Meeting the guard’s gaze but speaking softly so he could not hear me, I said,
“I have another kind of confidence.” Suddenly a tangible atmosphere of peace and
calm descended over me and I stopped shaking. Color returned to my face. My
hands relaxed on the steering wheel.
On a sudden impulse I popped the latches on the suitcase full of German
Bibles and withdrew two of them, which I then placed in plain sight on top of the
suitcase.
I drove into the checkpoint.
The border guard, AK-47 gripped menacingly in his right hand, opened the
passenger door. He looked at the suitcase, at the clearly displayed prohibited
German Bibles, and then locked eyes with me for what seemed like an eternity.
With a shrug he withdrew and slammed the door shut, pointing past the
checkpoint, saying, “Drive on!”
Then the guard turned to the car behind mine and barked, “Next!”
I drove into East Germany. I had a delivery to make.
