Her wrinkles were like slander. Her voice was akin to a beating with a stick.
It was actually quite fortunate that they saw Frau Holtzapfel coming from the living room window, for her knuckles on the door were hard and decisive. They meant business.
Liesel heard the words she dreaded.
“You go and answer it,” Mama said, and the girl, knowing only too well what was good for her, did as she was told.
“Is your mama home?” Frau Holtzapfel inquired. Constructed of fifty-year-old wire, she stood on the front step, looking back every so often to view the street. “Is that swine of a mother of yours here today?”
Liesel turned and called out.
DUDEN DICTIONARY MEANING #5
Gelegenheit—Opportunity:
A chance for advancement or progress.
Related words:
prospect, opening, break.
Soon, Rosa was behind her. “What do you want here? You want to spit on my kitchen floor now, too?”
Frau Holtzapfel was not deterred in the slightest. “Is that how you greet everyone who shows up at your front door? What a G’sindel.”
Liesel watched. She was unfortunate enough to be sandwiched between them. Rosa pulled her out of the way. “Well, are you going to tell me why you’re here or not?”
Frau Holtzapfel looked once more at the street and back. “I have an offer for you.”
Mama shifted her weight. “Is that right?”
“No, not you.” She dismissed Rosa with a shrug of the voice and focused now on Liesel. “You.”
“Why did you ask for me, then?”
“Well, I at least need your permission.”
Oh, Maria, Liesel thought, this is all I need. What the hell can Holtzapfel want with me?
“I liked that book you read in the shelter.”
No. You’re not getting it. Liesel was convinced of that. “Yes?”
“I was hoping to hear the rest of it in the shelter, but it looks like we’re safe for now.” She rolled her shoulders and straightened the wire in her back. “So I want you to come to my place and read it to me.”
“You’ve got some nerve, Holtzapfel.” Rosa was deciding whether to be furious or not. “If you think—”
“I’ll stop spitting on your door,” she interrupted. “And I’ll give you my coffee ration.”
Rosa decided against being furious. “And some flour?”
“What, are you a Jew? Just the coffee. You can swap the coffee with someone else for the flour.”
It was decided.
By everyone but the girl.
“Good, then, it’s done.”