Hidden Depths by Ally Rose Page A

to avoid facing the costs of civil uprisings in the East. The Russians couldn’t afford to keep control of all the countries mortgaged under their wing of communism in Eastern Europe as well as keep up with the Americans. They had to get a grip of their finances and not go bankrupt. Gorbachev may well have been progressive but he also got on the world’s stage and was validated as the good guy from Russia, for a change.’
    â€˜Ludicrous!’ Janowicz bellowed. ‘Bankruptcy, my… We, in East Germany, loved being Russia’s favourite son. Poland’s Lech Walesa was another trouble-making Pole! We never wanted to cut the strings with the Russians. Events just spiralled out of control.’
    â€˜Well, I for one am glad the strings to the Kremlin have been cut. Now we are no longer puppets and like Pinocchio, we can be real boys,’ Felix exclaimed.
    The class laughed and clapped simultaneously.
    â€˜Quiet! Waltz! Look what you’ve done! You’ve disrupted the class. How arrogant you are with your ridiculous ideas. Who do you think you are? You’re just a Torgau boy!’
    Defeated, Janowicz was resorting to insults to try and regain power and control.
    But Felix knew he’d won the debate and the moral argument. No one could hurt him now. At Torgau he had learned all there was to know about humanity and who has it and who doesn’t. He wasn’t even angry with Janowicz, viewing him now as just a silly old man. The kids in the class knew the Torgau swipe was below the belt. They wouldn’t judge Felix this way, nor constantly remind him of it in an attempt to belittle him. No, this was a game of one-upmanship that the old fool Janowicz had lost because he couldn’t win the debate any other way. It was cowardly. Most of his contemporaries in the class had some understanding of this and realised Felix had been through a tough experience and survived. And some of them were now on his side, his allies and his future friends.
    One of the boys stood up and shouted. ‘Janowicz, leave him alone. No one’s listening to you any more. Don’t you know there’s a new order? And you’re not part of it.’
    Janowicz was outraged. ‘Carsten Berger! How dare you? Shut up and sit down!’
    Carsten refused to sit down or stay silent. The momentum was growing in the classroom.
    Felix decided to leave and no one would persuade him otherwise. ‘For the record, Herr Janowicz, I was sent to Torgau, but only because my parents died. That was not a crime, it was a tragedy! I’m going, I’ll not stay another second in your classroom.’
    â€˜Waltz!’ Janowicz screamed. ‘Show some respect.’
    â€˜Respect has to be earned,’ Felix told him. ‘To be a teacher, you need to be someone the kids look up to, someone they respect. In Loco Parentis .’
    The class cheered even if they didn’t understand Latin. Another classmate, Paul Scheer stood up to join in Felix’s defence.
    â€˜Shut up, Janowicz!’ Paul shouted.
    â€˜You old Commie!’ Carsten yelled and began banging open and closed his desk.
    The others in the class joined in. There was a loud cacophony of desk lids clashing in unison.
    Felix smiled at his classmates as he left the room. The noise from the disruption travelled along the corridors as Felix left the school and the chaos in his wake.
    Klaus was outraged when Felix told him about Janowicz but Ingrid was proud of her nephew, especially after hearing about the Torgau provocation. They both felt Felix had handled himself and the situation without losing his self control and respect.
    â€˜Who does Janowicz think he is?,’ Ingrid said, indignantly.
    â€˜Herr Janowicz can’t teach me anything. I know that sounds arrogant but I’ve learnt about life in the last few years from human nature and through all the books I read when I was a hidden away. I don’t want to go back to