t. You stopped her.” His wife gave him a quick kiss. “I’m going to make sure she’s all right now.”
    â€œGood idea,” Heinrich said. “I’ll start on the dishes.” He rolled up his sleeves, turned on the water, and waited for it to get hot. When it did, he rinsed off the plates and silverware and glasses and loaded them into the dishwasher. The manufacturers kept saying the new models would be able to handle dishes that hadn’t been rinsed. So far, they’d lied every time.
    Heinrich was still busy when