IT WAS EARLY afternoon before Adam could finally be persuaded not to undertake further repairs of his own and to be towed instead. Evelyn and Katja were able to get several cars to stop. But either they were not going to Lake Balaton or didn’t have towing gear or gave them some explanation they couldn’t understand. Finally Evelyn and Katja hitched a ride to the next village and called the Angyals.
Around five o’clock Herr Angyal stepped out of his white Trabant. Stretched out on a blanket beside the road, Michael and the two women had nodded off. “Cylinder-head gasket,” Adam called to Herr Angyal as he was pulling a large bowl from the passenger side. After Evelyn had taken over the potato salad, Herr Angyal pushed his glasses up on his forehead and bent down over the engine. Katja handed out utensils and plates, and Michael poured white wine from a large bottle. But neither Adam nor Herr Angyal would join in the picnic.
When they had finally got the towline attached to the Wartburg, they wiped their hands off on the grass and sat down with the others. Adam ate his potato salad straight from the bowl and popped the few remaining meatballs into his mouth.
“Do you think your car can handle us all?” Michael asked.
“We could hitchhike,” Katja said.
“You all get in with him,” Adam said. “Two long honks mean stop. Two short ones—you’re going too fast.”
“Three shorts,” Michael said as he stood up, “you’re passing us.” He reached out a hand to Adam, who held his out and let himself be pulled to his feet.
Once they were all in the Trabant, Herr Angyal rolled down his window, pushed his glasses back into place like goggles, and held his arm up as he slowly pulled away.
“What an incredible racket,” Michael said. “You get to hear the whole works all at once.”
Katja turned around and waved to Adam, who, however, was concentrating on glancing back and forth between the Trabant’s rear end and his own rearview mirror.
“It did feel as if I was in a fairy tale,” Michael said. “I can’t begin to describe how happy I am. When he told me I didn’t need to worry, it’ll all be over in a few days—I’m so glad I don’t have to leave you behind alone.” Michael turned around halfway and laid a hand on Evelyn’s knee. “It really is like a fairy tale, isn’t it?”
“Please,” Evelyn said. “Keep your eyes on the road.”
“I won’t believe it until I’m across,” Katja said.
“You can lay money on it. Normally you can’t get zilch out of an embassy staff. So that when they voluntarily open their mouths and—”
“Maybe they were just trying to get rid of you,” Katja said.
“The Hungarians have signed the international refugee convention and canceled their agreement with your lunkheads—they won’t repatriate anybody back to the GDR. That’s what they told me. And in Bavaria they’re opening up one camp after the next. They’re expecting a huge stampede. And that’s not just in tabloids like Bild.”
“And we can just drive right across?” Katja asked.
“We’re blasting off as soon as the border’s open, and we’ll take you along.”
“You can let me out in Munich.”
“You can always come with us to Hamburg. That way you two could work on the red tape together—practical, wouldn’t you say?”
“I really wasn’t planning to go to Hamburg.”
“Just for a couple of days. At my place you could have a room all to yourself.”
“I don’t know how Evelyn feels about that. Maybe you two might want—”
“No, think how fantastic that’d be for Evelyn. Just imagine, you both could head out together, to the harbor, the fish market, the Alster lakes, the museums—that’d be much more fun than all alone. And on weekends we’ll do stuff, we’ll take little trips—”
Michael had turned around so far that Herr Angyal had to give him a tap and point to the rearview mirror.
“So now sit up straight,” Evelyn said.
“And what if it is just a fairy tale?” Katja asked.
“They knew what they were talking about.”
Herr Angyal flipped his sun visor down. The sun sat atop the road and looked as if it were searing a hole in the horizon.
“If you want, Katja, you can move in with us, with the Angyals, there’s still an empty bed in my room,” Evelyn said.
“You mean I can do it, just like that?”
“Sure, why not?”
“It’ll be funny not to see Adam in the rearview mirror anymore,” Michael said and turned to look back through the rear window.
Evelyn and Katja turned around too. Adam appeared to be intently focused on the tow line and the Trabant’s brake lights. They could make out two vertical lines between his eyebrows. He blinked a lot.
“He should put his sun visor down,” Katja said, turning around again and fishing the Rubik’s Cube from her purse.
“Yes, he should,” Evelyn said and signaled Adam to do it. But he didn’t notice her.