“Why are you here, Mami? Who was that man?”
Anna ignored the second question. “I’m here to take you home, Schatz,” she said, then turned to Frau Kopp for corroboration. “It’s okay, yes?” Frau Kopp gave an almost imperceptible nod. By then the children’s attention had shifted from Anna and Archie to the baboon with the erection. They howled with laughter until Frau Kopp settled them down and ushered them toward the penguins. It was almost feeding time and a zookeeper had promised the children they could watch. Charles looked perplexed. “Do you want to get an Eis?” Anna’s mind tap-danced around ways to distract him from what he’d seen, and Charles loved ice cream and would eat it every day if Anna allowed it. “Green?” he asked. Anna forced a grin. “Of course!” Pistachio was his favorite. Charles hopped up and down and Anna took his left hand and led him away while with his right he waved goodbye in the direction of his classmates, who were by then entirely focused on the penguins they would soon watch being fed.
Anna and Charles took the bus, then the tram to Stadelhofen and at a M?venpick shop near the station she bought her son a small cup of pistachio ice cream, which he ate in the store. Anna chattered the entire time. She left no space in conversation to let Charles speak. Charles, deferential as he was, gave over to his mother’s babbling. For his meekness, Anna was grateful.
Charles finished his ice cream and Anna suggested they go watch the trains. Charles grinned and Anna took his hand and led him from the M?venpick to the train station, and up the stairs, to the gallery-like walkway that overlooked Stadelhofen’s open-air train tracks. From above, they watched several trains pull in and roll out, including an S5 on its way to Uster, the train Mary most often rode in and out of the city. The promenade above the tracks was supported by angular steel ribs spaced at even intervals along the entire walkway. Anna thought the effect Jonah-like. This is torture in the belly of a fish. Charles answered with a great deal of animation when Anna asked about the animals he’d seen that day. He rambled on about lions and black bears and flamingos and hippopotami for several minutes, but after a while, the imminent question resurfaced.
“Who was that man?”
“What man, Charles?”
“The man you were kissing. I saw you kissing a man.”
Anna feigned surprise, tried to tease him. “Really? How strange! I think you’re making that up, Charles. I wasn’t kissing anyone.” This wasn’t entirely a lie. It was Archie who kissed her. Anna felt like an ass, relying on the childish logic of exactitude.
Charles had none of it. “I saw him!” He was deeply upset.
Anna stiffened. “Charles.” Her voice was firm and stern. It was a tone she never used with him and one, therefore, he was unaccustomed to hearing. He tensed visibly. “Charles,” she repeated. “You didn’t see a thing.” Charles’s eyes dilated. He tried to look away. “Listen to me.” Anna snapped her fingers and drew his attention back to her face. “Did you hear me? I said you didn’t see anything. And you are not to tell anyone you did. Do you understand?” Charles didn’t answer. Anna took his face in both her hands and turned it straight to face her own. It was something she’d seen angry mothers do. Her voice was pinched. “Do you understand?” Charles blinked. Her words were hot and hushed. “Listen to me. I am telling you for the last time that you made a mistake. Don’t make me say it again.” Charles whimpered. “You don’t tell anyone. Not Papi or Victor or Max or Grosi. If you do I will be so angry.” Anna nodded gravely for effect. “I’ll tell them you’re lying and they’ll be angry too. I’m the mother. They’ll believe me.” Charles started to cry. Anna shook her head. “Charles, I mean it. Unless you want something bad to happen, you need to be quiet. Don’t even say you saw me at the zoo.” And then she added, “Don’t tell anyone we came to watch the trains.”
Whatever Anna had intended, it seemed to work. Charles looked grave and terrified. He sniffed and he shook and eked out a nearly inaudible okay. Anna was satisfied. She didn’t need to elaborate. She left Charles to imagine what those really bad things might be. She knew her son. She knew he’d never say a word. She’d never been cruel like this before.