10. Bastian
Chapter 10
Bastian
“No! I didn’t do it!” I’ve repeated this about a hundred times. “I wasn’t selling the passport. I was buying it back because I know who it belongs to and I know she has to leave tomorrow.”
The Polizeioberkommissar , inspector, shakes his head. “And that’s still a crime, Bastian, and we have insider info that you did steal the passport.”
“No. I didn’t steal it from her. I was trying to get it back to her.”
“And how exactly do you know the victim?”
Hearing that word makes it even worse. I created victims and now I was trying to save someone from being the very thing I used to produce with my behavior.
“Does it really matter?”
“Yes, it does.”
“I’m kinda…” I think about what I want to say here. “I’m her boyfriend. I love her. I met her two days ago and I won’t let her get hurt. I… I love her and I only wanted her to be happy.”
He sits down across from me in the small room. “Bastian, Liebe macht die klügsten M?nner dumm .”
“Love makes the smartest of men stupid” is his retort which is not exactly what I need to hear, but he isn’t totally wrong. I should’ve come to them from the moment I knew what had happened. But like always I took it upon myself to save someone. I have to learn when to ask for help.
“Inspector Barsch, please just look at the video from outside the station. You’ll see that I wasn’t the one that stole it.”
“We did. That’s when we saw you lift the woman and swipe the passport from her open bag.”
“No. I didn’t. I saved her from being trampled. Dieter Bauer is the one that swiped the passport. I was buying it from him to give to her. I can show you exactly when he swiped it.”
“We’ve watched the video.”
“But you don’t know how we do everything.”
Inspector Barsch sighs. “You know I could get in trouble for this.”
“I promise, I’m telling the truth. I don’t do that anymore. Dieter started his bidding at a thousand euros, and I only had four hundred. He has the four hundred.”
“I’d say that money is gone, Bastian.”
“Just get the footage.” I’m trying to remain patient, but I’m missing out on seeing Harper and I can’t imagine what she’s thinking right now. She told me about her asshole of an ex and I don’t want to be anything like him.
“Fine.”
Ten minutes later, they have a computer in front of us and we’re watching the video from Friday.
He’s way too good. There has to be a shot.
Just when I think maybe it does look like I was the one, I see it.
“There!” I point. “Back up and go slow.”
We watch as Dieter appears almost out of nowhere, bumps into another walker, that walker bumps into Harper and then Dieter is hidden for a second, but then he holds the passport up to the camera as a big fuck you to the police. It’s a flash, but it’s there.
“Well, well, I guess you are right, Mr. Klein.”
I fall back into the chair. “Now can I go?”
“Not so quick. It’s still illegal to buy a foreign passport.”
I close my eyes and take a slow breath. They just don’t get it. Not everyone has the option of waiting or asking for help.
“Just like always. You don’t even care about the why. No one ever wondered or asked why I had to steal, only that I was breaking the law.”
The inspector stills. He puts down his phone. “Why do people steal, Bastian?”
I doubt he has any power to change anything, but maybe if I can get them to stop and try to understand even one person a month, quarter, or even year, I’ll feel like someone is getting heard.
“My father died. My mother went into a depression. My younger brothers were crying night and day about being hungry. I started with small steals from grocery stores to get them fed. It wasn’t super nutritious, and they were getting a little chunky being fed a bunch of junk food. I knew I had to find a job, but being thirteen, there was little I could do. But one of the guys took me under his wing and he showed me the ways of the street. I didn’t like doing it and I would cry myself to sleep many nights. But then when I saw my brothers happy and my mother getting back to herself, I knew what I was doing was worth it. Sometimes even smart people have to do stupid things to live.”
He nods. “I’m sorry you had to do that and I think I understand. You are the person who saves others, Bastian. How can we prevent others from having to go through what you did?”
I’ve been heard and as much as I wanted it to feel good, it’s almost overwhelming.
“Listen to people. All we needed was a short amount of help until my mother got back on her feet and I was old enough to work.”
“This is what I’ve been telling the government. Short term assistance can help. It’s not always permanent.”
“Exactly.” I start to stand up. “So can I go?”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it here.”
I stop at the door. “Wait, I need one more thing from you.”