"It's mine!" Shimmy bellowed.
"No, it's mine!" Leiby hollered back, grabbing at an old
handbag that Shimmy dangled an inch above his head.
"Boys, what's going on? Quiet down, I'm on the phone with the
travel agent booking tickets. The agent said there is a
flight departing to Israel at twelve tonight," Mother
said.
"At twelve? But that's in only four hours!" perked up Faigy
from the book she held in her hand.
"So start packing," commanded Mother from her perch by the
phone.
All the kids ran up to their rooms. The boys, forgetting
their fight over the handbag in the excitement of the
upcoming trip, started pulling everything from their closet
and dumping it into a massive suitcase.
"What exactly do you think you are doing?" Rochel stood by
the doorway with her hands on her hips, her usual stance when
portraying her authority as eldest sibling in the family. Her
eyes surveyed the scene of dumped shirts, pants, sweaters,
hats, and other various articles jumbled in a massive pile
resembling the bottom of a Mt. Everest. The empty drawers and
closets were evidence of the boys' intense packing efforts.
Rochel let out an exasperated sigh as she ducked the shoe
Leiby flung over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" she
repeated. "We are going to Eretz Yisroel for two weeks, not a
year!"
Ignoring Rochel completely, Leiby let out an exclamation of
joy. "Shimmy, look at this! I just found the gloves I won
three years ago in the Pirchei contest!"
"Hey, let me see those," Shimmy said as he dived to grab the
gloves out of Leiby's hands, knocking the Mt. Everest
clothing pile into an avalanche of scattered articles.
Faigy came stomping in and stood staring. "What do you think
you are doing? Put back every one of those things right now,"
she sputtered. She retreated, calling a warning over her
shoulder to make sure they're all packed up by the time she
would come back.
Rochel followed Faigy into the girls' room where they
proceeded to pack for themselves and their three younger
sisters in an efficient manner.
The girls began the difficult work of dragging heavy luggage
down the stairs and to the car. Meanwhile the boys smashed
all their clothing in bunched up piles into their suitcase,
jumping on top to make it close. At last they assembled five
large suitcases, three duffel bags, two rolling valises, four
carry-ons, plus one backpack per kid, two strollers, and one
car seat. Rochel had that unique organizational gleam in her
eyes as she relished the challenge of forcing all the baggage
into the trunk of the family's van. Finally, the job was
accomplished. Everything was loaded with room for the family
to sit, as long as they sat three per lap excluding the
baby.
"Okay children," Rochel heard Mother shout. "We are confirmed
on the flight, but we must be at the airport in one hour.
Security is extremely tight and international flights must
have all passengers arrive two hours before departure."
"One hour," Tatty replied. "Great, I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?" all the children whimpered.
"I'll be right back," Tatty repeated in a tone of voice that
let everyone know they had better be quiet, or else...
"Mommy, why don't you stop him?" asked Rochel.
"Rochel," Mommy explained, "It is not my job to nag your
father. Now please make sure that we packed bottles for the
baby."
"We're never going to make the flight on time," Faigy
thought, as she watched the minutes tick by. Thirty minutes
later, Tatty arrived with a car full of presents for the
relatives they were going to visit. Everyone eyed the two
cars and the same thought ran through everyone's head: how
were they supposed to fit all this junk in? No one had the
chutzpa to say a word.
Forty minutes later, the family had managed to stuff
themselves into the car with maneuvers that even gymnasts in
Barnum and Bailey circus would have envied. As long as no one
would sneeze, cough, breathe too deeply, or move an elbow,
the family should make it to the airport without losing a
child or suitcase out the window on the way.
Tatty had just begun his driving techniques, which were
perfect for winning the Indies 500, when a high squeaky
voice, the second to top Faigy's lap, exclaimed: "I need to
go to the bathroom."
"Don't worry dear," Mother assured in her most soothing tone.
"We'll be at the airport in just a few more minutes."
"NO!" Stated Faigy emphatically. "No, she has to get off my
lap now!"
"Faigy . . . " Mother began warning.
"Mommy, I really need to go to the bathroom right now."
There was no hope of waiting until they reached the airport.
All family members were forced to unload at the gas station
and only after several children visited the restrooms and
they reloaded, were they able to continue on to the airport.
As soon as the family reached the curbside of the airport,
Tatty advised everyone to make a "run for it" while he parked
the car and joined them. Suitcases were flung to the ground
and grabbed by every able-bodied child.
Shaking their limbs to regain feeling after sitting cramped
in the car, they all tried to keep up with Mother who charged
ahead to the ticket counter. Faigy, meanwhile, took the rear
keeping an eye out so that no children would be left behind.
The short line in front of the El-Al counter was not
promising. Most passengers were past security and it was not
clear that the family was early enough to pass clearance to
be let on this flight.
"Ma'am," said the airline travel agent. "You are too late to
make this flight."
"Please" begged Mother, "I must speak to your supervisor."
"Rochel, Faigy, watch the kids, please."
Mother moved over to another station, leaving all the
children in Rochel and Faigy's capable hands. They had no
problem watching their little charges. However, the boys were
curious to overhear their mother's conversation so they left
their suitcase where it was and inched forward until they
stood next to their mother.
"We are trying to make it to my niece's wedding," they heard
their mother explain. "And it took a very long time finding
tickets this late on a flight where we can all fly together.
If we miss this flight, we'll be forced to miss the wedding,"
Mother begged.
The supervisor seemed to be softening. "Okay, hand me all the
passports."
Meanwhile, Mother was silently praying that Tatty would show
up before they finished matching everyone with their
passports. Hashem must have been listening because at that
very moment Tatty came huffing in.
Suddenly everyone was shouting. Guards were grabbing people
and shoving them away as armed soldiers appeared. Over the
loud speaker everyone was asked to clear the area because of
a security alert.
Tatty and Mommy grabbed all the kids and pulled them upstairs
to a balcony overhanging the terminal. A policeman came over
and told them to move since it might be very dangerous.
Moving farther back away from their previous places where the
action was visible, the family's fear was tangible. Shimmy
and Leiby of course thought it was a great adventure to tell
about in school.
"Well that's if we ever get out of here," Faigy quirked out
of anxiety.
The spot the family moved to was just as bad. They were
surrounded by sleeping travelers on either side. A crazy-
looking man with a tattoo up his arm, and a group of drunken
men faced them. A heated discussion broke out amongst the
family.
"Maybe we should go home?" Mother asked.
"I think you're right," Tatty agreed. "This danger is not
worth exposing our family to." Faigy clutched her father's
arm in fear. She was known to be very observant and noticed
dangers no one else ever recognized. "Tatty, who is that?"
she whispered pointing at some weird man with a scar under
his eye.
"Wow! He looks like an Arab," Leiby exclaimed.
"Shah! He might hear you." Mother warned. "Tehilla, Avigail,
Minna — get over here right now!" Mother commanded with
an added urgency in her voice that implied that they had
better listen immediately. The scary gentleman gave them a
cold, blank stare before moving away in a crowd of travelers.
"Tatty, I really want to go home now!" Mother pleaded. "This
is not the time . . . "
Just then Mother was interrupted by an announcement over the
loudspeaker, "Mr. Klein, please come to the El-Al ticket
counter, Mr. Klein — to the ticket counter, please."
"Tatty, they're calling you," informed Rochel in a worried
tone.
The Kleins were too petrified to separate so they all trooped
to the ticket counter to meet the angry glares of the El-Al
staff members, police force, armed troops, and guards.
"Is this your suitcase?" they inquired pointing to an
oversized, stuffed piece of luggage with an assortment of
undershirts, socks, pants, shirts, mittens, baseball caps,
and T-shirts spilling over onto the floor.
"That's our suitcase!" cried Shimmy and Leiby together.
"Next time, boys, stay next to your baggage and don't let it
out of your sight," commanded the El-Al supervisor.
"You mean we were the cause of the airport security alert?"
Mother asked, her face growing red.
"That is exactly what I mean to tell you," replied the
supervisor.
"Oops, I must have left it when I went to stand next to you
at the ticket counter," Shimmy enlightened everybody. "I'm
soo sorry."
"Sorry is not enough," glared Tatty.
"No, it most certainly is not enough," seconded the
supervisor. "Now if you will just step this way, I have been
asked to accompany you to the plane just to ensure that there
won't be any more security alerts today."
The Kleins grinned sheepishly at each other. It seemed they
weren't going to miss their plane after all.
