Lipstick Prints on the Window

Seth Feldman watched the worldwide chaos with trepidation. He also kept an eye on the growing antisemitism that brewed among his neighbors and his compatriots.

Greta, his wife, scoffed at him. She, being a German national, and a Lutheran before they married, was sure her beloved Germany would rebound.

"Greta, you are crazy in the head if you think this will all blow over," Seth said.

Which started Greta on a screaming tirade. She mocked him for his cautious nature, mocked him for his Jewish customs and traditions, mocked him for only having one child with her, their daughter Esther Naomi Feldman.

"Thank God she is engaged; she will marry Klaus Ubelhauser, good German man, give us, me plenty grandchildren play with," Greta said.

"Klaus Ubelhauser is forty years old," Seth scoffed. "I doubt he can father grandchildren. He should already have grandchildren of his own."

In 1931, Esther and Klaus did wed. Seth barely had enough money for Esther's dress and the cake, but he did pay for both. He wore his best suit, hoping the pins that held the seat together was not visible to the congregation. Greta took that month's rent and bought herself a fine dress for the ceremony.

It was the first wedding for both Klaus and Esther. The only reason Klaus, now forty two, did marry Esther was because, once again, there were whispers, rumors that he, Klaus Rudolph Ubelhauser was 'bent.'

On their wedding night, Klaus hemmed and hawed, dawdling, fussing, wasting time. Then when he saw he could no longer put it off, Klaus mounted his virginal bride, plunged his shaky erection into her dry vagina, and promptly fainted at the sight of her virginal blood.

In 1932, just before Christmas, Alma Gerboells, Greta's sister in law was returning home from market, clutching onto the two live chickens she had managed to purchase from market. She was struck on the head with a mallet and a man stole the two squawking, clucking hens.

"Jewish pig!" the man cursed. "Why you should have two hens when there are good, honest Germans starving?"

"See? See, Greta?" Seth again pleaded with his wife.

"You are seeing ghosts in the light," Greta scoffed.

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Seth sat by his radio and listened to the broadcast. He shuddered as Hitler's guttural Bavarian accent barked and growled.

"Please, please, Greta, come. We will go to America. The land of the cowboys," Seth said. "This Hitler? He is a madman."

"He will be the Bavarian knight. He will lead us to a triumphant Germany once more," Greta proclaimed.

"He is insane," Seth said. "Did you not hear him? His thinking is not logical."

Esther, visiting while her husband was in Munich, agreed with her father. She too had shuddered through the ranting and raving of Adolf Hitler.

That night, Esther Ubelhauser returned home, reflecting on her parents' unhappiness. She too was unhappy. Since their marriage, Klaus had taken her thrice. On their wedding night, then twice when he was quite drunk.

Then Klaus had taken a belt and thrashed Esther for still failing to become with child.

Shortly after Esther had returned home that very night, the telephone jangled.

"Esther, my darling, there has been a terrible mistake," Klaus pleaded. "I am in jail."

"Jail?" Esther gasped, horrified. "For what?"

"I, again, it is a terrible mistake, just a misunderstanding," Klaus whined.

Esther pursed her lips tightly as she listened to Klaus spin a tale as far-fetched as any Grimm Fairy Tale. But she now understood that the whispers, the rumors were true. Klaus had propositioned a darling young man and the young man had run and told a policeman.

"Yes, yes, Klaus, I shall come and get you. My father; he has friends in Munich; we should be able to get this all straightened out," Esther promised.

In the morning, Esther opened the safe in her husband's library. Last night, he had finally given her the combination to the safe; he needed the money within. She emptied the safe of the money, took Klaus Ubelhauser's official papers, along with her own and placed all into a heavy canvas bag.

She then scribbled a note and placed that in the safe.

Seth looked up from the watch he was cleaning and smiled when his daughter entered the shop.

"Emma, I am taking my daughter for tea," he announced to the spinster that worked for him.

Emma merely grunted that she'd heard him and continued to polish the silverware set she was cleaning. Father and daughter went next door to get tea.

"My Klaus, the rumors are true," Esther spat when their server left them alone.

"Hmm? He is? He is bent?" Seth asked, frowning.

"Father, we, you are right. It is too dangerous here," Esther whispered urgently.

"I know, but your mother..." Seth said.

"Leave her," Esther hissed. "Leave her to her fate. She believes so fervently? Leave her to her fate. I am leaving Klaus to his."

Seth completed the watch repairs, paid Emma for the week's service even though it was only Wednesday, then he locked the door for the last time. Then father and daughter walked to the train station.

"We are married," Esther hissed to her father. "Put your arm around me as if I am your wife."

"If you are my wife, I should be clubbing you," Seth joked.

Father and daughter laughed long and hard. Then they boarded the train.

(Three days later, Klaus Ubelhauser did manage to borrow the money to bail himself from the jail. Returning home, he stormed throughout the house, looking for his impertinent wife.

Then, opening the safe, he saw it was empty, save for a sheet of paper on which Esther had scribbled 'Go to Hell.')

Arriving in Paris, France, Esther and Seth went to the American Diplomat's offices. Just outside of the highly polished doors, Esther again reminded Seth that he was now Klaus Ubelhauser and she was his wife.

"I, it is not safe in Germany," Klaus told the bored looking clerk of the American office.

"Thanks to the stock market crash? It's not safe anywhere," the clerk said.

"I want to go to America," Klaus insisted. "I want to be cowboy."

The clerk looked at Klaus Ubelhauser with amusement. The man was in his forties, according to his papers.

"Well, who am I to stand in the way of the next Tom Mix?" the clerk smiled and stamped the appropriate documents. "And you? You want to be a cowboy as well?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, no, I am Indian," Esther smiled. "He speak with forked tongue? I shoot him with my arrow. In the seat of his pants."

"Oh, how delightful!" the clerk laughed and wished the husband and wife safe journey to America.

While Klaus and his young wife were boarding the steamer that would ferry them to London, where they would board the steamship that would take them to America, the real Klaus Ubelhauser was lobbying a complaint with the local police. Unfortunately for him, the police had heard from the Munich Police Department, had heard about Klaus Ubelhauser propositioning a young man.

The sergeant promised he would look into it, would look into the disappearance of Klaus's wife and the theft of his money. Then he dismissed Klaus Ubelhauser. As the door closed, the police officer dismissed Klaus Ubelhauser's complaint as well.

Klaus and Esther booked an inexpensive berth in the third level. Upon arriving to the berth, Klaus looked at the small cot with the thin blanket and two small pillows.

"No, no, Esther, this will not do," Klaus said firmly. "I shall get another..."

Esther pushed her father against the door of the small berth, pressed her lush body against him and kissed him. She kissed him as a young wife would kiss her husband.

"Klaus, Klaus, we are married," she hissed fervently. "You are my husband and I am your wife. If you do not act the part, we will be returned to Germany. Do you not see this? So, Klaus, be my husband!"

That night, as the choppy waters of the Atlantic buffeted the HMS Jersey, Klaus and Esther clung together. They had been warned that the travel may be a little rough, but nothing had prepared them for this.

"Dear husband," Esther groaned. "If I perish, please remember that I love you."

"Dear wife, should I perish before you, do know that you are my love, my life," Klaus stated.

Her breasts jiggled and jostled against his torso. Her hair was soft as it brushed against, tickled his face.

Her lips were soft as they bruised their lips together. Her tongue was delightful as she thrust it into his mouth.

In the small dark berth, waves tossing and thrashing the ship, Esther cried out in joy. Her husband's manhood was twice the length and twice the girth of her former husband's manhood. It was strong, firm as her husband took her.

"Oh, yes, Klaus!" Esther cried out in pleasure.

The buffeting and rocking and tilting of the boat seemed to intensify their coupling. With a roar, a bellow, Klaus spent his seed into his wife's cleft.

In the morning, they marveled that the waters were now calm. And in the calm movements of the ship, Klaus and Esther again took their pleasure of one another.

For Klaus, it truly was a pleasure to be with a wife that gave affection as freely as she took it. It was a pleasure to couple with a wife that did not mete out affection, or act as if affections were to be endured.

And for Esther, it was a pleasure to be with a husband that acted upon her requests for affection. She reveled in having a spouse that did not act as if the sight of her nude form was repugnant.

For the remainder of the journey to America, they only left their berth for sustenance, food, the occasional stroll about the ship.

Along with their fellow passengers, Klaus and Esther stood on the deck, leaned over the railing, admired the Statue of Liberty as they drew near. Along with many of their fellow travelers, Klaus and Esther had tears in their eyes as they gazed upon the symbol of America as she held her torch aloft.

Ellis Island was a confusing labyrinth of desks and counters and men in official uniforms speaking in a strange language. But again, it was Klaus's declaration that he was to be a cowboy that got the husband and wife through the throng and into New York City.

"Hello. I can exchange your currency into American dollars," a smirking young man said to Klaus as Klaus and Esther tried to figure out where the train station would be located.

"And I can exchange your teeth from mouth to floor," Klaus stated, fist balled up.

"Was going do this nice, but can see you're in no mood for nice," the young man growled and pulled out a .38 revolver.

Klaus's first punch did jar a few of the robber's teeth. His second punch had the robber sprawled on the dirty New York pavement.

"Oh ho, Clancy!" a man hooted as he waved to a nearby police officer. "I see you met the newest cowboy of the Wild West, eh?"

The government official told the police officer of the attempted robbery. Both police officer and immigration official had a good laugh over 'Tex' taking on a gun toting criminal bare handed. Then the police officer slapped Clancy until the unfortunate thug roused.

"Ja, ja, and where is train station?" Klaus asked of the government official.

At a bank, Klaus and Esther did exchange their German currency for American dollars. For a few moments, Klaus and Esther looked at the paper money, counted the paper money, and held the paper money.

"This is it, dear husband," Esther whispered, tears streaming. "We are Americans."

"Yes, yes, we have American dollars," Klaus agreed, his own tears streaming.

The American dollars purchased them each train tickets from New York City to Austin, Texas. Even though English was confusing to them both, Klaus did make the station master to understand that they wanted a sleeper berth.

"Yes, yes! A Pullman!" Klaus agreed.

The gentle rocking and swaying of the train was conducive for husband and wife to again join. The conductor did smirk at husband and wife as they traversed from Pullman to dining car. Esther blushed prettily but Klaus smiled and held his head high as he held his blonde wife's hand.

Alois Seth Ubelhauser came nearly nine months after their arrival in Austin, Texas. Katherine Greta Ubelhauser came fourteen months later, after Klaus and Esther had moved to Oakleaf, Texas.

Klaus was a mechanic at the sugar mill, keeping the machines humming, moving as they processed sugar beets into sugar. Great Depression or not, Americans insisted on sugar.

Joan Benning Ubelhauser came almost two years after her older sister.

"He is a mad man, he is truly a mad man," Klaus declared as the Ubelhauser family listened to the radio.

The last days of summer would not leave; the air was still and heavy as Klaus and Esther listened to the announcement that German troops had invaded Poland. The windows were open, the electric fan hummed and whirred, but the air was still hot.

Klaus felt a cold chill, though, as the radio recounted the actions of the troops. Klaus and Esther looked at one another, faces drawn in fear as they remembered a past, memories of being Germans, of being Jews.

(Greta had denounced Seth Feldman, had her marriage to Seth Feldman declared null and void. But a neighbor, now a member of the SS remembered the ugly little Jew that had been Greta's husband. He also remembered that Greta had given birth to a Jewish child. Greta did not survive her interment in Spandau.

The real Klaus Ubelhauser had approached another handsome young man on a street corner. The handsome youth and five of his comrades had kicked and beaten the real Klaus Ubelhauser to death. Because Klaus was homosexual, none of the young men would be charged with any crime.

These incidents occurred many months after the invasion of Poland, but the madness that gripped the German nation began years earlier. It took the night of broken glass, the invasion of Poland to alert the world that there was a growing menace to humanity.)

The next work day, some of Klaus's coworkers did let Klaus know of their unhappiness with the actions of the German troops.

"But see? That, that is why I leave," Klaus explained. "The night of the broken glass? I knew that was just the beginning of the tyranny. No, no, friends. I am American. I am not German. I am American."

The invasion of Poland was just the beginning. It seemed that Hitler, the Nazis would not be satisfied with simply conquering Poland. They continued to push.

And they continued to persecute their Jewish neighbors, their own countrymen. The Nazis did the same in Poland.

A few days after the Japanese early morning sneak attack on the United States Navy in Pearl Harbor, Hitler, Germany declared war on the United States. Klaus had continued to protest, to denounce Germany's actions. He continued to assert his loyalty to the United States of America.

"You cut me? I bleed the red white and blue," Klaus assured his coworkers.

Richard Jennings, son of the senior manager and Klaus's immediate supervisor had met Esther Ubelhauser on a few occasions. He had flirted, quite clumsily with the attractive blonde woman.

Esther had rebuffed Richard's flirting. At first she had done so politely. The next time she'd been a little less polite, a little more firm.

After Esther's third, quite abrupt rebuff of his advances, complete with forceful slap to Richard's face, Richard contacted the local police department and reported Klaus Ubelhauser as a Nazi sympathizer. Klaus, Esther, and their three children were terrified when the police banged on their door and hauled Klaus away in handcuffs.

James Jennings was among those that did vouch for Klaus Ubelhauser's loyalty, fidelity to the United States of America. But the damage had been done. The fear had been instilled in the Ubelhauser clan and in their neighbors and coworkers.

And James's refusal to fire his son cemented Klaus's resolve. Klaus requested all pay owed to him and packed up his family and moved.

The town of Myndee, Arkansas was very nearly a ghost town when the Ubelhausers arrived. But with the United States being plunged headlong into a war, Klaus reasoned that cotton would once again be king. And fields of Myndee, Arkansas were white as snow with cotton crops. He secured a job at the cotton mill as a mechanic. He studiously, meticulously refitted the archaic old mill and within a month, the old machine was working better than it had when it had been brand new.

Alois, Katherine, and Joan attended James S. Conway Elementary School. There, the three children excelled in their studies, but did not interact with the other children. At lunch-time, they sat at a table together. Rather than play outside with the other children, they went to the library and read books quietly.

Alois was a handsome young man, with his mother's whitish blonde hair and clear blue eyes. Katherine was also quite pretty, nearly a carbon copy of her mother. Joan was a true beauty as well but had her father's thick brown hair, warm brown eyes. Several children did vie for their attention, but the Ubelhauser children stayed to themselves.

When their home in Oakleaf, Texas was sold, Klaus and Esther bought a home outside of Myndee, in unincorporated Clarkston County. They purchased several acres and planted their own crop of cotton, their own crop of peanuts and of soybean.

The profits from the crops, Klaus invested in the stock market. Evil though it may be, war was good for business. By the time Japan surrendered, Klaus and Esther Ubelhauser were millionaires.

Rebuilding Europe after the devastation of World War II continued to fund the Ubelhauser fortune. Al Ubelhauser studied Finances at the nearby Myndee University. Only his mother and father and two sisters still called him Alois. A year later, Katherine followed Al into the University. Being willowy and blonde, with a large chest, she did attract much attention. And the attention was unwelcome to her; Katherine still remembered the horror of her father being dragged out of the house, protesting, hands cuffed behind his back. Katherine clung desperately to Al as they traversed from Packard to classroom. She took to telling their classmates that she and Al were husband and wife.

When she heard of this, Esther smiled a tight smile and told Katherine that she could not object to a relationship between brother and sister. She did advise against it, but would not go so far as to forbid it.

Klaus had a similar conversation with his son. Still quite fearful, still not thoroughly convinced that no one was searching for Seth Feldman, Klaus quietly lay the Ubelhauser history before his son.

"So, my mother is..." Al whispered, also fearful of ears that might be listening.

"My daughter," Klaus confirmed.

Who had the idea to lay out the crisp white sheet on the bed, no one could remember. But with father's blessings and mother's acquiescence, Al and Katherine gave in to the years of temptation, gave in to the longing their self-imposed separation from their peers had created and joined. The crisp white sheet became stained with Katherine's virginal blood, Alois's virginal semen.

Two years after their joining, Al had graduated from the university. He had set up a small brokerage in Myndee; his first clients were his mother and father. Soon many other clients joined.

Katherine soon became with child and gave birth to a bouncing blond haired, blue eyed boy. The baby even had the same dimpled smile as his father.

Pat Straughter, a Myndee University student, blind drunk after celebrating a football game victory was driving, racing around the town of Myndee, honking his horn, screaming 'Blue Jays!' out of his open automobile window.

Taking the corner too sharply, Pat did not feel the thump under his wheels.

A store clerk saw the car, got the license number, then ran to see if he could help mother and child.