A Wall of Light - Edeet Ravel [24]
Daddy tells me more about Tarzan. How his parents died in an airplane crash in the jungle and the apes raised him. That’s why he knows the language of apes and other animals.
A funny song about God comes on the radio. In Canada they actually believe in God but we’re more advanced here. Daddy really likes this song. It makes him laugh.
God was simply feeling bored as hell one day
He thought hey say
Why not create a world out of clay
But how much better
How much better it would be
For every animal and tree
If instead of all this muddle
He’d gone and solved
A crossword puzzle
The song has a lot of the crazy things humans do. When it’s over Daddy sings the lines he remembers and laughs some more. He’s happy here in Eldar.
Between the Motion and the Act
A beautiful American woman was standing outside the hotel with a huge knapsack on her back, waiting for a bus. Nat was trying to think of a way to offer her his services when she recognized him—a few months ago she’d appeared in the YG Federation office in Tel Aviv to ask about visiting a kibbutz. He had been there by chance and they had talked. Her name, she said, was Joy.
He’d stared at her smooth shiny black hair falling gently on her soft shoulders and framing the white smooth neck that extended from her summer dress. He’d boldly looked at her red lips, high cheekbones, perfect Nordic nose, and bright grey eyes. How could her parents have guessed that she’d become the embodiment of her name?
“Why don’t you come to our kibbutz?” he’d offered and was aware of the blood flowing in his reproductive veins.
“I want a kibbutz of Hebrew speakers,” she’d said, mentioning a few near the Syrian border.
“Are you busy tonight?”
“Yes, but maybe another time.”
But Joy didn’t vanish forever; here she was now in Haifa. And she remembered him!
“Do you have a place to stay here in Haifa?” His thoughts worked quickly with the acumen of a wolf.
“Yes, the kibbutz I’m on has a house on the Carmel.”
“Are you free tonight?” he asked, remembering the last time he was rejected.
“Yes.” She smiled and he carried her heavy knapsack. He was very happy. He seated her in a café and asked her to wait ten minutes so he could put on clean clothes and tell Rubin about his change of plans. He hurried up the stairs. Rubin lay on his bed in underwear and undershirt and read the Palestine Post while waving away the flies with his other hand.
“Rubin, I have a fabulous girl waiting for me. If you want to come with us, hurry.”
He didn’t even raise his eyes from the newspaper. “Ha ha,” he said.
“Okay,” Nat said, trying to hide his relief. “You don’t have to come.”
He hurried to shower. He couldn’t find the leg of his pants as he raised them from the dusty floor. Rubin started to notice that something was up. He lay down the newspaper and leaned on his elbow in amusement. He saw that Nat wasn’t joking, grabbed his clothes, applied Brylcreem to his wild curls and ran after Nat, buttoning his pants and shouting, “Wait for me, wait a minute!”
Nat introduced Rubin to Joy. Rubin gave an amazed look, as if to say, Where the hell did you manage to find such a charming creature? Her face was like pale petals surrounded by black hair, her exposed legs were lovely, her full body rustled under her thin summer dress, radiating naughty adventures.
They walked along the neat streets lined with trees and decided on supper at the Balfour Cellar. Leo the barman played favourite oldies like Frankie Laine crooning “Jezebel.”
They questioned her. She had come to Israel because her parents were Quakers and she was interested in peace, she told them.
“You want to help the Arabs, no?” Rubin was agitated, chewing his liver with an open mouth and unabashed enthusiasm.
A ghostly shadow passed for a moment in her eyes.
“We don’t make any distinctions in providing our services,” she said. “The kibbutzim