Serializing a new novel.
Chapter 24: Jerusalem June 2002 — Part 1
As Eli and Fay are on their way to Israel. Fred Smith is
also in Israel. We return to Daniel (Dean) and Esther.
*
Esther returned from work and walked into the apartment. For
the first few moments after she entered she simply stood and
gazed around her. For so many long months she had felt
marriage was something she could never have — and yet
here she was, married to Daniel, living in this conveniently
located apartment.
She still couldn't get over that they lived in a perfect
location and rent-free. They had offered to pay something,
but the landlord had been adamant.
"If Daniel hadn't cleared out this area then there would have
been no apartment, just a storeroom. Besides, I couldn't rent
it out anyway. Who else could I allow to enter through the
store? In any event I have come to rely on Daniel helping me
bring the deliveries in early each morning. So please don't
even think about paying me money for rent."
Esther's work was five minutes down the road. Her family
lived fifteen minutes away in the opposite direction.
Daniel's kollel was only a bit further. A brisk half-
hour walk, he told her.
The apartment itself was so pleasant. There was a central
room that served as a dining room and salon, and leading off
was their bedroom. Her salary and Daniel's small kollel
stipend were sufficient for them to live on.
Together they had bought secondhand furniture and Esther had
polished each piece till it looked like new. She had covered
the old kitchen table with a bright yellow-and-blue plastic
cloth. Remnants of materials in the same shades of blue and
yellow were repeated through the house, as curtains on the
windows overlooking the street below, as a cloth on their
dining room table, and as small square cushions on the dark
blue sofa. Altogether the effect was pleasing.
It was time to stop dreaming, to prepare food for the evening
meal. Esther changed into her housecoat and began peeling and
chopping vegetables. As she worked, thoughts came to her
mind. Daniel knew all about her family. They sometimes spent
Shabbos with them. Yet about his family she knew nothing. She
only knew that it was because of his family circumstances
that he wanted a small wedding. He never said one word to her
about his childhood. Why? What was he hiding?
Esther tried to put these thoughts away. Her Daniel was a
good man. She must forget these thoughts.
Daniel usually returned just as the meal was ready. This
first year of marriage he didn't go to an evening shiur.
As the law decreed, he spent the time with his new
bride.
The evening flew by as she told of her plans for improving
the leaflets at work while Daniel told her an interesting
tidbit from his day of learning.
The problems began unexpectedly. There was that strange
incident when an American had shouted out, "Hey, Dean! Is
that you hiding behind that big beard? Man I would know your
walk anywhere. How goes it?"
Her husband's reaction had been a shock, "Tell the man I
don't speak English and let's get away from here."
They had walked hurriedly in the opposite direction from
which they had come and instead of going shopping they had
gone home. Yet Daniel would give her no explanation of his
strange behavior.
Then there was the time a group came specifically to visit
Ezrat Horeinu. They would be in a hotel for Shabbos. Esther
was asked if she would spend Shabbos with the group and her
husband would lead proceedings, making Kiddush, giving
a dvar Torah, and generally seeing that the Shabbos
experience was a good one.
Esther had never ever spent time in a smart hotel. She was
bubbling with excitement when she arrived home. Her husband's
reaction was sharp. "No. Absolutely not. Tell them to find
someone else."
Esther thought for a moment and then said, "The kashrus
standards are fine. I already checked that out. The shul
is also fine. I made sure of all this before I agreed. Why
can't we go?"
She saw a strange look in her husband's expression, something
she had never seen before. It appeared to her he was
frightened. Yet how could that be? What was there to be
afraid of?
She heard words. "We will not go. You should not have agreed
without asking me first. Truly I am sorry, but there is no
way I can go."
She had forced the incident away, persuading herself that
Daniel had a good reason, both for the refusal, and also the
manner of the refusal. However, thoughts about the incident
refused to leave and they swam together in her mind with the
strange day when a man had cried out "Hey Dean!" and Daniel
had pretended he didn't speak English.
