“Listening to what?”
“To what I’ve been saying.”
“You haven’t been saying anything. You’ve been quiet.”
“I’ve been quiet?”
“You may have been talking to yourself, but as far as I’m concerned you’ve been quiet.”
“I was talking to myself?”
“How should I know? Ask yourself.”
“You must have fallen asleep.’’
“You always seem to think that if I’m not talking I must be asleep, because there is no other possibility. But amazingly enough, Ya’eli, there are times when I do think silently. I wasted so many good thoughts at the office today that I have to stock up again for tomorrow.”
“What time is it?”
“Past ten.”
“How can you expect to fall asleep so early?”
“I can fall asleep anytime. Haven’t I told you the title of my latest book? Falling Asleep in Ten Easy Lessons. How does that grab you?”
“I’ll be the first to read it, Kedmi.”
“Thank you. That’s very kind of you. The first lesson will be called, ‘Silencing Your Spouse.’ ”
“She hasn’t come back yet, Kedmi. What can she be up to? She hasn’t phoned, either. I can’t imagine where she is. She’s been gone since four o’clock. I’m beginning to worry.”
“Worry all you like if you enjoy it, but I don’t know what your hurry is. Let it wait until tomorrow. By then you can worry for real.’’
“Until tomorrow? What are you talking about?”
“A little bird tells me that she’s left town. And you know that my little birds are always right.”
“Why on earth should she have left town? When? She said that she wanted to look up some acquaintances… that she had something to bring them…”
“She asked me to drop her off at the central bus station. I rather doubt that she’s already made acquaintances there.”
“You mean to say you left her off at the central station? You didn’t tell me that.”
“There are lots of things I didn’t tell you. Such as that she bought herself a map of Israel and asked me to show her on it where the hospital was and how to get there…”
“She didn’t go to the hospital… she couldn’t have. But where is she? I don’t get it. And the child is here… what can she be thinking of? I…”
“I don’t know what she’s thinking of, but I do know what you’re thinking of, and I’m afraid that it’s something silly once again. You’re worried that she may have left you the child as a present and absconded… but that’s really a bit much, Ya’el. A handsome, healthy, light-skinned boy like that, with a religious education to boot, is worth a few thousand dollars in today’s market even without his fine clothes. I can’t believe she’d pass all that money up…”