Five Brothers and a War

Bertus Caught in the Exclusion Zone

The chief ordered Bertus into his office where he was ripped into with a verbal barrage. The main theme was along the lines of, “How dare you hit a police officer?” and “Do you know we can throw you in jail for that?” By then, he was shaking in his boots and it started to really dawn on him that he was in very serious trouble. The chief got up and left the office, not returning for what seemed to be an eternity. When he returned, the chief didn’t speak one word as he attended to some paperwork on his desk. For 30 minutes or so they just sat there without a word being spoken. With each passing minute, Bert’s stress level increased and the silence was killing him. Finally, the door opened and the cop walked in to announce to that there was a visitor to see him. Much to his dismay, Leendert entered. Without a word spoken to the chief, Leendert proceeded to unload on Bertus. The barrage ended when Leendert asked the chief what he intended to do to Bertus. The chief ordered him to apologize the NSB cop, something that he hated to do, but all things considered, did quickly. He was no hero anymore. He was just a scared 14-year-old. After the chief asked him if he learned his lesson, which he hastily confirmed with a “Yes, sir”, he suggested Leendert take him home. Leendert sent his son to the car while he spoke to the chief and the NSBer cop. When he returned to the car he was still fuming and berating Bertus for jeopardizing the whole family. The chief told him that Bertus had been lucky that he punched one of the “good” officers who was very understanding of the youngster’s plight. But he still felt it was his duty to report the incident. The chief had confided to Leendert that had Bertus hit one of his other officers, this all would have been reported “much higher up” in the hierarchy, which by now, was entirely controlled by the NSB Party. After they got home Bert got another dressing down from his mother and a few “how stupid-can-you-be?” comments from his siblings. He was grounded for three weeks.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

Page 383