Moon Path by Steven Greenberg

Author:Steven Greenberg [Greenberg, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: jewish and israel, Holocaust, homosexuality in israel, mandatory palestine, World War II, poland and polish jews, Family Saga
ISBN: 9781622532247
Publisher: Evolved Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-06-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18 – Aron: Trust

Tel Aviv, July 31, 1942

I imagined him waiting for me at home. I pictured him sitting at my kitchen table, his slouch hat hanging from the back of the chair, a cigarette clutched deep between first and second fingers, his hair falling into one eye as he leaned over the Palestine Post. I pictured him thus as I groped through pipe-lined, trash-reeking alleys, stumbled through well-kept flowerbeds in gardens surrounding low apartment buildings, and clambered clumsily over cinder block walls.

I stayed off the streets, realizing even in my elation that it would not be prudent to be seen covered in blood. I imagined him meeting me at the door, gasping, then taking my face in his rough hands: he sits me down, strokes my hair, gently undresses me, bathes me, lies me on cool sheets, and kisses me, long and slow.

All this I imagined as I struggled home, desperate to wash it all away: one soldier’s blood from my face, another soldier’s spit from my ass, my own excrement from my legs, and the feeling of power that so consumed me as to render me giddy.

He’ll be there, I thought as I skittered around the corner onto Bugrashov. Ducking into yet another yard, I pushed thoughts of comfort briefly out of my head to assess my situation.

Assuming I made it home without incident, which now seemed reasonably likely, I had a chance—a good chance, even—of not getting caught. The police would have staggeringly little to go on. They wouldn’t even find the weapon, since I’d discovered it still clutched tightly in my hand just minutes earlier. It now rested at the bottom of a storm sewer on a side street whose name I couldn’t recall.

Although numerous patrons of the Armon Hotel bar had certainly recognized me, most—likely all—would be reticent to come forward. Everyone knew why men frequented the place, and no one would freely admit to patronizing the establishment. The whole crowd probably had instinctively melted away when the first sirens approached, in any case. Theo would have remained, of course, and he knew me, but he was busy at the bar all evening, and would have no idea what I did or where I went after I left the bar, if it even crossed his mind to mention me.

I turned onto Buki Ben Yagli Street, and paused in the shadow of a tall myrtle hedge across the street from my building. I tried to catch my breath, and reconnoitered the entrance carefully. The hour was very late, and there were only a few apartments in my building, yet running into a neighbor when I was in this state could be a literal death sentence.

Two steps from home, I waited with a patience the origin of which was unfathomable, and continued to review the facts in my head. I felt certain no one had seen me entering the London Square gardens, which were nearly pitch black in any case. My attackers would have only barely

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.