“It’s so good to see you children. We were in the middle of bathing Rakefet. I’m soaking wet.”
Kedmi stood hulkingly in the middle of the room and winked at them. “He’s doing his internship with us.”
They smiled uncomfortably.
“Have a scat, have a seat. The mess you see is pure Kaminka.”
He himself sat down first in the big armchair.
The two of them looked at me silently, a great gulf between them. I should have gone to my room but instead I stepped up to them in my state of undress and hugged and kissed Asi, feeling him draw back from me.
“Don’t be afraid, it’s only water. And thank you for coming,” I murmured emotionally. He didn’t answer. I turned to her, reaching out to grasp her too, but she too recoiled from my nakedness. I smiled and bent to sniff the flowers that she held. She clutched them tighter, extending a rather cool hand.
“How are you, Yehuda?” she asked.
“You can see for yourself… it’s my last day… how was your seder?”
“Very sederlike,” snapped Asi with a sharp sideways look at us.
She didn’t turn to look at him.
“And how are your dear parents?”
“Fine, thank you.”
“I mustn’t forget to say goodbye to them. Perhaps I should call them now.”
“That would make them very happy. But not now… tonight… they don’t answer the phone on religious holidays…”
“Of course not. Tonight, then. I must make a note of it.”
I put an arm around her thin shoulder.
Ya’el emerged from the bathroom with the baby, all scrubbed, combed and snugly wrapped in snow-white diapers. With a quick cry of admiration Dina turned to hand her the flowers, taking Rakefet in return with a graceful movement. Just then Tsvi stepped into the room, freshly shaven and nattily dressed. He nodded to Dina.
“Was it still dark out when you left Jerusalem?”
He went over to embrace his distinguished younger brother, who shrunk back from him too while casting a glance at Ya’el. Shyly he went over and kissed her warmly, clinging to her like a mother. I felt a sharp pang. For a moment we were all too disconcerted to speak. Kedmi alone remained seated in his armchair.
“Go on, kiss away, you Commie Russians,” I heard him mumble under his breath. “Later you can knife each other and drink tea.”
I was so stunned I couldn’t move. What a vile character after all. How could he talk that way? But the others didn’t seem to have heard him. I felt befuddled. The cold breeze coming through the window made me shiver. I hurried to my room and took out a folded white shirt from my valise. My fingers touched my watch. It still said eight o’clock, it must have stopped. I held it uncertainly for a moment, then put it back. I checked my passport and ticket again and found the power of attorney for Asa, which I folded and stuck in my pants pocket. Suddenly I felt dizzy. How to find room for them all?
The line that runs between them all at once there are tears in my eyes my shadow leaps out from under the bed I shove the valise back beneath it making some order around me. A few more hours. Chin up. They came especially to make you happy. Your power over them. And yet you feared the disgrace. The loss of you beginning to sink in. Why shouldn’t you? Not in their wildest dreams. A thought to tear you all apart. Naked lies the hairless Jewish widow. The frigid whirlwind. And you namelessly kissing each cell. The terrible tender lust. But who would have thought that there would be a baby?
Gaddi came into the room.
“Mom wants to know if you’d like some tea.”
“Of course I would, old buddy. Come over here.”
I squeezed his fat, heavy frame.
“Go show Asi your worms and cocoons. When he was your age he also liked experiments.”
I wiped away my tears, put on the shirt and a tie, combed my hair and rejoined them. Ya’el and Dina were in the children’s room with the baby. Tsvi was making his bed under Kedmi’s supervision. Asa stood alone on the terrace, smoking and staring at the view, gloomily preoccupied. So calmly hitting himself in the little library. The parchment flying through the air. What’s wrong with him? Tom apart, devastated by her beauty. Gaddi approached him with his shoe box of white cocoons. Asi nodded absentmindedly and glanced at me. I went to him.
“Well, we didn’t get to spend much time together, did we? Such a short visit.”
“How did it go?”
“Where?”
“Up there.”
“Pretty well. I already told you on the phone. The actual ceremony was very brief.”
“As long as it’s over with.”
“Yes.”
“And mother?”
“What about her?”
“She was all right too?”
“In what sense? Yes…”
“She kept calm?”
“Yes. Why shouldn’t she have?”
“Ya’el told me that some rabbi tried making trouble.”
“It wasn’t anything much. He was a young fanatic… but Rabbi Mashash handled him well…”
“And does she really want to be let out? Will they agree…?”
An anxious note crept into his dry voice.
“I don’t know. Maybe. The doctor said that there wasn’t any reason not to…”
“But where will she go?” he interrupted.
“I really don’t know, Asa. Wherever she wants. She’s yours now, not mine.”
“Did she drop any hints about her plans?”
“No. I didn’t ask her about them, either.”
“She didn’t say anything about Jerusalem?”
“Jerusalem?”
“Never mind.”
He truly hated her.
“You know, I have to give you my power of attorney so that you can officially transfer my share of the house to her.”
“Why give it to me? Why not to Tsvi or to Kedmi?”
“Because I want you to have it. Tsvi might do something rash — you know what he’s like when it comes to money. And it’s none of Kedmi’s business. I want you to take care of it. It won’t demand much of your time.”
He regarded me quietly.
“But how are things with you on the whole, Asa? How is your Vera Zasulich?”
He flushed hotly, taken aback.
“What does Vera Zasulich have to do with it?”
“I just happened to think of her. Your students… I still remember the few minutes of your lecture that I heard… I’m all admiration for how you teach… for the ideas you have… really I am. I was very moved by it all. Please don’t forget to send me all your publications. This time I promise to respond… I’m so sorry I didn’t then… I can’t forgive myself…”
“Forget it.”
Tsvi re-entered the room, animatedly talking to Dina. Kedmi still sat provocatively in the armchair with his newspaper, his mocking little eyes darting back and forth, ready to strike without notice.
Ya’el served tea. The light had grown dim and the air felt less warm; a soft curtain screened the sun; almost at its prime, the day had suddenly faltered. A weak-willed spring. From beyond the windows, with their view of white houses and wooded slopes, came the muffled sound of traffic. Ya’el set out the teacups, her heavy face aglow, while Dina helped her with unobtrusive grace. I smiled at her, seeking to strike up a conversation, but she continued to avoid me behind a wall of reserve. Gaddi brought a tray of hot pita bread. Asi questioned Kedmi about the view and received an explanation. Tsvi began to crack jokes. I let my eyes linger on my progeny, all gathered together with me here, then glanced out the window at the north end of the bay and at the white cliffs of the Lebanese border clearly visible in the distance beyond it.