Karolina's Twins Read Online Free

need to face facts. We can’t stay here in Chrzanów. I’m going to make the arrangements.’”
    â€œDid your mother object?”
    Lena smiled. “She protested gently. Times were different then. He was the head of the family. If the father made plans, then the family followed. My mother’s family had lived in the region for generations. They’d founded the provisions store eighty years earlier. It was hard for her to leave. How could she ever live somewhere else?
    â€œâ€˜Where do we go?’ she said. ‘America, like Samuel? He ended up in Chicago. They have gangsters there, Jacob. Al Capone. I don’t think I’d like that. It’s too dangerous for the children.’
    â€œMy father chuckled. ‘Al Capone’s in jail.’
    â€œâ€˜It’s still too dangerous in Chicago. They have other gangsters.’
    â€œâ€˜I’m not thinking about Chicago, Hannah. I want to move us to Paris. They have a very solid Jewish community, two hundred fifty thousand. I know prominent people there. There’s a grocery store I can buy, I’ve contacted the owner. We can sell the house and the provisions store and use the money to move to France.’
    â€œI was distraught, of course. Devastated was more like it. Fifteen years old, and like my mother, Poland was all I knew. I certainly didn’t want to live in Paris. Or Chicago. I didn’t speak a word of French or English. German was my second language. It was taught in all the schools.
    â€œMost of all, I didn’t want to leave Karolina or any of my friends. By then, Karolina and I had become very close. I’d be lost without her. With Karolina, I was part of a larger, more dynamic group. Our crowd was so much fun, and I was included because of Karolina. We were the best of friends. Inseparable. I’d be a nobody in Paris.
    â€œOne afternoon, my father took me for a soda. Just the two of us. ‘I know this is going to be hard on you, Lena. And it will be even harder for Milosz. But I have to do what’s best for us, and staying in Chrzanów is too dangerous. I found a lovely apartment for us in Paris—in the 12th Arrondissement, just south of the Jardin du Luxembourg. I promise you will find it enchanting. I found a store for sale that we can buy. In time, if things get better in Chrzanów, we can always return. But you may grow fond of Paris.’
    â€œâ€˜What about Magda?’ I said.
    â€œHe shook his head. ‘I’m afraid we’ll have to leave Magda here. Truth is, I can barely afford to keep her as it is, but I haven’t had the heart to let her go.’
    â€œâ€˜What about Karolina?’
    â€œâ€˜I’m sorry, but you’ll make new friends and maybe someday Karolina can visit.’ That was totally unacceptable to me and I ran home to my room. He came up a few minutes later and sat on my bed. ‘I’m sorry to make you sad, but I have to do what’s best for all of us. Please try to understand.’
    â€œâ€˜Can Karolina come and live with us in Paris?’
    â€œâ€˜Well, I doubt her parents would approve.’
    â€œâ€˜They don’t care. Her father is mean to her and lives in Warsaw most of the time. Her mother is drunk all the time. What if they say it’s okay?’
    â€œTo my surprise, he nodded his head. ‘If her parents will give her permission, I’ll take her with us. Don’t say anything yet. Before we can leave Chrzanów, I have to sell the store and the house. It could take a while. When I get an offer, and I know for certain that we’ll be going, then you can tell Karolina and see if her parents will let her come along.’ I hugged him to death. What a great father.
    â€œThere weren’t many who could afford to buy a house and a store during the Depression. Our store was quite profitable and thus pricey for a small-town business. But by February 1939, my father had