Not long after Bruno returned home, stripped out of his uniform, took a bath, and emerged fully clothed in far more comfortable attire to share a meal with his family, he received a knock on his door.
Considering he was just about to eat his wife’s amazing home cooking; Bruno was actually quite pissed off and opened the door with a scowl on his face. Only to be surprised when he saw his friend Heinrich standing in the doorway with a young girl, no older than thirteen, standing behind him rather anxiously.
Bruno looked at the man for one second and looked down at the girl, only to look back at the man. He was about to say something when Heinrich pleaded with Bruno to let him into his house.
“I know it isn’t exactly courteous of me to show up so late in the evening unannounced, but Bruno, I desperately need your help here. Can you please invite me in so we can talk about it?” Bruno continued to stare at his friend with a disgusted and accusatory gaze. Something that only made the man even more nervous. It was not until Heidi popped her head out from the kitchen, asking who was at the door, when Bruno finally spoke.
“I always knew you were a degenerate playboy, but Heinrich, for God’s sake, she’s a child! Heidi, call the police!”
Heidi instantly knowing that her husband was playing a prank on his friend, instantly nodded her head with a stern gaze, seemingly shooting daggers at Heinrich with her eyes as she grabbed hold of the nearby phone and began to fake dial a number.
“Right away, dear. Hello operator, connect me with the police. I need to report a crime!”
Seeing how he was about to end up in an enormous misunderstanding, Heinrich frantically grabbed hold of Bruno’s shoulders, who continued to look at him with disgust and practically cried as he tried to explain the awkward situation he was forced into.
“It’s not like that, I swear to God! Bruno, please hear me out! Adopted! She’s adopted! I need some parenting advice, that’s all!”
Bruno gazed upon Heinrich with a mixture of disgust, but also an expression that said he didn’t believe him, even while questioning the man straight to his face.
“Really? You expect me to believe that you adopted this little girl out of the kindness of your heart, all while having no other ulterior motives?”
Heinrich fell to his knees, practically begging Bruno to believe him as he shouted at the man for daring to accuse him of such filth.
“Bruno, you know me! Sure, I may be friendly with the ladies, but only women of a proper age! I would never harm a little girl like Alya, let alone my own adopted daughter. For the love of God, we have been friends for so many years, and you still believe I am capable of such things?”
Heidi continued to play her role in the background, further adding to Heinrich’s anxiety as she did so.
“Hello Officer, yes, there is an old pervert who has arrived at my home with a little girl by his side. I think he plans to do indecent things to her. Please come apprehend this criminal quickly!”
Upon hearing Heidi say such things, Heinrich fell to the floor, looking as pale as a ghost, as if his life was officially over. As for Alya, she began to panic as well after just now fully realizing the implications of being cast at her adoptive father. Because of this, she was quick to defend him in a way that only made things worse for the man.
“Papa has never done anything so indecent towards me! I even offered to give my body to him, but he refused to do so!”
Bruno and Heidi had just been playing around with Heinrich up until this point, but the moment they heard this statement come from the mouth of the adolescent girl, they genuinely spit out poison to the man with the married couple speaking the same exact words at the same time.
“Die, pervert!”
Heinrich doesn’t really remember what happened after that as he entered a state of mental anguish, only fully coming back to reality after the situation had been resolved and the misunderstandings had been cleared.
Truthfully, Heinrich did not know why he and Alya were on their knees in front of Bruno, who sat on a sofa while his wife clung comfortably to him in his lap. But when the married couple broke out into a fit of laughter, it was only then that Heinrich understood his best friend had just had a bit of fun at his expense.
The only cost was significant emotional trauma and mental turmoil. Instantly causing Heinrich to become outraged as he explained things clearly to his newly adopted daughter, who still held her head low, as if she had done some kind of wrong.
“Are you freaking kidding me? Why? Why would you pretend like I’m some kind of pervert like that? You even faked a phone call to the police? What have I ever done to deserve such treatment?”
Bruno, however, was still laughing as he told his friend to calm down, even though he was rightfully pissed over what had just happened to him, and unnecessarily so.
“Oh, relax Heinrich, it was just a joke, please you may be a degenerate womanizer, but I have faith that at the very least you have some degree of morality. I mean, if you really had used my resources to look after those kids with such horrific hidden intentions, I would seriously have to consider joining you in the grave as penance for funding such atrocities.
Heidi, it would appear we have two guests. Unannounced as they are, it would be impolite of us as hosts not to provide some proper hospitality. Is there enough food to provide two more plates for dinner?”
Was there enough food to provide two more plates for dinner? That was a question that they both knew the answer to. Heidi loved cooking for her family, and always made more than they needed. Any leftovers they had were eaten the next day before they could be spoiled or were given out to the local orphanage if they still had too much leftover to consume.
Bruno had, after all, bought a refrigerator for this purpose. Expensive as they were, he hated disposing of food on a deeply moral level. Any food his wife cooked would not go to waste. Because of this, they had more than enough food to serve a few extra guests.
And Heidi was quick to prepare the plates for them as Bruno led his friend into the kitchen to join him and his family for a meal. It was only then that Heinrich realized, as Bruno sat lovingly with his family and shared a beer together with him, that perhaps living the life of a bachelor for so many years was a significant error on his part.
The two of them would have a long conversation about parenting, with Heidi chiming in on her experience in that regard. And though Heinrich didn’t realize it, Heidi had voluntarily solved his biggest concern with suddenly being forced to look after Alya as her father.
She volunteered to let the girl stay with them whenever he was deployed. Promising to take care of her as if she were one of her own daughters until he could return, much in the same way Bruno’s mother had done for her while she was growing up during her stays at the von Zehntner Estate.
And though Bruno did not know it yet, he would soon become the Godfather to Heinrich’s adopted daughter. A role he would fulfill to the best of his ability. After all, he was a man who had died all alone in his past life, and in this new life, family was more important to him than
anything.