Chapter 2 - Arrival

May 21, 1946

Somewhere in Missouri

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be arriving in Jefferson City shortly.”

As the female voice cut out, Wilhelm fidgeted on the bench and glanced out the window. The outside of the glass was coated with a combination of soot and dead bugs; this, and the gray, cloudy sky, gave everything a dull and lifeless look. Not that there was anything to look at anyway. For hours, the only interesting things they had passed had been the occasional town or farm. If they were getting close to the capital city, Wilhelm couldn’t tell. To him, it looked no different than it had an hour ago.

While Wilhelm was more than ready to get off the train, he would gladly opt to stay on board if that meant avoiding his uncle.

He fidgeted again, this time wiping his hands on his trousers. Though he was certainly not afraid of his uncle, Wilhelm was nervous about what their meeting would be like.

From what he had been told, it was not going to be the question of if his uncle hated him, it was going to be how much he hated him. Honestly, Wilhelm had been surprised to hear that his uncle had agreed to take him in. But the surprise was not that of relief or happiness, instead it was dread. Whatever his uncle’s motives for taking in his nephew, whom he had never even known existed, could not be good.

“For Pete’s sake, boy! Stop your fidgeting; you’re shaking the whole bench and I can’t sleep with you doin’ that!”

It was the elderly lady on the bench next to Wilhelm. He had been grateful that she had either ignored him or slept the whole way, until now.

The lady looked at him expectantly. What does she want? An apology? Wilhelm was getting uncomfortable, but if she was waiting for an apology, she wasn’t going to get one. Muttering about how rude people were, the woman leaned back and closed her eyes once again.

With a sigh, Wilhelm leaned his head back so it was resting on the hard bench and looked up at the drab ceiling. Why was he so anxious, anyway? He had certainly faced far worse things.

Outside the scenery had now changed from farmland to neighborhoods. Rows of neat, almost identical houses whisked by. They were in Jefferson City.

A shrill whistle sounded as the train began to slow down. Wilhelm closed his eyes. He just wanted to be back in Germany, back where he belonged. He wouldn’t even care that he would be alone, he could handle that.

As the train jolted to a halt, the loudspeakers crackled to life. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Jefferson City, Missouri…”

The voice continued, but Wilhelm was no longer paying attention. He was staring out the window at the crowded platform outside.

People were crowding around the train, waiting either to greet someone getting off or to board the train. On board, some people were grabbing their luggage and stretching their stiff backs. But Wilhelm didn’t notice any of this. He was too busy searching the people on the station platform. Though he had no idea what his uncle looked like, he was confident he would be able to pick him out.

“Excuse me… this is your stop.”

Wilhelm turned. A young female attendant was standing by the bench, talking to him.

“This is your stop, it’s time to get off the train,” she repeated slowly this time, as if she figured he couldn’t understand her.

Wilhelm stood up, grabbed his battered, brown suitcase, and carefully made his way around the, now sleeping, elderly lady. Once in the aisle, he straightened his back to try and loosen up his cramped muscles.

Wilhelm felt the eyes of the attendant on his back as he made his way to the car door and walked down the couple of steps to the platform. He knew that the woman had been told to make sure he got off the train at the right station, and didn’t get off too early or too late. No one trusted him. No one trusted a German.