Read Comfort to the Enemy (2010) for Free Online

Schrenk. She must've told you about him.
    He gives himself up, Teddy said. Then what?
    They put him in solitary for a week, but it doesn't stop him from busting out. Four times this year.
    What's Shemane do for him?
    What do you think? She comforts him. Couldn't she get locked up for that? I'm not after Shemane, I want to fin d o ut what this Nazi's up to, Carl said, making Jurgen a Nazi to get Teddy's reaction.
    One of the bad guys, uh?
    He's Afrika Korps, those guys grew up Nazis. They want you to know they're tough as nails and the only reason they surrendered, their tanks ran out of gas. This Jurgen can't sit still. I keep expecting him to start blowing up oil wells or setting fire to storage tanks. I mean for the hell of it, something to do.
    Impress Shemane, Teddy said, get her excited.
    She thinks he's a nice guy. She says we ought to be helping the Germans fight the Bolsheviks.
    Jurgen fed her that?
    She needs somebody to tell her what's going on over there, the Nazis trying to get rid of the Jews, sending them to slave-labor camps. I imagine you have people over there seeing it firsthand.
    Virgil said to Narcissa, You know Teddy's Jewish.
    He looked over to see Carl nodding his head, listening to Teddy for several minutes before saying, Come on- you believe that? How do you know it's true? He listened again and said, What's the guy's name, Zigmund? I wish you'd let Shemane know about it -yo u s ay she pays attention to what you tell her. Give her a call and set he r s traight. She could help me find out what Jurgen's up to.
    He hung up and looked over to see Virgil and Narcissa watching him.
    Teddy says last year a million and a half Jews in Poland disappeared.
    *
    The light came on as Carl entered the solitary confinement room. He unfolded the chair saying, This is the one you hit him with? and sat down.
    Jurgen pushed up from the cot. The same kind.
    What did you say made him take a swing at you?
    Nothing. He wanted to fight, Jurgen said. He walked in saying, 'You don't tell me where you go, I'm gonna beat the snot out of you.' Is that a popular American expression now, to beat the snot out of someone?
    What did you say to him?
    I told him where I go is none of his business. He kept referring to us as Krauts. 'You Krauts act like you're on vacation here. You Krauts act like you're better than us. I said 'Maybe we are. He said, 'You think you can take me?' and came toward me with the chair in front of him, folded, holding it in both hands. He pushed the chair at me, let go of it to swin g a t my face, but now I had the chair. I raised it as he threw his punch and his fist hit the metal seat. I raised it higher and brought it down on his head. I hit him with it again as he fell to the floor.
    Gary said you were waiting for him and took him by surprise, Carl said. You grabbed the chair out of his hands and hit him with it.
    You believe what this fellow tells you, Jurgen said, or you believe me?
    It doesn't matter, Carl said. Gary's the good guy and you're the enemy. He asked you to tell him where you go when you slip out---
    Or he'll beat the snot out of me. Is that a serious threat, Carl? He'll hit me until der Schleim comes out of my nose? We're all curious about where you go, Carl said, so I looked into it. I find out you spend your time with Miss Shemane Morrissey, former Kansas City call girl they say charged two hundred dollars to spend the night with her. Tell me how you first got together.
    You've talked to her?
    Yes, I have.
    Well, I was walking along the road, she stopped her car. What difference does it make? I'm seeing her, Jurgen said, and you know I am, so there is no mystery. You want to shock me, say she was a prostitute -I know that. She told me everything, how a white slaver by the name of Teddy Ritz put her to work before he even saw her. Then when he did- she's sixteen, very attractive- she became hi s m istress. Jurgen seemed to smile saying, Teddy Ritz, the white slaver who must be a Jew. It's