Beinhof Parlour

By Vasilisa Forbes

A group of revolutionary teenagers living in 90's Berlin attempt to change the course of history by campaigning for an alternative reality, but their success or failure is dependant on forces which appear to be strongly out of their hands.

Set at a time of great change in Western Europe in the early 90s, and during the fall of the Berlin Wall, the black-clad protagonists of Beinhof Parlour explore an insular social world absorbed in a love of the past, and passion for changing social doctrines. Questioning ideas of modern youth cults and inner-city living, Beinhof Parlour is a youthful fiction bringing together a host of vibrant characters and independent ideas which are now very much a part of teenage lifestyles in modern cities across the world.

Preview here the first three chapters of Beinhof Parlour, as an introduction to the characters, their aims and their struggles.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781291883787

Book preview

Beinhof Parlour

1

Arc of All Knowledge

Chapter 1

The day had arrived. Not quite arrived but it had finally reached its moment of awakening, exactly at the moment when I awakened, and found it to be precisely what I had been dreading for so long.

It’s difficult to define a state like this, when one finds themselves caught in an episode of lengthy dread, for a day that has not been defined and will not necessarily arrive, but there is the prospect that at some moment in time, the inevitable ‘thing’ will occur and it shall all be like it wasn’t before. It was that day, October 19th, 1989, when I found myself outside Beinhof Parlour on Friedrich Strasse.

I had known from the moment my eyes focused on the spots of sunlight streaming through the draped overalls of the so-called curtains that covered the little glass windows of my apartment, that I would have to get up, dress, wash, apply a mediocre coat of make-up and make my way across the city via the tram-link and two stops on the U-Bahn, then a short walk accompanied by a cup of stale, badly brewed coffee and a whimsical record on the cassette player.  I did just that and found my feet in a neat parallel arrangement positioned precisely around the corner on Zeitenen Strasse exactly 2 metres from the front entrance to the Parlour. I downed the coffee all in one, made a grimace of my not-exactly-perfectly made face and took a final suck of the browned cigarette my right hand held. The record played but it was not drifting into my eardrums in a neat succession but with angry bouts that made my heart beat simmer in odd formats. The player had to be unplugged and the cigarette discarded and then a stance of control and self-awareness would need to be assumed. I did so. The stance did not seem convincing even to myself.

It might have been necessary to take precautionary measures, and cast a few glances in car windows to confirm that during my brief period of transport I had not somehow developed a rare disorder and found numerous bumps across my cheek or nose area. The latter or former had not occurred. All was as was before, relatively mediocre and non-intrusive. The corner would have to be approached, without caution, but with an attitude of calm, poise, and arrogance in order to achieve a level of grace, alas and so the corner was turned and this position erected. I found my legs quavering only slightly but facing in relatively the correct direction at the entrance to the parlour.

Hi went the proceedings.

Hello was the response.

You must be Leon? (Of course it was Leon but one must always clarify as defined by the rule of social understanding, even when one has seen a pictorial representation of said ‘Leon’, the clarification must always follow the greeting on such terms)

Yes, yes. And you are…Leila?

Yes! (No need for the excited undertone of being recognised when recognition was neither unexpected nor unprovoked and only a mandatory element of having social interaction with other persons) 

Great, well shall we proceed?

(One must agree on these terms of ‘proceeding’ to be aware of what was outlined in the stated arrangement, if two persons are to meet for coffee at a certain address then it would be folly to impulsively propose a diversion on this agreement and suggest alternative means of entertainment and/or time management. (Even if coffee in the certain address makes ones intestines feel a slight bit dilapidated))

Yes, Yes lets go inside! (The cheerier the tone, the better, apparently)

So proceed inside we did, and with careful smiling glances towards present customers seated in the area we were to approach the counter and order a drink or probably two. Nothing spectacularly awkward, just a simple coffee in a simple parlour where food could also be brought if ones stomach was not at an aggressive feud with itself.

An Americano for me, and for you?

(Oh the decisions! Could be better to stick without the milk also, to follow suit, or it could be deemed lacking in individuality/responsibility to suggest the same drink. Or it could be an element of conversation? ‘Oh so you like black coffee also? How interesting! Have you aversions to milk? Was it via upbringing or personal favourites? Etc etc.’)

Um, a Cappuccino please! (Accompanied by a feeble smile towards the waitress and companion. Ah the wonderful cappuccino, a perfectly easy and respectable option!)

Small, Tall or Grande?

Oh, um, (No! No! Small, always go with the small.)

Oh a small please.

Small, ok, to have in?

Yes, Yes to have in. (Somehow the effect of ordering the coffee seemingly had switched towards my authority, even though I was the second to order.)

Leila, lets take a seat, how about over by the corner? (Yes the corner was fine, as was any corner or no corner at all.)

Yes, lets.

I will bring the coffee to your table, take a seat.

Thank you! (A slightly over-excited squeak happened to accompany that response, but then again perhaps endless amounts of coffee were not a good idea for my current situation.)

We sat down in the humble corner that was as planned, and I crossed my legs in poised perfection and felt at once irresistibly awkward with no way of escape or self-control and jammed in a grotesquely intimate situation, the table being a little too small for me to hide underneath it, and I felt a sudden lack of understanding towards the existence of my hands. I pulled myself out of the terrified stare that I had been directing towards them as they lay on my knee. They looked at once swollen and shrunken, and a horrible plum red from the cold. The coffee was brought over quite quickly before I had a chance to start up that stare again, and I found use for them at once, in holding the cup and saying ooh yes, warm cup. to a strange effect.

Mmm yes they do have very good coffee here, said my companion. You know they source their coffee from one of Berlin’s leading Brewster’s, and are at equal with Bitter Lieben as one of the best coffee parlours in Berlin! Great, isn’t it? You can definitely taste it in the beans, with the first sip!

A nod of the head and an awkward smile was my attempt at an agreement to the suggestion. Perplexedly I stared towards the cup, unsure whether this statement could possibly be true, I felt obliged to agree on his suggestion, and so my companion continued,

Glorious stuff. You know I now regret not getting a Latte of some sort, because the art of pouring here is really beautifully done, lets take a look at your Rosetta there, Leila. He leaned over towards my cup and I looked towards it cautiously, luckily no sips had yet been taken and so the Rosetta was wonderfully intact, a brown leaf rising with the steam to form two perfectly crafted foam hearts.

Oh it is lovely! My father always said that coffee wasn’t an art form, or that it required any form of talent but I think if I took him here he would be positively mistaken! Don’t you agree?

Ah yes, yes, you are right. Despite having responded in such approving manners, a sip from my cup had not yet even been taken, meanwhile my companion steadily slurped away, I merely rested my hands upon the cup for its warmth. This at once seemed to me an odd way to behave and I found it necessary to place one hand on my knee for balance.

So, Leon, I begun, allowing my voice to flow with control, tenderness and an air of calm. The calm inside was very much lacking. It was very nice of you to invite me here for coffee, um, of course I did want to ask you about the prospects of The Plan.

Yes The Plan! Well I didn’t want to jump right into it, I thought we should maybe discuss ourselves a little first, you know, get to know what we are both made of and what we are capable of and little details of one another like what our favourite things are and so on! Don’t you think?

For this I had no response that would be able to conceal my tremendous uncertainty, and so a poised smile and tilting of the head was all I could muster. For an instance a rush of pride fled across me as I realised that I had seemed quite graceful at the given moment. My immediate thought went towards Grace Kelly, the ultimate lady of grace. The thought soon vanished as coffee started to drip onto my hand. The companion took a slurp of the black liquid and looked towards me as he did so. A sudden occurrence came to me that he had a certain elegant beauty that I couldn’t quite figure. The thin long fingers attached to the hand that held the white cup with dignity and the dark furrowed eyebrows from where wide soft blue eyes emerged charmingly. I took my first slurp and melted into a warmth of several bold ideas. It occurred to me Leon was very very beautiful. At the particular moment this was doing numerous things to heighten my unnerved state at the situation, however the ramblings in regards to the brilliance of the coffee that had started our conversation were indeed starting to prove themselves, and I found that I was sipping rapidly and without the previous grace I had wanted to assume. It was however difficult to drink the certain coffee without an element of dignity, as it was seemingly made only for rather dignified persons. I took several more slurps without fear and placed the cup back in its allocated position, assuming a poise once again.

You know, Leon, I think you are right about this coffee. It is truly wonderful.

Yes, that was one of the reasons I suggested this particular meeting place. Another reason was its position in regards to the Arc Of All Knowledge. Are you aware of it?

(What to be aware of I was not particularly sure but I guessed that a multitude of awareness’s were currently of concern.)

The Arc of All Knowledge? No I have neither seen nor heard of it at present. What exactly is this Arc that we speak of? (Polite, controlled terms proving my lack of understanding, seemed to go well with my companion who evidently wanted to discuss the prospects of this statement independently, without my prior knowledge.) He smirked and took a few more sips of the coffee, patently priming himself for a bout of excessive rambles on the new subject that seemed to excite