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two crimestories
for this? Did she have to
go to jail now? What did I
think about someone who
had an abortion? I had no
idea. It was hard for me
to think poorly of her, but
my mother obviously did,
as did half the city. Or at
least, most of the people
we knew. Instead of doing
my homework, I sat down
and tried to write a letter
to my brother. I didn’t
know what to say though.
I called the number in
Berlin that he had given
us, but no one picked up.
I finally decided to wait
until Papawent behind the
house to have a smoke. I
wanted to know what he
thought about Silvana’s
mother.
“It’s her business,” he
said. “You know what,
boy, the woman definitely
didn’t make it easy for
herself. But at the same
time, we can’t just say
she did the wrong thing.”
He sucked in a lungful
of smoke. “The problem
is that some people are
going to do just that.”
It was only a rumor.
Nobody actually knew
if Herr Schneider had
gotten Silvana’s mother
pregnant or if she had
had an abortion. But it
was one of those rumors
that survived the next
two weeks undamaged.
During PE class, Silvana
had a screaming fit in
the changing room. We
heard her run into the
hallway and watched as
she hurled the door open,
shouting: “My mother
isn’t a murderer!” She
then sank to the floor,
sobbing. Without giving
it another thought, I ran
over and wrapped my
arms around her. I wasn’t