JOHANNA BRAUN
Johanna like everyday stumble walked towards the lake, as like visiting The lake had become a part of her daily routine. It seemed as if she had connected emotionally with the lake. The lake and it’s still water with floating water lilies and algae, surrounded by tall grass is where her late husband Aldo offered her to join him in wedlock. Probably that is why going around the lake was always incorporated in her everyday checklist. It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon with a cold yet comforting gust flowing when Johanna was interrupted by a stranger. Johanna was left aghast by the strange man’s audacity that let him sit next to her. She stared at him with her dense eyebrows frowned so as forming an arch on her forehead conveying that she didn’t approve of his company, yet the man, unbothered, lit his cigarette.
Johanna sternly observed the man, he looked like he was in his twenties, a mere boy for her, his blonde hair waved down on his white face with light beard and pink lips. His brown eyes were highlighted by the flame of the lighter he used to light his cigarette.
Motioning his hand towards Johanna, he asked,
‘ cigarette? ’
‘ What do you want . boy ?’ screamed Johanna sounding as if she were already annoyed by his presence.
‘ I am ...’
‘ You are what ?’
‘ I am offering you a cigarette and hoping for a conversation maybe’
‘ A conversation? Don’t you know what they call me, boy?’
‘ Well I am new here and I see you come here everyday and do absolutely nothing so I thought –‘
‘ Leave me, alone boy !’
‘ Peace out, Johanna Braun !’
The boy prepared to leave when it occurred to Johanna that she just heard her real name from a stranger’s mouth. The sound of the man’s voice calling out her name continuously rang in her ears. She turned around swiftly, Watching the man march away, she called out,
‘ Aye, you! the boy in the black leather jacket. Stop !’
He stopped and smiled playfully to himself. Johanna approached him and asks who he was and how did he happen to know her.
‘ Everyone in Goslar knows –‘
‘ But Who are you, I have seen not one blonde in Goslar with the balls to initiate a conversation with me, Who on earth are you ?’
‘ Stop interrupting me woman and listen. I am Andrew from Mississippi and I am a masters student at Goslar university. Is there anything else that you want to know ?’
For a minute Johanna was shut. With nothing else to ask, Johanna, leaving Andrew hanging mid-conversation, left with her empty beer bottle. On usual days she drank from the bottle and flung it in the lake once it emptied, but there was something unusual about today. Her preoccupation with Andrew and his guts had her carry the empty bottle home.
Andrew’s gaze followed Johanna till she took a sharp right for her house and disappeared from his sight. Intrigued and seeming to be fascinated, he wanted to know more about the Scornful yet fierce Johanna Braun. Lighting another cigarette, Andrew starts walking towards his abode. He lived as a tenant with Mrs Felker . She was an old but graceful woman in her seventies. She was the widow of a martyred policeman. Her only daughter, Linda moved to Berlin for work leaving her alone with the house.
Andrew unlocks the door and removes his shoes by the wooden shoe rack, made of bamboo he guessed. He walked on the cold marble which constituted the floor and heard Mrs Felker.
‘ You want cookies with milk dear ?’
‘ Have you baked them yourself ?’ he shouts.
‘ Of course, dear, who else would make such scrumptious cookies in Goslar ?’
Sitting on the table, in the hall, Andrew replied, ‘ How can I not have them?’
Mrs. Felker appeared with a tray decorated with ceramic plates and a jar of cookies with warm milk. She wore an apron over her comfortable robe and sat next to Andrew asking him about the events that took place in his day. Andrew began to tell her about his encounter with Johanna Braun aka the scornful woman .
Mrs. Felker, on hearing this, sipped on her warm milk and pursed her lips. From her face, Andrew made out her disapproval and asks who Johanna Braun really was. After a minute of complete silence between the two Mrs Felker suggested him to keep away from Johanna and pursue a younger woman with no issues. Her response seemed to interest Andrew even more . After his continuous attempts at persuasion , Mrs Felker finally decided to tell Andrew about this regular woman whom he found mysterious.
‘ Tell me, dear, what do you want to know about Johanna ?’ she asked.
‘ Whatever you think I should know’
‘ Poor woman, life has not been so fair with her. Lost her beloved husband Aldo to leukaemia. And her children –‘
‘ Her children what?’
‘ Taken away from her into foster homes. Apparently due to her drinking problem she was considered unfit to mother her children and Later it came to my hearing that she had been diagnosed with some illness of the mind’
‘ What was she like before it hit her ?’
‘ A wonderful woman everyone is Goslar desired. You see dear, life is not fair with everyone. Who knew Aldo would die so young and his wife would be a ramshackle’.
Mrs. Felker began collecting the utensils – Cups, plates and jars from the wooden table and marched towards the kitchen. Andrew sat still for a while, trying to contemplate what he was just told. Unlike everyone else, Andrew was wanting to put more effort into knowing who the real Johanna Braun was, The scornful woman didn’t appear scornful to him anymore.
Mrs. Felker retired to rest but Andrew, lost in a deep thought kept sitting by the table. He wondered why suddenly, he was interested in a random woman’s life from the town he was not even accustomed to yet. He murmured to himself ‘I cannot be in love with the woman’.
After applying much thought and assuring himself that it wasn’t love but curiosity that he felt for Johanna, Andrew went to the attic which apparently was also his room.
The attic had wooden walls and ceiling, opposite to which was the polished wooden floor. There was an air mattress covered in a neat, white sheet in the name of a proper bed complemented by two side tables, both decorated with flower vases. There was something about the room that provided Andrew with comfort. He seemed to enjoy the privacy. Andrew shut the window so as to keep himself warm and went to sleep
(.)
A week had passed since Andrew’s absurd confrontation with Johanna, It seemed as if he had moved on from his strange curiosity about Johanna Braun’s past but little did he know about what awaited him downstairs.
While coming down the stairs, Andrew heard Mrs Felker have a tense conversation with a man whose voice he couldn’t seem to recall. The presence of the man rang bells in his mind probably because Mrs.Felker hardly had any visitors. He entered the hall where he saw Mrs.Felker seated across the man. He was in a plain white shirt and black trousers, neatly dressed. He appeared to be an official. He was fair with neat black hair and a fine moustache.
The man rose and said ‘Andrew? Andrew Reed ?’
‘ Yes, how do we know each other ?’
‘ I am Nicholas kahnwald , I assume you knew Johanna Braun ?’
‘ Knew? what do you mean by Knew Johanna Braun ?’
‘ You have to come down to the station sir, since you were the last person to be seen with her’
The news hit Andrew like a rock in the face. He looked at Mrs Felker, she was dismayed and her face boldly expressed the words she wanted to say but couldn’t - ‘I warned you’
On reaching the Police station, the detective apprised Andrew of the situation.
‘ A local spotted Johanna’s body the in the lake around two days ago, the post mortem reveals that she must have drowned around say um six or seven days ago. My expertise had me guessing that she was pushed _’
‘ And you suspect that I am the one who pushed her. Right detective Kahnwald ?’
The detective shook his head and said, ‘Yes Andrew, you met her exactly a week ago and someone heard Johanna scream at you.’
Andrew chuckled and was taken into custody until a new lead which proved him ‘not guilty’ was investigated by the police.
(.)
A fortnight had passed since Andrew was taken into custody on the suspicion of murdering Johanna Braun. Due to the lack of evidence that supported Nicholas’ theory of murder, Andrew was freed. The cell Andrew was put in was nothing less than a castle’s dungeon in the sixteenth century. It was dark and the grey walls lent it a gloomy atmosphere.
With no window to peep through or a mate to talk, Andrew had plenty of time to think. It took him fourteen days in a cell to be determined enough to find Johanna’s remaining family – her children. He wanted them to mourn for their mother’s death and probably tell them how their mother lived her last days as a ramshackle.
‘ They deserve the truth’ he muttered to himself before an officer came to release him.
Andrew came home to find Mrs Felker waiting for him at the door.
‘ Poor child! look what have they done to you, come with me dear I have baked chocolate and honey cookies for you’
Andrew remained silent and walked inside the house on the same cold floor of marble, removing his shoes by the bamboo rack.
‘ Freshen up dear, I will lay the table for you’
‘ hmm’ said Andrew as he walked sheepishly towards the attic.
Mrs. Felker arranged the table with ceramic utensils, cookie jars and hot chocolate in small teacups topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. She sat patiently on the wooden chair waiting for Andrew.
Andrew finally entered the hall where Mrs Felker waited for him. As he pulled the chair to sit down, Mrs Felker stared at him in adoration and attempted to start a conversation.
‘ So dear_’
Andrew interrupted ‘ I am going to see Johanna’s children tomorrow, they should mourn for their mother.’
Unable to believe what she just heard, Mrs Felker responded ‘Johanna’s children...’
‘How did you manage to find them ?’ She added.
‘ Before I was taken into custody for her murder, I asked a couple of friends to dig into her past and find her children. I just had to do this.’
‘ YOU HAD TO DO WHAT ANDREW? Have you lost your mind? I warned you, I warned that the woman is trouble and looks what happened...’
‘ I want you to get done with her at once, Andrew. SHE IS DEAD .’ she argued.
Andrew got up in anger, the chair he sat on fell behind him and left the house. ‘Thud’ banged the door as he exited. He spent his evening at the lake, trying to remember his first and last encounter with Johanna Braun. He introspected if he subconsciously had the desire to murder the woman, hence elucidating his inability to recall killing her. He sat idly by the edge of the wooden plank at the lake and watched the sky change colour. Preparing himself to appear of sound mind when Johanna’s children call him responsible for their mother’s death.
(.)
‘Today is a big day’ Andrew thought to himself as he wore his sky blue shirt with black cargo pants. ‘ You cannot back out’ He muttered to himself as he took a deep breath in the mirror. His nervousness could be made out from the sweat in his palms.
Andrew rented a car to Wernigerode, where he expected to find Johanna’s daughters. While driving on the highway, Andrew witnessed the extraordinary beauty of nature, canopies of trees and meadows along the clean road of tar. In his mind, he began comparing his home country, The Unites States to this one.
It took him an hour and a half to drive all the way to Wernigerode. Johanna’s children were in a foster home. He rang the doorbell and was answered to by a steward who led him to a big hall decorated with modern furniture of glass and wood. He was happy to see Johanna’s children being given a life that they deserved.
Johanna’s twin daughters looked exactly like her but their eyes were black, probably like Aldo’s. They must be around six years old. Andrew could not muster the courage to tell the young girls about the death of their biological mother. He passed them a sweet smile and left as unexpectedly as he came.
It was time for dinner when Andrew arrived back in Goslar. Yet again, He sees Mrs Felker waiting for him at the table, this time with a home-baked chocolate cake. Andrew chuckled and hugged her from behind.
‘ I’m sorry Mrs Felker’ he breathed.
Mrs . Felker held his arm and he kissed her head.
All was good until two days later Nicholas returned. Andrew almost jumped from his seat.
‘ Be seated Andrew, it’s not you who concerns me. Mrs.Felker, shall we ?’
Mrs.Felker nervously looked at Andrew and then at Nicholas.
‘ Andrew _’ she said
‘ Mrs Felker? what is the matter? what does he mean ?’
Her voice almost breaking, she admits to a crime she committed.
‘ I hit Johanna on the head with her beer bottle and pushed her into the lake, I did it because I didn’t want you near her, I was protecting you Andr_’
‘ Enough !...’ Shouted Nicholas and cuffed the old lady’s hands.
‘ Things we do for love’
Andrew fell on his place in consternation.
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