The Family Moskat (17 page)

Why are you lying here in the dark? Just because a young lady calls on you do you have to get so confused? Although, to tell the truth, I don't blame you. She's beautiful. May I put on the light?"

"Yes, please."

Gina pressed the electric-light switch, and Asa Heshel sat up on the bed. For a moment the brightness blinded him and he rubbed his hand over his eyes. Gina remained standing, leaning against the doorpost.

"Tell me, my dear boy, are you planning to eat or is this one of your fast days?"

"Of course I'll eat. What made you think--"

"Where do you plan to eat? I want you to have your meals here.

Maybe you'd like something now. Some fresh bread and butter, and cheese, or eggs."

"Thank you. I'm not hungry."

"How can you not be hungry? You've been here in your room for hours and hours. Forgive me for mixing into your private affairs, but I'm old enough to be your mother."

"I'm really not hungry."

"Then please get up and come into the other room with me.

You've not even seen my dining-room yet. My lodgers are all away, and there'll be nobody to disturb you. As you see, I'm not a young girl any more, so you have nothing to be afraid of."

-102-He got off

the bed, straightened his collar, and followed her through the long corridor into the dining-room. He sat down. Gina went out and in a few moments returned with a tray of cakes and a flask of brandy. "Have some brandy and cake be-fore you wash your hands for eating," she said. "And if you prefer to eat without washing your hands, that's all right, too. And you needn't be afraid of the brandy. It's sweet, not strong --woman's brandy."

Asa Heshel murmured his thanks. Gina poured some of the liquor into a glass and he took a piece of the cake. He moved his lips and whispered something--whether the ritual blessing or the courteous "your health" Gina could not tell. Gina went out again and returned with a dish of butter, some cheese, and a little basket of seed rolls.

An old-fashioned clock that hung on the wall, with a long pendulum and gilded weights, began a hoarse creaking and then rang out nine. Gina looked at the dial.

"Only nine o'clock," she remarked. "I thought it was much later.

Ah me, I sit here all alone and the hours fly by. By the way, who was the young lady who called on you? I could have sworn it was Nyunie Moskat's daughter."

"Yes, it was."

"I've heard a lot about her, but I've never met her. Just imagine, Abram, her own uncle, is in love with her. But really in love."

Asa Heshel convulsively swallowed a mouthful of food.

"Her Uncle Abram! That's impossible!"

"When you live as long as I have you'll know that anything is possible. It's supposed to be a secret, but everybody knows it. Just imagine. An old goat like that."

"But he has a wife."

"A wife makes no difference to Abram. He's not just a man --he's a volcano! Naturally he can't marry her--even if he got a divorce, they'd never allow it. But if he can't, no one can. I hear they're proposing all sorts of matches for her, but he won't allow any of them."

"But why?"

"He's jealous, green-eyed. Why he permits her to be friendly with you I can't understand. How did she find out your address?"

"Abram gave it to her."

-103-"You see!

Abram's at the bottom of everything. He has his own way of doing things. He bosses the entire household--Nyu-nie, Dacha, Hadassah. They don't make a move without him. He's got them practically hypnotized."

Asa Heshel opened his mouth to say something, but the words seemed to have flown away. Suddenly he saw everything double--

Gina, the lamp, the tiled stove with the gilded cornices, the wall clock. He tried to reach for a piece of roll, but his hand found only empty space.

"I believe she was giving you some tutoring," Gina said.

"Yes."

"If it's not comfortable for you to go to her house for lessons, maybe she can come here. But don't fall in love with her.

In the first place she has weak lungs--she had to spend months in a sanatorium. And in the second place Abram will tear you apart. Although, on the other hand, maybe that's what he wants.

He has his own crazy ways of figuring things out. Please believe me, I'm telling you all this without any ulterior motives. What difference does it make to me? I'm just talking along because I'm lonely. I'm sad, so sad that I'm ready to die."

"Oh, no! You're still a young woman."

"Not so young and not so smart. I don't know what people say about me--certainly nothing good--but I assure you I'm the exact opposite of Abram. He can fall in love with anyone, so long as she wears skirts. But I can only love one person. If I'd fallen into decent hands I'd have been a faithful wife. But my mother--God rest her soul--wanted to see me settled. You've probably heard--

I'm the daughter of the Bialodrevna rabbi."

"Yes, I know."

"It's a long story. If I wanted to tell you the thousandth part of it I'd have to sit with you seven days and seven nights. But why should I burden you with my tragedy? You're still a youth. I suffered with my husband, Akiba, eleven long years. I never loved him--may God not punish me for saying it. I hated him from the beginning. And I've known Hertz Yanovar ever since I was a child. His father was the head of the yeshivah in my town.

Why am I telling you all this? I don't know--my mind's just wandering. Oh, yes, I want you to meet him. Have you anything to do tonight?"

"No, nothing."

"Maybe you'd like to come with me to visit him. I told him -104-about you and

he's eager to meet you. If you like we can both ride over there in a sleigh. Don't refuse; it'll be a pleasant ride and it'll cheer me up. You'll probably laugh at me, but I'd like to have your opinion of him. I'm so confused myself that I don't understand anything any more. Don't hurry. Finish your food. The evening's just beginning over there. He's one of those late birds."

Gina laughed, her eyes filling with tears. She got up from her chair and went out. Asa Heshel could hear her in the adjoining room sobbing and blowing her nose.

3

Hertz Yanovar lived in a flat on the Gnoyna in a large block of houses with enclosed courts. It was dark on the stairs and Gina kept striking matches to light the way. The apartment was on the second floor. Without ringing or knocking she pushed the door open and the two went in. The corridor was dim, illumined only by the pale glow of a naphtha lamp that burned in the kitchen. A small, thickset servant girl with red, peasant cheeks and heavy bare legs was washing dishes. When she saw Gina she came to the doorway and put her finger to her lips.

"Hilda is here?" Gina asked, with a grimace of distaste.

"Sh-sh-sh. Mr. Yanovar told me to let no one in."

"What is he afraid of? The spirits won't run away," Gina said angrily. She took off her coat and hat.

"I hope you're not easily frightened." Gina turned to Asa Heshel.

"My professor plays around with spiritualism. You know what that is?"

"Yes. I've read about it. Calling up the spirits of the dead."

"It's all a lot of foolishness, but what can I do? Every genius has a touch of the lunatic. Tell me, Dobbie"--she turned to the girl--"who's here?"

"Finlender, Dembitzer, Messinger, and that one--Hilda. Oh, yes, Mr. Shapiro is here too."

"Abram! Just imagine."

Asa Heshel started. "I think I'd better go. Good night." He glanced toward his overcoat and hat, which he had hung on the rack.

"What's the matter with you? What are you running away for? A fine cavalier!" Gina exclaimed. "I'm ashamed of you."

-105-"I'll

only be in the way--I'd better go home."

"Maybe the gentleman's afraid of the dead ones," the servant suggested.

"No, not of the dead ones," Asa Heshel answered.

"Then don't make a fool of yourself," Gina said impatiently. She took him by the arm and drew him toward a door with frosted panes. She opened it and the two entered a large room with peeling wallpaper and a faded ceiling. The lighted floor lamp was covered with a red kerchief; a reddish, shadowy glow flowed from it, like a sickroom light. In the middle, at a small square table, five men and a woman sat. All had the palms of their hands resting on the table edge. They were silent. The first one to look up at the newcomers was Abram, who sat facing the door. His beard was disheveled, his face cinder-red in the glow of the lamp. He nodded at the newcomers half-mockingly and put his fingers to his lips. At his right sat a smallish man, with a tapering chin and a wide, creased forehead. He had the guilty expression of a youngster caught misbehaving. His hair, which began to sprout somewhere halfway back on his skull, was uncut and bunched at the back of his neck. A loose black silk cravat was tied about his throat. Asa Heshel had seen his photograph at Gina's. It was Hertz Yanovar.

At Abram's left sat a woman with flowing black hair, an oval forehead, and a triangular face, which ended in an elongated chin.

She wore a silk shawl around her shoulders. A high collar enclosed her throat. She was staring straight ahead of her with stern eyes, obviously angry at the interruption. Her look reminded Asa Heshel of the female Nihilists whose pictures he had once seen. One of the other men was tall and thin, with ash-gray hair combed low around his head and with flabby bags under his eyes.

The others had their backs toward the door; Asa Heshel could see that one of them was hunchbacked.

"H'mm, h'mm . . ." Hertz Yanovar began to murmur, like a pious Jew interrupted at his devotions. "H'mm, h'mm. . . ." He gave a mild shake of his head in Gina's direction.

"Back to the table again, I see," Gina said in a loud voice, as though deliberately provoking them. "I thought you were raising up the dead."

Hertz Yanovar shook his head more violently and made some unintelligible sounds.

-106-"Put an

end to the comedy," Gina said. "I didn't come here to play at witchcraft."

The medium cast a furious glance at Gina and took her hands off the table. She pushed her chair back and stood up. She was wearing a long dress and low-heeled shoes. "It's no use," she called out. "Let it be enough!"

The rest let their hands drop from the table and began to look about, talk, adjust their collars, like students when the teacher ends his lecture. Abram got up, clapped his hands, and rushed toward Asa Heshel and Gina in the manner of one who had long been anticipating their arrival and could hardly wait to greet them. He threw his arms about Gina and pressed her cheek to his, then grasped Asa Heshel by the shoulders.

"It's telepathy," he shouted, "or else the prophet Elijah guided you here! I've been looking for you for days!"

"Gina, you've spoiled everything," Hertz Yanovar said petu-lantly. He looked at the medium supplicatingly, as though apologizing, and then came forward to Gina. Asa Heshel noticed that he was wearing velvet trousers, and slippers ornamented with pompons. "I really mean it, Gina darling," he continued, half tenderly, half remonstratingly. "You said you weren't coming."

"So now I'm not supposed to come any more," Gina exclaimed.

"Don't be afraid, the spirits won't run away. And if a certain spirit's insulted and decides to stay away for good, it won't bother me at all!" And she darted a contemptuous glance toward the medium.

"I'm going, professor," the medium said shortly. "Good night."

"Gina! Hilda, don't go, I beg you," Yanovar pleaded, turning first to one and then to the other. Hilda was angrily gathering her loose hair up on her head and stabbing hairpins into it. "Why all the argument? This is a serious matter! We are searching for new truths--and you--ai, ai! A calamity! We were sitting here barely fifty minutes. Another ten minutes and the table would have responded. You could at least have waited."

"Wait? For what? Why? Every time I come here you're either carrying on with your nonsense about ghosts or you're raising the table! I'll take that cursed table and break it to pieces, and be done with it once and for all!"

"A tiger! Not a woman, a tiger!" Abram remarked judicially.

-107-"Good

night, professor." The medium held out her long fingers with well-manicured nails.

"Good night, good night--please don't go," Yanovar said fran-tically. "Tell me, Gina," he continued, "who is this young man?"

"I told you about him. Asa Heshel Bannet. He's my new lodger."

"Greetings. A pleasure to meet you. This is Hilda Kalischer. This is Dr. Messinger"--he indicated the tall man with the round-cut hair and the bags under his eyes--"this is Finlender, and this is Dembitzer. I've heard of you. Your grandfather, if I'm not mistaken, is the Tereshpol Minor rabbi. A sage. This business with the table is not foolishness, I assure you. Some of our greatest scientists believe in it. Lombroso, for instance, the idol of all the materialists--"

"Professor, I must go now," the medium said with finality.

"What can I do? If you must go, then you must. But please, I beg of you, telephone me. And please don't take offense. Gina means no harm. It's only that she's nervous."

"You don't need to apologize for me," Gina interrupted. "And leave my nerves alone. If Miss Kalischer is such a loss to you, you can go along with her."

"Hey, Gina, now you're starting to quarrel in earnest!" Abram remarked, waving a warning finger.

"Everything I do is in earnest. I'm not an actress like some people. At least not such a bad actress."

Hilda Kalischer flashed out of the room, overturning a chair and letting out a muffled shriek. Hertz Yanovar wrung his hands and ran after her on his short legs. The glass-paned door banged shut. From the corridor came the sounds of sobbing. The hunchback drew a comb from his breast pocket and began to comb his hair, at the same time looking at Gina wryly. He was the one who had been introduced to Asa Heshel as Finlender. Dembitzer, a broad-built, clumsy-looking man, with a huge, fleshy face full of moles, took from his pocket a packet of cigarette papers and a bag of tobacco and expertly rolled a cigarette.

"Women, eh?" he said good-naturedly, winking at Abram.