Elisabeth was a bubbly brunette with big breasts who allowed Walter to kiss her and touch her full bosom from the outside of her blouse. She had cherry-red lips, was the sweetest thing, and was the daughter of the neighborhood pub owner. Walter’s father frequented the pub almost every night after the long day’s work to drink a few beers, smoke cigarettes, and sometimes play a game of skat. The regulars had their reserved table. On weekend nights, the pub owner organized entertainment with a trio or just music from the jukebox. Sometimes Elisabeth and Walter, who came with his father, sneaked out into a dark corner to kiss and touch. Soon Walter found out that he was not the only one who enjoyed this pleasure. It was only a matter of time until Elisabeth became pregnant, and then he did not see her anymore.
When Walter met Evelyn in the classroom, he became familiar with the intensity and madness of young love. Evelyn drove him crazy. He rode at least once a day about five miles on his bike just to catch a glimpse, have a few words with her, and perhaps catch a kiss with mouth shut. Those deep-blue eyes! She was the first and most intense love he ever encountered in his life. Evelyn’s parents were very Catholic and raised her according to the rules of the holy book and of her draconic father. An important rule was that nobody, not even Walter, could touch her breasts. She had perfect breasts, not too small and not too large. He was allowed to kiss her with slightly opened lips, and that was it. It was a painful experience for Walter, because once he kissed her—and she was a good kisser—he really became quite excited. She had an inviting, intense look in her blue eyes that promised a lot but gave no satisfaction.
Two years later, Evelyn suddenly married because she became pregnant. The lucky guy was at least ten years older and had managed somehow to get between her legs. The couple married in an official wedding in a conservative setting. Walter attended the party. He and Evelyn stayed friends, but her husband, who was a bully with many issues, tried always to cause conflict with Walter. Especially when intoxicated—which was every time they met—he acted extremely jealous. Evelyn and he had a daughter, and when the daughter was three years old, the husband shot himself with his hunting rifle in their living room.
Walter’s grammar-school graduation was encouraging and gave Walter some meaning for his future. He enrolled in business school to learn the basics of business management. Evelyn happened to be in the same class.
Rainer was also in the class, and he and Walter liked each other’s company immediately. Through Rainer, Walter met Werner Puck, who lived in the same neighborhood as Rainer. In a housing development somewhat outside town, Werner lived with his mother in a two-bedroom apartment. His younger brother was still in a public children’s home, where Werner spent time as well. Neither of them had ever known their father, and Walter never found out why the boys spent time in a children’s home. Rainer, Werner, and Walter met frequently to have a good time, hang out, and party whenever possible—depending on the available cash. Werner owned a small record player, and the three boys sat in front of it, playing Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips Part Two.” All three of them smoked many cigarettes with the windows closed due to the cold weather or because of the record-player volume.
During their two years of business school, Rainer and Walter slowly turned into the bad boys of the class. Neither was really interested in certain subjects or the way a dreary teacher taught. They did like not having to work already as an apprentice in the office world. They met at someone’s home or in a bar, drank beer, and partied as much as possible. Whenever the party was at someone’s home, everybody danced the twist or close-up blues. People hugged, kissed, and performed heavy petting, but most of them were virgins. Bad Homburg’s youth moved strictly within their own scenes and circles, since it was not a big town.
Walter developed a habit that was not really a habit. It became a necessity for him to eat frequently during class. He tried to hide it, but of course, the teachers caught him every so often, and then Walter was written up in the class-register book. His stomach killed him when empty. When he had just turned fourteen, the doctor diagnosed a duodenal ulcer.
Frequently he and Rainer arrived late to class and left early. On occasion, they ended up drunk in school. As soon as Walter signed an apprenticeship contract with a midsize forwarding agent in Frankfurt, he had no further interest in school.
They all began different apprenticeships, except for Werner Puck, who had not attended a business school and instead had gone straight from eight years of elementary school to Kaufhof, the department store chain in Frankfurt, as apprentice sales clerk in the men’s clothing department. The employer required that he always wore a suit and a tie, which he hated. It was unclear why he had chosen to become a sales clerk when he did not like it and it did not fit him.
Werner was a half orphan and spent time in orphanages until his mother was able to support her children. He had to start working as soon as legally possible. All three of the gang—Rainer, Walter, and Werner—did not originate from wealthy backgrounds, but Werner was the least fortunate of them. It took Walter a long time to gain Werner’s trust. However, after Werner finally opened up to him, Walter liked the friendship because of Werner’s reliability; he was always responsible for himself and kept his appointments.
Werner’s one-year experience in Frankfurt turned out to be a valuable advantage. The city’s entertainment scene offered the Star Club on Kaiserstrasse and a large swing club near Konstabler Wache. There was also the tiny Jazz House in Kleine Bockenheimer Strasse, as well as a couple of bars and a discotheque. This tiny, narrow alley went through old stone structures that had been built like towers and refuges. One of the bars was the well-known, but at this time objectionable, establishment for gay men.
People entered the Jazz House through a cramped door, and then made a sharp left turn into a small space that included the bar. Two or three coffee tables with small chairs left and right and the short counter made up the first floor. The upstairs was reached by a constricted spiral staircase that turned into a loft with a few more little tables. Any order from upstairs needed to be yelled downstairs to the bartender, who would then fill a basket on a pulley and hoist it up. Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Albert Mangelsdorff, John Lee Hooker, and Roland Kirk on his double horn performed from the stereo. This place became a favorite hangout for Walter and Werner. They would sit at a table, sip on beers, smoke strong, filter-less German or French cigarettes, and listen to Jazz.
At this time in Western Germany, a feeling or knowing filled the air, and at the same time, there was a vacuum, as if something constricted the space. A sense of something that had been misplaced, suddenly unavailable, left a void behind. Teachers in school had no real answers. To approach parents made no sense because of what they had been through, what their generation had experienced. Everybody appeared to be in a straitjacket, and something had to give eventually.