Hilde welcomed him back home with care and understanding. She told him that some people around her thought it not a good idea to continue her relationship with him, but she did not want any of that. To Walter, it did not really matter one way or the other. What happened on the outside could not penetrate him. In the few moments he felt anything at all, it was only dullness, a nebulous, gray, guilt-ridden pain. Most days and weeks in the period ahead, he lay on the mattress in the small room and watched the ceiling. An impenetrable darkness lingered persistently in his head, with no other place to hide or to go. When everybody left, Walter spent the time at home with himself on the mattress. When Hilde came home from work, she cooked a meal, and they talked a little. Sometimes she asked him if he wanted to start doing something, perhaps go for walk or to a movie.
Walter’s parents had not visited him in the hospital, but Hilde told him that she talked to his mother once and that she had exclaimed, “Oh my god, Hilde, why didn’t you give him a rope?” That did not help much of anything, but Walter at least knew that someone besides Hilde thought of him.
Dieter and the roommate showed up once for a brief and awkward visit. To Walter, they looked like two young boys with bad consciences. For a while, he took some medication they gave him in the hospital, but he realized that on top of causing dryness in the mouth and a murky disposition, the drugs did not improve his general well-being.
Walter and Hilde visited Irene and Gerhard for dinner, and it felt good to be with them because Walter knew that neither of them held any preconceptions against him.
Suddenly one day, the doorbell rang. Walter got up from his mattress with the green corduroy cover that Hilde had made and opened the door. Frankie stood in front of him in all his glory. His long hairs, broken nose, and big smile that exposed the gap of missing front teeth made Walter smile as well for the first time in weeks.
He had met Frankie briefly as a fellow patient in the hospital ward where he spent a week in rehabilitation to get clean and flush the poison out of his system. They had connected instantly, and Walter learned that Frankie, as an old heroin addict, had been there numerous times, even though he was no older than Walter was. He liked Frankie because he did not have a façade and most about him was real and true.
Frankie said, “Come on, let’s go for a walk and have a cup of coffee.”
They took the road straight up to Grueneburg Park, and then turned into a neighborhood with a few cafés. Walter invited Frankie to have dinner sometime. The companions talked for a long time, and the meeting became a defining event for Walter. It made him realize that what he currently did would not help him start a future. He remembered the plan created in Oklahoma: to save some money, fly to America, and open a restaurant with Phil and Kathy. He considered a return to the Young Liberals as secretary but did not think it appropriate at that point. With his friend and benefactor Andreas running for office, the situation had changed within the organization; plus, Walter did not like the thought of sitting in an office every day.
Researching the job offers in the papers, he noticed an ad for how to become a taxi driver. He was referred to a taxi owner who operated a fleet of eight taxicabs. The owner would sponsor him to obtain the license. After his second attempt at the test, he obtained the license and became a cab driver in Frankfurt. Doing the day shift from six to four, he earned enough money to support Hilde and himself that they were able to save Hilde’s affluent monthly income for the time to come in Oklahoma.