TIME PASSED SLOWLY.
Emil went to see the three look-outs and offered to relieve one of them. But Crumbagel and both of the Middledays said they were staying. Then Emil went all the way up to Hotel Kreid itself to check out the situation. He came back to the courtyard all excited.
“I have a feeling,” he said, “that something’s going to give. We can’t just leave the hotel for a whole night without a spy in there, even with Crumbagel at the corner of Kleist Street. All he has to do is look in the other direction and Groundsnow can vanish into thin air.”
“That’s easier said than done,” said Gus. “We can’t just go to the porter and say, ‘Listen up, Boss, we’re hanging out on these steps here whether you like it or not.’ And you aren’t stepping one foot in the hotel. The minute that jerk looks out his door and sees you, the game is up.”
“That’s not what I mean,” answered Emil.
“Then what do you mean?” asked the Professor.
“In the hotel, there’s this kid. He’s in charge of the elevator and stuff like that. Let’s say one of us goes and tells him what’s up. Well, he’s got to know the hotel like the back of his hand. He could help us for sure.”
“Very good,” said the Professor. “Excellent, in fact!” He had a funny habit. It was always like he was giving grades to the others. That’s actually why they called him the Professor.
“Man! Another idea like that and we’ll give you an honorary degree. Emil’s so smart, you’d think he was from Berlin!” cried Gus.
“Hey, you’re not the only ones who are smart!” Emil was sore. His New Town pride was wounded. “Anyway, we still have to box.”
“What for?” asked the Professor.
“Oh, he made fun of my suit.”
“Then the boxing match will take place tomorrow,” the Professor decided. “Tomorrow or not at all.”
“Hey, your suit really isn’t so dumb. I’m used to it now,” said Gus goodheartedly. “But we can still box if you want. I probably should let you know, though, that I’m the neighborhood champ. You better watch out!”
“And I’m the best in practically every weight class in my school,” claimed Emil.
“You tough guys are driving me nuts!” exclaimed the Professor. “I was planning on going over to the hotel myself. But I see I can’t leave you two alone for a minute. You’ll be pounding each other in no time.”
“Then I’ll go!” suggested Gus.
“Exactly!” agreed the Professor. “Then you go. And you talk with the bellboy. But watch your step! Maybe you can figure something out. Find out what room the guy is staying in. Be back in an hour and give us a report.”
Gus took off.
The Professor and Emil walked out in front of the building and told each other about their teachers. Then the Professor explained all the local and international license plates on the cars driving past until Emil started to recognize them on his own. Then they split a sandwich.
It was already getting dark. Everywhere neon signs were flickering up. The elevated train thundered past. The subway rumbled. The streetcars and buses, cars and bicycles were putting on a crazy concert. In Café Woerz, dance music was playing. The movie houses on Nollendorf Square were starting their last show of the evening, and people were crowding to get in.
“A huge tree like that one by the station,” said Emil, “seems pretty weird here, don’t you think? It looks like it got lost.” The boy was captivated and moved. He almost forgot why he was standing there and that he had lost the hundred and forty marks.
“Berlin is pretty amazing. It’s like being at the movies. But I really don’t know if I’d want to live here forever. In New Town we have our main square and our little main square and the square in front of the train station. And the playgrounds along the river and at Blackbird Park. That’s it. But you know what, Professor? I think that’s enough for me. To have all this hustle and bustle around you all the time, or all these thousands of streets and intersections? I’d always be getting lost. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you guys, if I was standing here by myself! It gives me goosebumps.”
“You get used to it,” said the Professor. “I probably couldn’t handle living in New Town either, with its three squares and Blackbird Park.”
“You get used to it,” said Emil. “But Berlin is great. No doubt about it, Professor. Really great.”
“Is your mom very strict?” the Berlin boy asked.
“Mom?” asked Emil. “Not at all. She lets me do anything I want. But I don’t. You know what I mean?”
“No,” said the Professor honestly, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“No? Well, it’s like this. Does your family have a lot of money?”
“I don’t know. We never really talk about it.”
“I think when people don’t talk about money at home, it means they have some.”
The Professor considered this for a moment and said, “That could well be.”
“You see, Mom and I, we talk about it a lot, but we really don’t have any. She’s constantly trying to make money, and it’s still never enough. But whenever we go on a field trip at school, Mom gives me just as much as the other boys get. Sometimes even more.”
“How can she do that?”
“I don’t know. But she does. And I always bring her back half.”
“Does she want you to?”
“No way! But I want to.”
“Oh, I see,” said the Professor, “so that’s how it is in your family.”
“Yep. That’s how it is. And when she tells me I can go out to the fields with the kid who lives upstairs until nine at night, then I’m always back by seven. I can’t stand to think of her sitting in the kitchen, eating supper alone. She still always tells me I should stay out with my friends. But when I tried doing it, it just wasn’t fun anymore. Anyway, it really does make her happy that I come home early.”
“Well, things are a lot different with my folks,” said the Professor. “Whenever I actually make it home on time, they’re sure to be at the theater or visiting friends. We do like each other. No question about it. We just don’t practice it much.”
“With us, liking each other is the one thing we can afford! That’s why I’m no momma’s boy. And if anyone says I am, I’ll slam him up against the wall. It’s really not hard to understand.”
“I understand it.”
The two boy stood for a while in the entryway without talking. Night fell. The stars glittered, and the moon squinted with its one eye over the elevated train tracks.
The Professor cleared his throat. Without looking at Emil, he asked him, “So I guess you and your mom really love each other, huh?”
“You bet we do,” answered Emil.