LITMIR.BIZ

       10

      Timing was everything. As Decker debated the wisdom of bringing up a hot issue around the dinner table, Sammy jumped the gun by saying, “Did Eema tell you my decision about Israel?”

      Decker’s fork stopped midair. “Yep.”

      “So what do you think?”

      Laying it on the line. Decker emptied the fork and chewed slowly, his elbows resting on the cherrywood tabletop—one of his carpentry projects from his bachelor days. He had finished the set right before he met Rina, and it gleamed thanks to her assiduous polishing. Not all of his woodworking got such attention. She just had a thing for this set. His eyes drifted around the table—first to his daughter, then his stepsons. Nearly sixteen, Jacob would be taking his driver’s license test in a couple of months. Fun and games that was going to be. The boy caught his gaze and smiled at him with twinkling baby blues inherited from his mother. Decker managed to smile back.

      Then there was Sam—sullen and serious. At seventeen, he had recently topped six feet. Lanky kid. Still, Decker could spot an underlayer of muscle. Dark eyes and thick, sandy-colored hair—a good-looking boy and brilliant. In one sense, he was almost an adult. The key word was almost.

      Decker laid down the fork and wiped his mouth. He chose his words carefully. “Are you open for other opinions or is it a closed matter?”

      “Well, I’d like to know what you think.”

      “Know what Sarah did today, Daddy?” Hannah interrupted.

      “Believe it or not, I am interested in your opinion,” Sammy went on.

      Hannah spoke louder. “She ate up all my snack. Isn’t that silly!”

      “Great, Hannah,” Sammy muttered. “So what do you think?”

      “Isn’t that silly, Daddy?”

      Decker answered. “I’m concerned about you being in the disputed territory—”

      Hannah shouted, “Isn’t that silly, Daddy?”

      “Hannah, quiet!” Sammy said.

      The little girl’s face fell.

      “Yes, it’s very silly,” Decker answered. “Sam, maybe this isn’t the right time—”

      “Why do her needs always come before mine!” Sammy argued. “This is important to me! Don’t you think she can learn to wait a minute before interrupting?”

      “It’s not a matter of her needs before yours.” Decker held his sulking daughter’s hand. “But she is only five—”

      “Fine!” Sammy dismissed him. “Forget it. I’ll write you a postcard from Gush—”

      “Shmuel—” Rina tried.

      “I said forget it!”

      “Don’t yell at your mom,” Decker said. “For one thing, she’s on your side.”

      “I’m not on any side,” Rina stated.

      Jacob got up from the table. “Hey, Hannah. Wanna go play draw-a-face on the computer?”

      The child still had tears in her eyes. She looked at Jacob, then looked at her mother expectantly. Rina said, “For a few minutes only, Hannah. Your brother needs to eat.”

      Jacob extended his hand to his little sister. “C’mon, peanut. You want to draw the girl with a mustache again?”

      Hannah giggled and leaped up, knocking down her chair.

      “Thank you, Yonkeleh,” Rina said, righting the seat.

      “Yeah, Jake’s the good son,” Sammy muttered.

      “He’s trying to help you out, Shmuel,” Rina said.

      “I know, I know …” He looked at Decker. “I’m nervous. I’m afraid you’re going to say no without even listening to me. And even if you do listen—which I don’t think you’ll do—you’ll still say no.”

      Decker tried to stifle his frustration. “So basically, you’ve got me programmed before I’ve said a word.”

      “I just know you.”

      “Then what’s the point in talking?”

      “I’m still interested in your opinion.”

      “As worthless as it is—”

      “I didn’t say that—” Sammy interrupted.

      “All right,” Decker answered. “Just calm down—”

      “I’m very calm,” Sammy snapped back. “You’re the one who isn’t calm.”

      Cool it, Deck, you can’t win. Take a breather. Decker took a long drink of water. “Sam, I wasn’t wild about you going to Israel period. But going to a yeshiva that’s beyond the green line makes me very nervous. I have legitimate concerns about your safety.”

      Sammy said, “Dad, I’ve talked to tons of people who have been there. They say it’s very safe. Much safer than Jerusalem. You know, the biggest problem in Israel is the crazy drivers—a much bigger problem than terrorism. And Gush is out in the country so it’s real quiet—”

      “When they’re not sniping at you—”

      “Dad, the Arab villages are down below. Gush is up on a hill.”

      “So you’re going to stay in this very small vicinity for an entire year and never travel in or out of Israel proper?”

      “No, of course not.” Sam played with his food. “It’s twenty minutes from Jerusalem on this new kfeesh which bypasses—”

      “What’s a kfeesh?” Decker asked.

      “Roadway,” Rina said. “Around three years ago they built the tunnel road, which bypasses some of the Arabs—”

      “The tunnel road?” Decker asked.

      Rina nodded. “They dug a couple of tunnels underneath the mountainside.”

      “Why a tunnel?”

      “I guess it was easier to dig under the mountain than to build on top of it. The road bypasses Bethlehem—”

      “That’s the main trouble spot, Dad,” Sammy said.

      “Sam, the entire area is one big trouble spot.” All Decker could think about was how easy it was to blow up a tunnel. “You’re sitting in the middle of Arab territory—”

      “Gush isn’t in the middle of anything,” Sammy retorted. “It’s its own place. It’s been around for … how many years, Eema?”

      “Around thirty,” Rina said.

      “Dad, it’s not this camp settlement with tents and sleeping bags that the papers make it out to be. It has markets and schools and houses—”

      “How many Jews are out there versus how many Arabs?”

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