1 Life as we know it

There is nothing like the feeling of being forced out of your home and having to move to an entirely new country. That feeling where you're sick to your stomach because your entire world is about to change. My name is Katherine Müller. I'm 15 years old and a native German. My entire life is about to change before my eyes, because of one mistake that was made way before I was even thought of.

-Katherine Müller-

I can hear my grandfather talking to someone downstairs. The sudden shift in the tone of his voice scares me. Slowly, I walk up to him and he tells me to go into the living room because he has something important to tell the family. He tells us that we have no choice in what he is about to tell us and not to get too worked up over it. He proceeds to tell the family that we have to leave Germany and we're going to Houston, Texas. My parents both gave him a weird look and asked why on earth we would move. He tells them that his business has called and told him he needs to be in Texas by next week. Everyone knows to never ask about what he does for a living so we all just accept what he has to say and go on our way. I run up the stairs, pack my bags, then toss each bag down the flight of stairs. They have no idea how upset this makes me.

"All my friends are just going to be ripped away from me" I thought to myself.

"My social life will no longer be a thing. My whole life is going to change and it's as if no one cares."

The next few days fly by and before I knew it we were at the airport. As our flight is being called I start freaking out. I have no way of ever talking to any of my friends again and I'm going to end up being completely alone. I'm going to miss the mall my mom would take me to every weekend, the weird lady from across the street that would always annoy my parents, and everyone I ever grew close to during my life in Germany. We board our flight and I can feel my body trembling as I go to sit down. I lean back in my seat, take a deep breath, and fall asleep. After an eleven hour flight I woke up in Texas. The plane starts to descend and plants itself onto the ground. As I am walking out of the airport the humidity slaps me in the face.

Later that day, we end up settling down in a cute little blue and white house. My parents get the master suite, I call the second biggest room, and the smallest room goes to my grandfather. We unpack our bags and then sit in the living room as a family. The sudden move has caused everyone in the house to lose their jobs and feel as if we don't belong here. Every day we meet new people, every woman has on a very country looking dress and all of the men are in nice suits with cowboy hats. My dad and grandfather fit in well at least. All they need is a cowboy hat. As for me and my mother the long dresses and gloves don't blend in at all. I'm already starting to miss Germany and all of my old friends. As rude as it sounds, I also miss the fact that we were rich over in Germany. My mother would always buy me the best dress and the cutest jewelry. I always felt so beautiful. We would go out to fancy restaurants and order whatever we wanted. On Top of that our house was ginormous. Now thanks to my grandfather's job we've lost it all, because they forced us to leave our entire life there and to move on.

The only thing left now is for me to find a job to help get my family back on their feet. I walk up to the chemical plant a few miles up the road and ask for an application. They tell me I can start working now if I don't mind making 79 cents an hour. I gladly accept the job and as I'm running out of the chemical plant to tell my parents I see the cutest guy ever. He tells me that he is going to be working with me, and that his name is DeAndre. He proceeds to tell me I'm cute and he wants to go out with me. I give him a weird look but ask him to show me around the chemical plant to help me become more comfortable since it's such a big place. As he is showing me around, one thing that I notice about him is that I really like his accent. After a few minutes he catches me glancing at him and says "As we conclude this tour madam, would you like to go out sometime". I smile at his remark and tell him I would gladly go out with him. We just have to be careful because a white girl and a colored guy might get questioned or even shamed. I don't want him getting hurt but I have no problem being with him. It's sad that white people don't accept colored people the way they should. Time flies by and before I know it my conversation with DeAndre is over and I'm on my way home.

As I am walking down the street, I look to my left and see my dad. As soon as I go to wave at my dad he starts walking towards me not noticing the oncoming car. The way the lady abruptly hits the brakes ques me in on the fact she is going to hit him.

"Dad the car!" I yelled, but it was too late.

SMACK! The sound of the car as it started crushing every bone in his arm scared the life out of me. A sudden rush of the memories of us playing tag, annoying my mother on purpose, and him being a shoulder to cry on all came back to me when I heard his blood curdling yell. As soon as the car comes to a halt I run over to my dad. The driver gets out of her car and leans over to see how bad it is. Once she sees my dad's arm crushed and as flat as a pancake under the tire of the car she hunches over and throws up. The woman composes herself and goes into her car to call the ambulance on her car phone. Her voice was frantic and she sounded as if someone had died. I don't blame her because it did look like my dad had died. I sit there watching over my dad while I start to hyperventilate.

About thirty minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. They inform us that my dad is nowhere in their systems and they are going to have to do a crazy amount of research on him to know anything about his medical records. They ended up calling a hospital in Germany and asking for my father's files. Through those files they end up finding out my grandfather was working as a German spy when he was younger, because they accidently sent over his files too. We had no idea who my grandfather was working for when he was younger. He kept his past a secret from everyone. Including his wife who died a few years after having my dad.

    The nurse informs me and my mom that they are going to get the FBI involved because my grandfather used to work for Operation pastorius. Operation Pastorius was a failed German intelligence group that tried to sabotage the United States during World War II. They refuse to operate on my dad because they are scared that he might be an accomplice to his father and that his father might still be involved with the German spies. The next day my grandfather gets called into questioning.

-Kurtis Müller-

"Sir, did you or did you not work for Operation Pastorius"?

I just sit there and say nothing. That action alone causes them to bring in a translator.

The officer repeats, "Did you or did you not work for Operation Pastorius"?

"Haben Sie oder haben Sie nicht für die Operation Pastorius gearbeitet"?

"I can speak english you idiot, but if you must know I did not work for them and we simply came to America in hopes of a better life".

"Sir, y'all were rich beyond means. What do you mean by a better life"?

I just roll my eyes and laugh, which causes the officer to become extremely frustrated with me to the point where he slams his fists on the table and yells at me "You idiot".

"Good lord, I just wanted my family to be happier and feel safe here in America. That's why we moved here".

"I don't believe you because you lied earlier in the interview".

"I demand you tell us what you are really doing in America or I expect you to leave within the next few days and never return. If you don't do this we will take matters into our own hands and trust me you won't like it".

    I stand up from my chair, walk out the building, and head home. I know if I say here, I would've faced prosecution or be shot and killed on the spot.

-Katherine Müller-

When my grandfather gets home he tells us that he used to be a German spy and that he spied on America when he was younger. He said that they found out about it and now he is to move back to Germany or they will kill him. Now everyone is yelling at each other. At this point I can feel the frustration and sorrow within my grandfather's eyes. It's as if he could cry a river but at the same time punch something really hard. The main thing making it worse on him is my parents.

    "How in the world are we going to be able to afford to send you back to Germany, and why didn't you ever tell us about your past?" My dad yelled.

"Let's not make a bigger deal out of this than it already is" I chime in. "I'll talk to my boyfriend DeAndre and see if there is anything he thinks we should do to fix this".

The next day I go into work and pull DeAndre aside. I explain everything that happened and ask if there is anything we could do to help him. He tells me that it will be risky but my grandfather can stay at his house for as long as he needs. As soon as the day ends I go home and tell my parents and grandfather about the proposition.

My dad insists that it's a bad idea and if we could pull it off it would be a miracle, but in retrospect it's ultimately my grandfather's decision. After a lot of contemplation my grandfather decides that he wants to follow through with it. Even though he knows it means he could die if he gets caught.

As we're helping my grandfather pack his bags to move him in with DeAndre, he starts rambling on about how we're never going to see him again.

I look over at him "everything will be okay. You have loved us and helped us since we were little and now we're just returning the favor to you."

-Kurtis Müller-

I glance at Katherine, my granddaughter, smile, and keep packing my bags. Once my last Frank Sinatra Record is packed I head over to DeAndre's. She offered to take me to his house but I don't want to be the reason for her death; in case I get caught by the police. I discreetly walk into DeAndre's house and head down to the basement. As I'm sitting on the bed I start pondering life.

How could something so horrible happen even though it was avoidable. Before my family and I moved to the states; I called the spy organization to tell them that I had to quit because I had to put my family above them. They weren't happy about it so they told me I needed to leave Germany because I knew too much, and even though they got shut down they can't trust anyone. They were going to kill me and now I'm in the same situation but in a different country. As i'm starting to get choked up about this, my thoughts get interrupted by DeAndre when he walks into the room

"I just wanted to say thank you".

"No need for that sir. Just be careful. The house is yours. I'm going to Washington to march with Martin Luther King Jr for his Civil Rights Movement".

I watch as he walks out of the door. My whole body starts to tremble as I start to realize I'm completely alone and there's a high risk of me dying if anyone catches me here. A few days later, I decided to turn on the radio to listen to the speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. His speech is unbelievable. He is so moving that the crowd around him is dead silent.

When his speech is over they go marching down the street to protest for equal rights. As soon as I hear that marchers are being attacked by attack dogs I have to turn off the radio because the news is very upsetting.

I get up to go into the kitchen not thinking about what might happen if someone sees me through the window. An officer ends up spotting me and somehow notices who I am right away.

"Get on the ground or I'll shoot".

"Crap" the only word that comes to my mind.

As the officer is taking me in my

granddaughter notices me through the window of her house. I can see the shocked look on her face as she started to become hysterical. The thought of seeing her cry makes me want to cry, so I quickly divert my face away from the window. At this point the officer is just dragging me behind him because my body decided to just give up.

-Katherine Müller-

My grandfather is caught! DeAndre could've been there to protect him but he left at his own discretion to fight his own battle. It's so hard not to be mad at him for leaving even though his rights are just as important as mine and my grandfathers. The thing I don't understand is why he didn't just take my grandfather with him. My grandfather would have loved to be a part of anything that has to do with someone fighting for their rights or even politics.

I can see him walking down the streets of Washington advocating for the rights that so many people of color in this nation long to have. Even him watching his Martin Luther King Jr's speech from the National Mall.He would have been so excited over that. It's sad to know that that will never happen and that all of his dreams have now vanished. He is going to be stuck behind bars for the rest of his life if he's lucky enough and they will let him live, and that will forever be something that will eat me up inside.