“I like it.” Mr. Müller said, “It’s a good sound. It reminds me of Led Zeppelin.”
“Everything reminds you of Led Zeppelin.” Jonathan joked.
“How in the world does this sound anything like Led Zeppelin?!” Janet asked, “I don’t even listen to them and I know that. They have those nasty guitars and that stupid song about the lemon, and they are always singing about “my sweet Satan” or whatever, and demons eating people. This guy just seems really horny.”
“What song about the lemon?” Mrs. Schroeder asked.
“She means the one where he says for the girl to squeeze his lemon so that…” Herr began with an obnoxiously wide grin, before half the group cut him off.
“Herr, I swear I will punch you so hard,” Jonathan threatened.
“Are they always like this?” Vivika asked Lena.
“Worse, generally,” she replied honestly.
“I like them!” Vivika smiled.
As the two walked closer to the group, Mick was the first to notice. He began to throw a few immature and poorly-formed insults Lena’s way, before noticing that she wasn’t alone.
“…Who’s your lady-friend?” he asked way-too-politely.
“Who are you talking too, dumbass?” Herr asked before realizing as well that Lena had a no-doubt extremely available and eligible woman with her, “Oh, uh… hey, uh, Lena…”
“Lena!” Mrs. Schroeder cried out with delight. “Oh, we’ve missed you terribly! Come, come! Sit here and introduce your friend!”
“Here, she can have my seat, Lena.” Herr said in a deeper voice, as he stood and tried to look like he wasn’t flexing.
“She doesn’t want your seat, idiot,” Mick fired at him. “She wants mine!”
“Shut up, butt-munch! You’re too young!”
“No, you’re too young, ass-butt!”
“Ass-butt? What the hell is an ‘ass-butt’, jackass?!”
“Maybe she can find her own seat, gentlemen,” Janet scoffed at the two of them. “Thank you both for having the purest of intentions. But maybe our new guest would prefer to get to know the adults before the children.”
“I’m not a child.” Mick said, wounded.
“Yes, you are, turd!” Herr fired at him.
Smiling, Vivika took a cushion right next to Janet and Jonathan. She immediately appeared at ease with the group as if she had instantly found the same sense of contentedness that Lena had found so very long ago. Heck, she even seemed to find some modicum of enjoyment with the two drooling boys. They were undoubtedly incubating in frenetic synapses-goo, invisibly spraying their gross little boy cooties into the air in a display of sheer wanting. “Men” Lena sighed to herself.
“You know what?” Vivika smiled as she looked at little Mick, “I think I’ll sit by you, good sir.”
“Uh… uh…” he stuttered. “Well, alright. Uh…”
Herr scowled at the vile betrayal, which only made Lena smile in amusement. Sure, she knew that it must have hurt the bigger boy’s inflated sense of virility, but she just didn’t care all that much. Herr was the type of boy who always had it coming, no matter which form ‘it’ took. And Mick, well… he had it coming too, but in a slightly smaller amount—and he deserved a little attention from the girls, every now and again.
The group sat and made their introductory statements. The boys slipped in as many big-boy words as they could get away with; Janet and Jonathan argued about married-people things; Mr. Müller berated the boys; and Mrs. Schroeder was absolutely beside herself with Brian Johnson’s lyrics as the song changed to yet another AC/DC song, ‘Back in Black’.
It seemed that the DJ for the night was on an AC/DC kick. This happened sometimes; it was just how it was with the pirate-radio stations in the GDR. Unless you were able to tune into John Peel on Armed Forces Radio, or a set he penciled in for Radio Brandenburg, the pirate DJ’s were notoriously scatterbrained in their preferences and playlists. One night, almost a year back, a DJ had played an entire ZZ Top album front to back. With all of that in mind, an AC/DC night wasn’t surprising in the least. It didn’t matter, however, since everyone on the rooftop seemed to liked them. Even if every single song they did was exactly the same as the last.
The group talked for some time. Everyone was surprisingly receptive to Vivika and seemed open to talk, despite not knowing all that much about her. If she was with Lena, she must have been alright, even if Lena hadn’t been around all that much, lately. Vivika seemed extremely grateful for the acceptance. She opened up completely to the group, holding back no laughter. She took Mick’s side and teased Herr, much to his chagrin. She girl-talked with Janet and Mrs. Schroeder, flirted playfully with both Jonathan and Mr. Müller, while still managing to poke light fun at them both. Kraut, the dumb beast of a mutt received belly-tickles as Vivika cooed and teased. And Lorenzo… well, she didn’t much care for him. But then again, no one liked Lorenzo.
“Yes, I have a boyfriend, you little mutant!” Vivika snapped at Herr for likely the fifteenth time.
“Is it Lena?” Herr fired back, trying to sound smart.
“I’m not a lesbian, asshole!” Lena screamed.
“No… Lena, it’s ok. I think we should tell them,” Vivika said in a serious tone, shifting gears.
“What… you really think so?” Lena asked, nervously.
“Yes. We can’t keep on living in this lie. We have to come out at some point.”
“Well, I suppose. It’s the only right thing to do.”
The two leaned towards each other, a bit awkwardly at first, but as seconds turned into moments, and moments stretched longer, neither could commit to the joke strongly enough to follow through with the gesture. Instead, both girls began laughing uproariously. Then, they laughed even harder at the sight of Mick and Herr who had just about peed themselves in anticipatory confusion. Neither was old enough to really understand precisely why they were so confused, and that made it better.
“I think you two make a fine couple,” Mrs. Schroeder said. “It’s good to see young love.”
“Wait… Mrs. Schroeder…” Lena tried to cut in, but she would have none of it.
“I’m serious! I think it’s a special thing when two people love each other the way you two do. I can’t say I approve of… well, that… but who am I to judge?”
For entire moments that stretched off into the oblivions of shock and disbelief, Lena and Vivika stared at each other, then back at Mrs. Schroeder, then back at each other. It appeared that the entire group felt much the same way. Surely Mrs. Schroeder hadn’t just… err, blessed off on a homosexual relationship the two had faked just to get Mick and Herr’s goats, had she? I mean, it was a sweet gesture to be sure… but…
“Oh goodness.” Mrs. Schroeder grinned, “I’m just fucking with you two.”
The group burst into raucous laughter at the expense of Lena and Vivika, who both blushed profusely. This particularly devout and old little woman had just taken them for a ride, and it smarted in all the best ways. And, the fact that she swore only made the situation that much more comical.
“You suck at swearing,” Mick quipped. This caused the group to laugh even harder, as AC/DC’s ‘Hells Bells’ began to play.
“You suck at keeping your mouth shut!” Mrs. Schroeder retaliated, and again the group laughed.
For nearly two hours, the group ribbed and joshed each other mercilessly. At one point, Mr. Müller and Lena had given each other a look—a knowing sort of look—but besides that, there wasn’t the slightest hint of tension in the group. It wasn’t appropriate to hold any grudges or counts against each other. All were equally transgressing here, regardless of who knew what, or what who’s handlers thought about whom.