“It’s not worth talking about,” Israel said. “Isn’t that so, Esther?”
They watched the door open slowly; Esther entered the room, not in the least embarrassed.
“Yes,” she said. “Neither you nor that coffee-maker are worth talking about.”
Dov stepped up to her, gripped her by the arm, and forced her to look at him. “How old are you, Esther?” he asked.
“I’m not twenty yet,” she said, looking at Dov’s hand tightening on her arm.
“Isn’t it enough that you’re a whore?” he said. “Do you have to be a snoop too?” He pushed her against the wall. “What have you got to tell me, Esther?”
“She has already told everybody,” Israel said. “You’re the only person she hasn’t told the story to yet.”
“Esther,” Dov said, “my brother will be back in an hour. When he arrives I’ll say good-bye to him, then Israel and I will leave. But for that one hour, we want to be alone. Is that too much to ask?”
“No one said you had to leave,” Esther said.
“Is that too much to ask, Esther?”
“No one said you had to leave,” she said again. “This is your brother’s house.”
“No, I don’t think she wants to kick you out,” Israel said. “She isn’t a bad kid. Maybe she’s just too much like you. But she loves your brother and knows that he loves you. You shouldn’t be so rough on her. She didn’t ask you to leave.”
“No,” Dov said. “Not yet. But I’m old, Israel. For someone who’s forty, getting kicked out into the street is no laughing matter, believe me.”
“Where will you go?” Esther asked. “As long as you let Israel tag along, you’ll be a laughingstock no matter where you go.” She turned in Israel’s direction. “He allows people to hit him in the face.” She moved a step closer to Israel. “Why don’t you tell him?” she asked. “Why do you lie to him? You can tell him the truth.”
“You’ll do it better,” Israel said. “So you tell him. Just like you told everybody else.” Suddenly he got up and walked over to the window. “You’re a clever girl, Esther. And you know so much. You know that some men beat me up on the beach yesterday, and you know I didn’t want to tell Dov about it. And you know the reason I didn’t; you know the situation he’s in. And you know many other things. Except one. The one which is most important. And until you find that out, you won’t have a moment’s rest. That’s why I can’t hate you, Esther. You’re innocent because you don’t know the most important thing.”
“What is it I don’t know?”
“You don’t know what I’m talking about,” Israel said. “You don’t know what’s making you restless. You can feel something is happening to you, but you don’t know what it is. I do.”
“But you’re too big a coward to tell me, aren’t you?”
“No,” Israel said. “I simply intend to wait until others do it for me. I’m paying you back in kind.”
“Didn’t I tell you to leave this room, Esther?” Dov asked. “Do you want me to put it more strongly?”
She didn’t budge. She kept staring at Israel, and they both saw that her lips were moving soundlessly.
“Then let me tell you something,” she finally said. “I’ll tell you what’s most important.”
“You can’t,” Israel said. “You don’t know.”
“I do,” she said. “And it won’t take long. It’s much simpler than you think.”
“Yes,” Israel said. “It’s much simpler than either of us thinks. But you don’t know what it is.”
Little Dov came in, but Esther still didn’t move. She stood in the middle of the room, leaning slightly forward and looking at Israel.
“I’m famished, Esther,” Little Dov said. “I barely had any breakfast.”
“You don’t look well,” Israel said. “You looked much better when you were in the army.” He pointed at Little Dov’s picture hanging on the wall. “Didn’t he, Esther?”
“Esther, I’m hungry,” Little Dov said. He walked up to his wife and touched her arm, but she pushed him away violently.
“Hey, Esther, what’s wrong?” Little Dov asked. “Why are you so pale?”
“It concerns you and that woman,” Esther said to Israel, as if her husband had not spoken at all. “You don’t think she’s after you, do you? You’re not that stupid. She’s after Dov. She wants to get into his bed through yours. Because she knows that that’s the only way to catch his interest. She knows that well. As well as I do. Was that the important thing you wanted to tell me?”
“No,” Israel said. “That wasn’t it.”
“I think it was,” Esther said. “Your spending last night with her doesn’t mean a thing. She went to bed with you out of pity. She saw you get beat up. And then she hit you in the face herself. Women often go to bed with men out of pity. I should know. I did it many times.”
“But Esther,” Little Dov said, “You told me — You swore to me—” He suddenly looked much younger than ever before; he walked up to her quietly, as if afraid of the sound of his own footsteps. “No, Esther. That can’t be true. You swore to me!”
“Don’t touch me,” she said. “You’re as big a fool as he is. Okay, I swore to you. So what? For three days each month any woman can swear she’s a virgin if she’s with as big a fool as you or him. Some women can even do it for four or five days.”
“But you swore to me!”
“No,” she said. “I’m a woman. I’m forbidden to swear. I’m unclean.”
“But you did!”
“So what?” she said. “Ask that woman what she told Israel when she went to bed with him.” She took a step forward; she and Israel were now face to face. “I also told men many things before I met my husband,” she said. “I started screwing around when I was fourteen and didn’t really know what sex was. Do you believe me now?”
“You still haven’t said what’s most important,” Israel said. “You haven’t said it.”
“No?”
“No,” he said. “I’m sorry, Esther, but that’s not all.”
Their eyes followed her as she walked out into the hall and opened the door to the father’s room.
“Pop,” she said, “please come out for a moment.” She waited, leaning against the doorjamb, but he didn’t answer. “You told me you loved me like your own daughter,” she went on. “And you told me to— Don’t you want me to give you a grandchild anymore?”
Finally the old man appeared. He stopped in the doorway, facing them; Esther placed her arm around him.
“Pop, look at Israel, please,” she said. “Can that man be better than Dov?”
“Is that so hard?” the old Dov asked.
“You don’t understand, Pop,” Esther said. “The thing is, there’s this woman who—” Suddenly she fell silent and looked at them helplessly, as if she had forgotten what she wanted to say.
“Why do you ask me?” the old man said. “You’re a woman yourself. You’re unclean. You should know what a woman would do if she could choose.”
“She doesn’t know,” Israel said. “That’s the whole problem; she doesn’t know.”
“You really think you are better than my son Dov?” the old man asked Israel. “If so, I envy you.”
“Take her away from here,” Dov said to his brother. “She’s ill.” He stepped up to her and touched her forehead; then he walked over to his father. “It’s a pity one can’t choose one’s parents,” he said. “Now get out.” And when the old man didn’t move, he gave him a shove and closed the door behind him.
“Do you believe me now?” Esther asked softly.
“Take her away,” Dov said to his brother. “I’ll leave either tonight or tomorrow. But now just take her away.” He tossed him his car keys. “Right now.”
“Where should I take her?” Little Dov asked.
“She’s your wife,” Dov said. “I don’t know. Why ask me?” He slammed the door behind them and sat down at the table. “She’s ill. I’m sorry.”