The Inheritance - Part III
Years ago, I consulted with a local psychic who told me there’d be “problems with an inheritance.” I had no idea what he was talking about and tossed the comment off as random. Little did I know, my ex husband, an eccentric Czech photographer who lived in London, was worth a small fortune. So when he died, I learned that the psychic’s prediction would come true. Because that’s when our family was introduced to a hostile Russian woman named Vera who would harass our family for years.
THIS IS PART 3 of a FIVE-PART STORY
Jofka
Werner had a very close relationship with my parents. All three were German speakers and all three had a similar history – Jewish people who had to escape the Nazi regime. My parents fled to New York; Werner went underground, and although he periodically ended up in labor camps, was mostly unscathed. What this meant was that even though I had left the marriage, Werner continued to be close with my parents and continued to be a presence in my life. He was more like an uncle than a father to Jofka, and oddly he was like an uncle to the daughter from my next marriage as well. He loved kids in small doses, but had never wanted any of his own. Sadly, Jofka rarely saw her father. He was stationed in London, while we lived in Massachusetts where I was pursuing a graduate degree in creative writing at Boston University. He would pop in and out of our lives, a charming, playful man we only connected with every so often.
When she was an adult, Jofka would travel to London to see her father. These were not easy visits. Werner loved his daughter deeply, but I think on some level he was afraid of growing too attached to her. They both had quirky personalities. When they were together, they fell in with one another instantly, an unspoken bond between them. It was interesting to see them side by side, both with similar mannerisms in the way they spoke, moved their bodies, expressed themselves. Despite their limited connection, they had the same world view, the same fierce political outlook, the same urgency about fighting the wrongs of society. I guess that has to do with genes.
They were definitely father and daughter – akin, although they lived in different places and hardly ever saw one another.
Jofka & Werner
Fast forward thirty years to when Werner began hanging out with the beautiful Russian woman, Vera, whose acquaintance he had made in a residential hotel. Through a mutual friend, the person who ran Werner’s photographic archive, I knew exactly how the two had met, but I asked him about it anyway. By now my parents were dead and Werner was an old man. I went out for coffee with him during a trip to London. He had always been a big and lengthy talker (loquacious would be the right word). “How did you meet Vera?” I asked, despite the fact that I already knew. “Do you know what Thai massage is?” he replied.
I have to admit I was blindsided and just gawked at him. What the hell was he talking about?