Petra

Petra is the young woman at the center of WH 3’s hopes for intimacy, but the relationship between them never becomes what he imagines. Her warmth and invitation to spend an evening together give his long-standing attachment fresh momentum; her impatience later exposes how differently they have understood the night. Through this mismatch, Petra’s scenes show both the kindness that matters deeply to WH 3 and the limits of what that kindness means to her.

Identity and Place in WH 3’s Life

Petra has been part of WH 3’s life for some time. Their connection remains at a standstill: it neither advances nor retreats, and she is consistently friendly, attentive, and understanding. At moments, her manner seems almost sisterly or like that of a nurse. The narration leaves open whether WH 3 misses signals from her, or whether there are no such signals to miss. What is clear is that he will not take the initiative, because he believes he could not bear rejection.

Her importance to him is also apparent in the changes he associates with knowing her. He has learned to smoke, to stand and look more composed, to speak without drooling, and sometimes to keep quiet instead of talking on. More fundamentally, his view of himself has shifted. He no longer sees his disability and appearance as proof that his whole life is defined by an insurmountable disadvantage. Petra’s attention has given him a different experience of himself, even though the evidence does not establish that she intends to be his romantic partner.

The Evening He Imagines

WH 3’s earlier visits to St. Pauli had been brief family outings to the Operettenhaus, followed by an immediate trip home. A Tuesday evening when he sneaks out alone marks a different step into the district. Later, the prospect of meeting Petra in the evening—rather than during a school break or after school—takes on enormous significance for him, especially because she proposed it. He treats the unusual timing and her initiative as evidence that something consequential may happen.

On the way to meet her, he rides his bicycle hard to dispel his agitation. He weighs fears and possibilities against hopes: going to his home is not an option, perhaps they could rent a hotel room, and he has 170 marks with him; perhaps she might take him to her home while her mother is working a shift. Under a new bridge, he leaves his bicycle and continues on foot, with the sole of his left shoe coming loose and tapping against the shoe at each step. The small, practical detail accompanies the scale of the romantic scenario he has constructed in his mind.

After several stops, Petra and WH 3 arrive at Jahnkes Ballhaus on Davidstraße. The venue suits him: it is not too crowded even on a Saturday, and the music is quiet enough for conversation. He takes the night’s apparent ease as proof that a relationship is taking shape and resolves not to press too quickly. His thoughts idealize Petra as wholly beautiful and healthy, while the people around them become a contrasting backdrop. The scene presents his hope as intense but uncertain: he is already elaborating a future that Petra has not promised.

Misread Signals and Growing Impatience

When Petra returns, WH 3 is relieved, but remains afraid she might change her mind, leave, or turn to someone else. She asks about the place he had mentioned and suggests they could go there at the end of the night. He hears the phrase as a sign that only one last drink remains before they part, though he is unsure how to interpret what people say or do at that hour. The suggestion unsettles him, but he follows her lead and cannot think of another plan.

Petra’s perspective makes the distance between their expectations sharper. She is angry at how long WH 3 is taking and considers the excursion to The Golden Glove Tavern a bad idea. She had gone there to head off what she felt was becoming unavoidable: across the evening, she had noticed signs that he was struggling to contain himself. Her decision is therefore not the romantic invitation WH 3 hopes it might be. It is an attempt to manage a situation she believes is approaching a threshold, though she does not go looking for him when he is delayed. The narration leaves the immediate cause of that delay unstated in this moment; Petra wonders whether something has happened but cannot change the possibility that he might be in a fight.

Contrasting Hopes

A final exchange of looks and toasts links Petra’s story to Karl von Lützow’s. Karl orders two double Boonekamp because he does not know what else to drink there. He imagines that his comfortable life in a bungalow can continue, with gardening, outings, cycling, and sport, and even entertains the possibility of a love that would be returned. He drinks one of the doubles, finds it dreadful, and raises his glass to Petra, who responds with her vodka. He imagines a future in which love might yet be reciprocated; Petra’s brief judgment of him as normal is a more limited recognition, not evidence of a shared romantic understanding.

Placed beside WH 3’s idealization, this exchange gives Petra’s character a particular narrative function. Her ordinary friendliness has helped him see himself differently, but it cannot guarantee the transformation he wants or make his hopes mutual. The shifts in perspective keep her from becoming merely the object of his fantasy: her patience has limits, she reads the evening differently, and she makes choices for reasons of her own. The result is a quiet but consequential contrast between the life WH 3 imagines and the narrower, independent meanings Petra gives to their time together.