The age-old German-chasing-the-Jew tale takes a different turn in this book as the conflicts of World War II are seen through the eyes of a Nazi's young adolescent son.
To Alfonso, it's confusing that while he gets in trouble for bullying at school, his father then turns around and becomes a hero for shooting a group of Jews. While General Adelric sits in the seat of respect, he sends his son to a boys' boarding school that specializes in teaching morals. Knowing nothing besides walking in his father's footsteps, Alfonso continues to be the school bully and gets into more trouble. Then one day, he meets someone who has many things he lacks-confidence, a joy in life, faith, and an incredible voice.
But there's a glitch. Jacob is a Jew who the bullies lose no chance to torture. Alfonso is torn as he sees Jacob living the kind of life with the peace and hope he wants. He finds himself in a position where an offer is made. If Jacob will teach him how to sing for the upcoming school choir auditions, Alfonso will agree to stop bullying him. It starts innocently enough as the one boy teaches the other to sing. But it quickly comes to light that much more is at stake than who will get the lead choir boy position, including a budding friendship between the two. Just when Alfonso feels some of his many questions are answered, many more come.
How will he handle the numerous life-changing conflicts coming his way, including the fact that his new friend is a Jew wanted by the Nazis?
Will Alfonso be able to stand up for what's right for the first time in his life?
Will he find his voice?
This book is not your typical 'follow your heart' story. Because I don't believe that finding your voice is about following your heart. I believe that it is about finding who you are in CHRIST JESUS. I believe that, in trusting in HIS Identity, we find our voices.
The part where Alfonso, the main character, makes the decision to help Jacob the Jew, hide, even though he knows that the risk is high.
Alfonso noticed the vacant seat near his.
Where was Jacob? He had promised to be here, to audition.
How had Alfonso not noticed?
Perhaps he had come in late and was sitting in the back, although from the little time
that Alfonso had known him, he knew Jacob to be a man of his word.
He scanned the aisles, and Christopher nudged him.
“Go on! They won’t call you three times!”
Gathering up all the courage that he had, Alfonso stepped up to that stage. He
cleared his throat as he faced the silent church.
His eyes scanned the back rows.
No Jacob.
Something must have gone horribly wrong.
“Ready?” he heard Adera’s voice calling to him as if from some far-off place.
His heart sank. He barely nodded.
The piano music began.
And he opened his mouth to sing. At first, it was a nightmare, but slowly, it changed.
The heart of the words which he was singing seemed to soar in his heart, and as he sang,
he could feel his heart soar with them.
No, he wasn’t pretending. He believed. In fact, Alfonso completely forgot about the
audition.
Something inside of him opened which he had never felt before. Although he hadn’t
much knowledge as to their meanings, the words’ tenderness, passion, and longing
stirred him.
Alfonso Schmitz was singing from his heart, as passionately as he could, not because
he wanted to go, but because he believed what he was singing. He didn’t know what
came over him, but he didn’t want it to stop.
At one point, he stepped forth, raising a hand, with closed eyes.
God, he thought in his heart, I don’t know how to say this. I have never prayed before,
but I think I’m ready.
When he opened his eyes, the room was dead silent. He looked to see what everyone
was staring at, and it was him.
Had he done so poorly?
It doesn’t matter. Whatever was happening during that song was more real than the
song itself.
Alfonso turned to Adera, bowing. “Thank you, Adera.”
She nodded, and he noticed that the look on her face was transfixed.
When he sat back down, he whispered to Christopher. “Was I as bad as that?”
But Christopher could only gawk for a moment. “Bad, how could you? Alfonso where
did you learn to sing like that?”
Alfonso blinked. “Are you joking?”
“Alfonso, what are you saying?” He leaned closer. “You flat out soared; everyone was
amazed.”
“Except for Jacob,” Alfonso replied.
“Charles’s gone.”
A terrible chill caught at Alfonso’s spine as he looked to the row where Charles usually
sat and saw that, as Christopher pointed out, the empty pew.
“Do you think?” his throat was numb.
“Wait and see,” was Christopher’s answer.
Alfonso nodded. Charles had received bad news. Perhaps he was sulking.
But still, Alfonso had the terrible feeling; it was much more than that.
~
“Think I’m done? Think again!”
The blow was powerful, and the alley dark.
“What do you want, Charles?”
“Revenge! Don’t you get that, you Jewish pig?? First, you show up with your filthy
blood, and then you take from me the one fun thing I had.”
“Alfonso was never yours. He’s a lost soul trying to find his way.”
The laughter that came from the other boy came eerie and low. “And you really think
that you are ‘saving’ his soul?”
“Not I; Jesus Christ.”
“Well, I tell you what, Jew- boy. You leave him, forget all about him, and I’ll forget
about what I was going to do to you.”
Feet shuffled. Someone was standing. “So, he can become a bully to satisfy you and
never see the Love of Jesus? Never.” It was said with a great deal of strength.
The next blow was very harsh, and following it was a painful wince.
A body fell to the ground.
~ 11 ~
Choir Boy
“How long is this going to take?” Christopher clapped his hands anxiously.
The judges had been discussing amongst themselves for a full half hour, and all the
other boys were watching nervously, but all that Alfonso could see was the door.
He couldn’t wait anymore.
He must go find Jacob.
“Tell me who got it,” he said, getting up.
“Alfonso, where are you going?” Larry frowned.
“Jacob’s in trouble; I just know it, and I’ve got to find him.”
“Then we all go.”
“No,” Alfonso said it more strongly than he had intended. “I want to go alone.” He
paused. “I think it might be partly my fault. Besides,” he winked, “No sense in the lot of us
missing the announcement.”
Larry seemed to be thinking. “Alright. But Alfonso?”
Alfonso looked up.
“Be careful.”
Alfonso nodded then made for the door.
~
The night was heavy, and the rays of sunshine had left the earth long ago.
Alone in the German countryside valley he wandered, his blonde curls waving under
his cap.
The wind had suddenly picked up, and his coat flapped against his frame. He’d never
been out by himself so late before, at least not from the school.
When he had reached the gate, he got a sick feeling in his stomach. Eeriness was in
the air.
He hurried to his dormitory, and the name came to his tongue. “Jacob!”
There was no response.
“Jacob!”
There was still no answer. Alfonso’s heart began to sink, and then to beat very fast.
Something horrible had happened; he just knew it. He’d known it all evening.
Suddenly running with a force that could have challenged the African cheetah,
Alfonso tore down the hallway, afraid of what he might not find at the end of the corridor
in the boy’s room. And perhaps even more afraid of what he might find there.
When he reached the door, he had to swallow one brief second.
The door was opened.
“Jacob!” he almost screamed as the terror gripped his heart. He bolted into the room.
What he saw made the blood curdle in his stomach.
The room was torn apart. The furniture was amiss, clothes were thrown over the floor,
school papers were scattered.
A lump came to Alfonso’s throat. There, deliberately cut into pieces over the bed, was
the music.
But what caught Alfonso’s attention even more was the little black book, the Bible,
torn into two parts at the leather binding.
“God, no!”
Alfonso began to tremble violently as he started to call out at the top of his lungs,
“Headmaster! Master Briggleton!”
~
“Jacob! Jacob!” The voices of the man and the boy were one as they walked side by
side in the night with a flashlight.
“I’m scared,” Alfonso confided.
“So, am I. Alfonso...do you know where they would have taken him? Where they
would have done something away from people?”
“No, I,” then suddenly, Alfonso lifted his head.
“What is it, boy?” Briggleton asked.
“The alley; that’s where they’d do it. That’s where we were the first day, when you
caught us at...” his voice trailed off and he looked away, swallowing in shame.
Briggleton put an encouraging hand on his shoulder. “That sin was punished and
forgotten a while ago, Alfonso.” His voice became soft, “Now, let’s hurry to the alley. I fear
we are already too late.”
Alfonso followed the master into the darkness of the night, pointing his own flashlight.
“Jacob! Jacob!” their voices cried, sometimes in unity, sometimes alone, over the
lonely courtyard.
“You look in that wing, I’ll take this one,” Briggleton gave the order.
“Alright,” Alfonso cupped his hands around his mouth, crying, “Jacob!”
Alfonso tried to ignore his shaking hands. It was enough to be outside this late with
the headmaster as the only adult, let alone the idea that they might find something
frightening.
Alfonso, gathering all the strength he could, cried out, “Jacob?”
But he got not further, for his foot caught something that made him stumble.
As he tried to get up, his heart raced. He couldn’t move his leg.
That was when he realized; he was touching human skin.
Not daring to breathe, he shined his flashlight on it and gasped.
“Jacob.”
Lying, completely unconscious, with two trails of dark crimson running clean from his
mouth and temple onto his white shirt, was Jacob.
His face was pale; his lips were blue.
Hurried footsteps announced human presence. Alfonso found that he was glad of the
headmaster being there, even if he was not the boy’s favorite person.
“Is he here?”
Alfonso could not respond. He was dumbfounded, unable to move or think.
Briggleton shone the light on the boy and took in a breath. “Dear God, help us,” he
said it under his breath. “Quick, Alfonso, help me get him to the room.”
Alfonso swallowed and moved to obey.
~
The next three hours of Alfonso’s life were the longest he had ever known. Extreme
fear of the very thing he had so badly wanted to bring upon this boy only three weeks ago
kept him putting the cold cloth over his face.
Briggleton had summoned the doctor. He had tried to contact Cecile, but she wasn’t
available.
“Has he spoken?” Briggleton asked.
“Not yet. He’s losing a lot of blood,” the doctor responded, looking him over with a
curious eye.
“You have something on your mind. Is the boy going to be alright?” There was a
pause. “Well, say it, man!”
The doctor studied Jacob curiously before turning to the headmaster.
“Headmaster, you are a very well- respected man in these and many other parts of
the country.”
“What does that have anything to do with the boy?”
“Well.” The doctor reached into the motionless boy’s chest pocket and took out a
yellow star. “I found this on the outside of his coat.”
There was a pause in which Briggleton gently eyed the doctor.
“What of it?” he asked at length.
“What of it?” The doctor shook his head. “Briggleton, how long have you known about
this?”
Briggleton stood strong and answered softly, “Since he came to us.”
The doctor hesitated, then stood. “Briggleton, it is in every interest. Yours, mine, and
his, and everyone involved- that I leave him.”
“To die?” the headmaster asked in shock.
“It seems that is what he is doing anyway. And if anyone finds out that you have done
this, or that I have been here, for that matter.”
“What can I give you to keep this between us?”
Alfonso blinked at his teacher’s persistence.
“That’s a hard question to answer.”
Briggleton stared for another moment, then walking confidently to his desk, wrote on
a piece of paper, which he extended to the doctor.
The doctor looked at it with raised brow.
Briggleton nodded. “You were never here, never saw this, and you never did anything
about it.”
The doctor was still for a moment.
“I’ll need a few lamps.”
Briggleton sighed in relief. “Alfonso?”
Alfonso jumped to it.
“Do you think he’ll make it?” Briggleton asked.
“I can’t professionally say anything at this point. All I can do is try.”
Briggleton smiled knowingly. “God will guide your hand. I have prayed for that
already.”
“Yes, well, let’s not get religious now, Briggleton.” The doctor squinted quizzically. “I
already have my qualms about you.”
“Fair enough. Thank you, doctor.”
The doctor didn’t respond but began his work.
~
Anger harder than anything Alfonso had ever experienced came over him as he
seethed the name, “Charles.” Jacob was still so pale, and the places where the blood had
been streaming were swollen and throbbing. Lifeless.
Alfonso sat by the bedside, waiting, as Briggleton had given him permission, through
the night.
He heard the master’s footsteps coming into the room to bring more cool cloths.
“Did you catch him?’ was the first question from the boy’s lips.
“Yes, I did, Alfonso.” He waited for just a second. “May I sit beside you?”
Alfonso nodded, staring at the ground.
There was for a while no talking between the two, when Briggleton spoke up.
“You hate him, don’t you?”
Alfonso reddened, but then seethed, “Yes.”
The master nodded. “If you had him in your grasp right now, what would you do?”
“After what he did? I’d nothing short of-” He stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing
what he was going to say.
“Kill him? Is that what you were going to say?”
Alfonso was too embarrassed to answer.
“The very thing which he taught you, isn’t it?” The master looked at him more closely.
“Hm?”
Alfonso nodded, swallowing at the lump in his throat.
“If I could ask you one thing,” Briggleton said at length, “What about Jacob do you
admire most? I know you two were becoming friends.”
A little smile came to Alfonso’s lips. “He had a calm confidence, a faith that no one
could shake, no matter what.”
“And that is something I see starting to happen in you, Alfonso.”
Alfonso faced his teacher. “Me?”
Briggleton nodded with a grin. “You, Alfonso. There has been a change in you that I
have very much noticed and been proud of but,” he pointed a finger. “Hate does not fit
into that picture, now does it?”
Alfonso shook his head.
Briggleton put a hand around the boy’s shoulder. “Then I don’t want to see it in you.”
Alfonso was quiet a moment before asking, “Can I ask something?”
“Yes.”
“How did you punish him?”
The master raised his eyebrow. “How is that your concern?”
Alfonso reddened. “I just want to know that justice has been done.”
“It has, and you need not know how or what it was, nor make any mention of it to him.
Do I make myself clear?” His voice was stern, and Alfonso was very sorry he had asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Alright.” He sighed. “Now we have only to wait.”
Just as he’d said it, there came a knock at the door.
Briggleton looked up anxiously. “Come in.”
The door slowly opened.
“Master Briggleton, do you know where Alfonso- is?” Christopher’s jaw dropped as
he saw Jacob laying there. “Thundering clouds, is he alright?”
“He’s being taken care of, Christopher, and Alfonso is here. Now, what is it you came
for?”
“Alfonso! Yes, I came to tell you, they picked the lead choir boy.”
“Oh really?”
Alfonso was suddenly no longer interested. It didn’t really matter to him anymore who
got it and who didn’t. Saving Jacob was all in the world that mattered now.
“Well, you don’t have to be so cheerful over it,” Christopher teased.
“I don’t care,” Alfonso replied.
“Don’t you even want to know who they picked?”
Alfonso shook his head. “No.”
Christopher stood there. “Alfonso,” he began.
“I said no!” Alfonso said strongly, choking. “The only person who deserved that role
and worked the hardest for it is here, and he never even got to audition.”
“But Alfonso....”
“Go away. I don’t want to hear about it,’ he said gruffly.
Christopher seemed to be bursting. “Alfonso, they picked you.”
“I said I don’t want to know who,” Alfonso stopped mid-sentence. His voice was barely
audible. “What?”
“It was shortly after you left. The announcements came, and you were nominated
lead choir boy.”
For a moment, Alfonso’s soul wanted to soar. And under normal conditions, it would
have.
“No. They couldn’t have! It’s a mistake!”
“I should say not, after the performance that you gave! Alfonso, didn’t you hear me?
You’re choir boy!” Christopher laughed.
Dejection thickened Alfonso’s voice. “I don’t even want it anymore. I did, but then it
changed.”
“Well, say what you like, but they picked you. And they don’t reverse their decision,
so you’re it.”
Alfonso didn’t know what to say or do, so the headmaster did it for him.
“Thank you, Christopher. You may go.”
Christopher lingered, disappointed. “But he got lead choir boy! Isn’t he happy? I
mean, yes, Jacob’s hurt, but a good thing happened!”
Briggleton smiled. “He’ll come around, Christopher, I promise. Now go along.”
Christopher shook his head and left.
It was a full few moments before the headmaster spoke. “You know, regardless of
what happens here, you should accept the part.”
“No. That part was Jacob’s alone, and I won’t take it.”
Briggleton looked at the boy, satisfied. “My boy. It is admirable and even right that
you should feel so for your friend. But equally as admirable is the part that they gave you,
on fair trial. You must take it.”
“Headmaster,” Alfonso began to plead, but the man put up a hand.
“You must at least think about it, Alfonso. Promise me that much.”
“Alright. But I already know what I’m going to say.”
Briggleton made one chuckle. “You’ve come a long way. Alfonso. You really have.’
He got up. “I must check on the rest of the school. I should be back momentarily. And you
should get some sleep.”
“But classes?”
“Are off for today, no arguments from you, young man,” he said the kind thing in a
teasingly stern way, and the boy smiled.
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be back.” He left the room, and Alfonso was with Jacob, alone (with the sleeping
doctor).
“Jacob, I don’t know what to do. I got the part, but I know it’s not mine. It’s yours. You
worked so hard for it, wanted it, and deserved it far better than I. Oh, if you could just get
better, I’d trade all years of being choir boy!” He buried his head in his hands and started
to cry.
As he did, he felt a cold hand come shakily upon his. “Told you; the best man would
win.”
The words were weak and fragile, and hardly came from a voice at all.
Alfonso slowly lifted his head to see Jacob’s eyelids flittering, and jumped
“Jacob?” he cried excitedly. “Jacob, was that you?”
Jacob tried to nod his head but didn’t succeed too well.
“Doc-” he started to call, but Jacob’s hand came on him.
“Be-fore he looks me over. Listen,” he breathed shallowly. “Alfonso.”
Alfonso knelt by his friend’s side.
“What is it?”
Jacob swallowed and got up some strength. “You can be stubborn and want your
way. Don’t do that with this. You are,” he paused to catch a better breath, “Our choir boy.”
“But Jacob, it’s yours!”
“No, it’s not. It’s yours.” He tried a smile. “Why do you think I trained you so hard?”
Alfonso had to smile. That was Jacob. He could be funny in the least of funny
situations.
“You promise me, Alfonso; promise me you’ll accept it.”
Alfonso had the hardest job in his life not to cry. “Jacob-”
“What? You’re going to make me mad and then sicker? Promise me.”
Alfonso nodded, thinking Jacob shouldn’t exert himself. “Fine, I promise.”
Jacob relaxed some with a smile. “That is good. Now, you can wake the doctor, and
he can fuss over me.”
Alfonso shook his head. “You beat all, you know?”
Jacob grinned. “Yes, even you. Now go to bed and get rest. Heaven knows you sat
up with me all night. And don’t say you didn’t because that’s a lie.”
Alfonso got up and made his way to the door.