Page 293 - The Book Thief

Rudy lay quietly on the ground, in the rising damp.

Which leaves us only with stupid act number threeskipping the Hitler Youth
meetings.

He didnt stop going right away, purely to show Deutscher that he wasnt afraid of
him, but after another few weeks, Rudy ceased his involvement altogether.

Dressed proudly in his uniform, he exited Himmel Street and kept walking, his
loyal subject, Tommy, by his side.

Instead of attending the Hitler Youth, they walked out of town and along the
Amper, skipping stones, heaving enormous rocks into the water, and generally
getting up to no good. He made sure to get the uniform dirty enough to fool his
mother, at least until the first letter arrived. That was when he heard the dreaded
call from the kitchen.

First, his parents threatened him. He didnt attend.

They begged him to go. He refused.

Eventually, it was the opportunity to join a different division that swayed Rudy
in the right direction. This was fortunate, because if he didnt show his face soon,
the Steiners would be fined for his non-attendance. His older brother, Kurt,
inquired as to whether Rudy might join the Flieger Division, which specialized
in the teaching of aircraft and flying. Mostly, they built model airplanes, and
there was no Franz Deutscher. Rudy accepted, and Tommy also joined. It was
the one time in his life that his idiotic behavior delivered beneficial results.

In his new division, whenever he was asked the famous Fhrer question, Rudy

would smile and answer, April 20, 1889, and then to Tommy, hed whisper a
different date, like Beethovens birthday, or Mozarts, or Strausss. Theyd been
learning about composers in school, where despite his obvious stupidity, Rudy
excelled.