And Then There Were Two by Haner Bat Hannah

Author:Haner Bat Hannah [Bat Hannah, Haner]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

SATURDAY – THE SABBATH

I jumped out of bed, alarmed. But today is Saturday, the Sabbath. There are no condolence visits. I’ve got time, I don’t have to rush.

I prepared myself a mug of hot coffee with milk and went out to the yard, to the old swing. I sat down on it and began swinging ever so slowly, letting my feet drag along the ground. Waiting for something to happen. Mother died on Tuesday. I counted the days. It’s been four days since I was back here. I came only at night, to sleep. The house looked sad and the garden was totally neglected. The old lemon tree was heavy with ripe lemons just waiting to be picked, and the leaves were thirsty for water. I picked some lovely lemons to bring to Gaya and turned on the hose.

“Nahum Stalmakh leaps forward” was the first thing I saw. Then “Nahum Stalmakh head-rams the ball” and “Nahum Stalmakh flashes a smile” looking down from a discolored photo cut out from a newspaper. Uncle Mashiah’s room remained just as it was when he left home and we were still babies, and his hero from his childhood and adolescence remained faded on the walls. The narrow bed and desk also remained in their original place, but were now covered with my tubes of paint, rags and paint brushes of every size and shape, which also filled every nook and cranny in the room. My easel stood facing the window and completed what for me was the ideal room for painting.

I picked up my sketch pad and went over to the large kitchen table and began drawing a swing, then another one. I flipped the page over and drew it again. Then drew a big, strange house on a fresh page. A drawing will soon emerge. Maybe. But until it does, there is a gestation period. Let’s see where it leads.

“Breakfast is waiting,” Gaya wrote on WhatsApp.

“Go ahead and start. I’ll be there soon.” I went to get dressed.

Gaya was leaning over the sink and turned her head to me when I entered. “Hi, Sis. Good morning.”

“And a lovely morning to you. And who exactly is waiting?” I peeked into the living room. “Did you organize a family party?”

“No. Just an intimate, free-flowing event. Eyal will be down soon. And Hagar will come down at about eleven o’clock. And Amnon will show himself for lunch. So meanwhile you and I have some quality time together.”

The table was set with an array of dishes. A red cabbage salad, cucumber salad, potato salad, butter in a yellow dish, red strawberry jam and orange peach jam all laid out in the center of the table.

“Such a lovely table for a free-flowing event?”

“It’s much nicer this way.”

“This is your unique interpretation of Grandma Na’ima’s Sabbath meal? No one comes close to you, Gaya, in the art of hosting.”

“And a good morning to you, too, Sis. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It is a compliment. But why did you go to all the trouble? All anybody eats is French toast.

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