Marta didn’t make it home, at least not right away. Infact, she couldn’t fully remember how she got home. When she had left Ezra’s house, it was about nine o’clock in the evening, so it wasn’t insanely late, but definitely too late for her to be walking around alone. Although she managed to get one foot in front of the other, she had no sense of direction. She wasn’t even sure where she was, but her mind was in too much of a fog, she was delirious. Everything that has happened to her the past few hours have consumed her soul and she felt numb. She didn’t know her up from her down, what day it was, or why she even existed.

Marta’s feet somehow managed to get her back into her side of town, but she was still at least fifteen blocks from her house. As she was walking, there was a suddenly a blinding light. Marta was sure she just died. But in reality, it was the bright headlights of a car driving towards her on the road. Marta didn’t pay any attention to it, until the car stopped next to her and heard someone call out her name.

“Marta!”

Marta looked over to her right and saw a girl get out of the car. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but once the girl was in focus, Marta realize who it was. Sarah. The same Sarah who Marta used just a bit ago as her alibi to why she missed her uncle’s party. What a small world.

“Hi Sarah” Marta said, her voice said, and her face distraught. 

Marta looked like a mess. She was still wearing Edith’s dress, which for people who know her, knows she would never wear. And her hair was frizzy and fall out of its up-do. And her make-up was runny. Marta looked like she had to hell and back, and honestly, she felt like she had. 

“Marta what happened to you?” Sarah asked in a concerned voice.

“I… uh… I um, got lost.”  It was the best thing Marta could come up with in her current state.  

“But you look like a disaster.” 

Marta shrugged, “Rain.”

“Come on. Let us drive you home. My brother and I are just one our way back from the opera. Here take my coat, you look like you are freezing to death.”

Sarah slipped her thick wool jacket, with the fur lining, around Marta’s shoulders before leading her to the car. The two girls climbed into the back seat together. Marta was quiet as a mouse and kept her eyes downcasted. Sarah’s brother, Oscar,  turned around from the driver’s seat and looked at the two of them. 

“Everything alright?” he asked.

Sarah looked up at her brother, “She’s fine. Just got a little lost. I told her we can take her home.”

“Well of course. Besides this is not a good part of town. We are too close to the vermon a couple blocks away.” he stated, a slight tone of disgust in his voice.

Marta’s head snapped up and she looked at Oscar between squinted eyes. Rage suddenly boiling up within her. It was people like Oscar that fueled the hate in this world. It was people like him who hurt Ezra. It was people like him that Marta hated. 

“They are not vermon!” she snapped. “They are kind and decent people. A wonderful family took me into their home tonight after I was caught in the rain. Closed their bakery and everything just to make sure I was ok.”

Marta thought she was being wise enough not to mention names, but the minute she mentioned the bakery, it was too late. Oscar’s face tensed and he looked Marta straight in the eyes.

“You best not say those kinds of things.” He then turned forward and began to drive the car again. 

Marta just made the biggest mistake of her life. What Marta didn’t know was Oscar was the man who stabbed Ezra just a few weeks prior. And when Marta mentioned the bakery, Oscar knew exactly who she was speaking about. There was only one Jewish bakery for miles, and it just so happened to be the one owned by Ezra’s parents.

Nothing else was said in the car ride, and once Marta was at her front door, she unlocked it and walked in. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom, not even bothering to check to see if her parents were home yet. Probably not, they could easily party all night long. Marta slipped into her bed, not bothering to change or anything and just laid there. She could not get her mind off Ezra. She wanted to be in his arms again. And without fail, the tears started pouring from her eyes before she finally fell asleep. 

Marta woke, it was late morning, she could tell by the sunshine beaming in her room. She was usually good about closing her blinds, but with everything that happened the night before, she didn’t bother. And just like a flash flood, images of everything that happened yesterday came streaming back into her mind. All of it brought a batch of fresh tears to her eyes.

After about an hour of crying, Marta crawled out of bed and looked down and noticed she was still wearing Edith’s dress. She had to return it. But Marta wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t think Ezra would ever want to see her again, it made that pretty obvious. But Marta couldn’t stay away.

Deciding nothing could be done at the moment, Marta went into the bathroom and showered and dressed for the day. She got dressed in one of her more tone-down dresses. It was a simple dark blue cotton dress that covered her chest completely and had sleeves that went down to the middle of her forearms. She went downstairs and did her best to act normal from her parents, asking them how the party went. She ate her breakfast and told them she was going back over to Sarah’s. She said the two had fun hanging out last night and decided to do it again. This time, Marta accepted the car to drive her.

She climbed into the car and smiled softly at the driver. She gave him an address, which she was pretending was Sarah’s, but really, it was just a street and house number a few blocks from the bakery. It was still close enough to her side of town to be plausible that it was Sarah’s house, but it was also close enough to the bakery that she could walk to it. She held onto her purse, where Ezra’s mother dress was stowed away. At the very least, she was going to leave it by the door, even if she didn’t actually go in.

Once the car stopped, Marta got out, right after telling the driver he didn’t want to wait and she would just call when she wanted to leave. She acted like she was going to go over to a door and knock and watched the car drive off. Once she was sure he was gone, she turned and headed towards the bakery.

It was about a ten minute walk. She turned the corner and was finally on Nederman Street. She could see the bakery in the distance. She felt her feet begin to slow down. What was she going to say? She came to a complete stop, in the middle of the sidewalk, and just stared at the bakery about one hundred yards away.

Before she could make up her mind, she saw three men walking out of the bakery. Marta perked up to see if any were Ezra, but she could tell right away they were not. These men all had nice, three-piece suits on. In fact, they didn’t look like they belonged. Much like Marta yesterday. And then one of the men turned and was facing her direction and Marta let out a gasp.

It was Oscar, Sarah’s brother. Why was he here? 

And in an instant, it all snapped in her mind and Marta felt sick. Oscar was Ezra’s attacker. He was the one who hurt Ezra, and last night in the car, Marta mentioned a bakery. He came back to finish the job. Marta’s heart dropped to the floor, her blood ran cold. All of Ezra’s fears may have just come true. He could be lying dead in that bakery.

By the time Marta came to this conclusion, Oscar and his friends were walking towards her. She looked up and made eye contact with Oscar and her eyes widened. What was he going to think about her being here? Without a second thought, Marta turned and started to walk away, but she heard footsteps behind her getting louder. She started to run, too scared to look back. She didn’t get far when someone grabbed her arms and dragged her into an alleyway. She let out a scream, but it was quickly muffled by a hand over her mouth. 

She was slammed into a brick wall, letting out a grunt, she looked up and Oscar was towering over her.

“I knew you were a fucking sympathizer. You stupid bitch. Jewish whore.” He spat in her face and Marta turned away, tears streaming from her eyes and her heart pounding in her chest.

“We took care of your little boyfriend, but if you ever show your face around here again, you will regret it… and as a warning..” before Marta could do anything else, she felt a fist come into full contact with her stomach.

Marta doubled over in pain, the air in her lungs gone, and she let out a moan. She has never been physically attacked in her life and she didn’t like it. She slid down on the ground, doing her best to catch her breath. She heard footsteps again and looked up and saw the three men walking away. Marta stayed on the ground in that alley for what felt like hours, her body shaking from fear and pain. Everything Ezra said came true. And it hadn’t even been 24 hours. He was right. Marta was a complete idiot to think that things could work out. 

Suddenly Marta sat up, ignoring the pain in her stomach. Ezra. He could be hurt… or worse, dead. Marta didn’t want to think that but she had to make sure he was ok. That he wasn’t lying in his own pool of blood again. Using the wall as support, Marta got up and then started running. She didn’t care at that moment who saw her and what they thought. She just had to make sure Ezra was ok.

She opened the door to the bakery, practically falling in from the force and speed she came in at. She was panting and looked around for Ezra. Her eyes landed on him, and his father, both standing behind the counter. Aside from looking scared and shaken, Ezra appeared to be fine. 

Marta stared at them with wide eyes. What now? He was ok, so what was she suppose to do now.

With shaky hands, she reached into her purse and pulled out Edith’s dress, and  said “I came to return this.”