She bent to hug young James, and both Mina and James began to plead with her. “Can we have some candy, Tante? Please, please,” they were chanting in unison.
A look of satisfaction came over Gerde"s face and she went to a large jar set on the counter by the window and unscrewed the lid. “And what do we say?” she asked.
“Danke schon,” they both replied as they palmed the candy and then popped the dark, hard round into their mouths.
Lorenz stared at his aunt as though he were seeing a ghost. “Tante, yu, y"all are Tante Dirty, “he gasped. It was though he had been hit in the stomach. That last day, he and Daniel had been fighting: fighting over the last of her candy. “Mama, we wuz just fightin" over candy, that"s all, just candy.” Desperation laced through his voice as he remembered that lo
