Too Many Men (58 page)

“You should not be ashamed to be rich,” Walentyna said.

“I’m not ashamed,” Ruth said.

“Of course she is not ashamed,” Zofia said. “Nobody is ashamed to be rich.”

“My daughter is,” said Edek.

What had she walked into? Ruth wondered. She wished she hadn’t joined this little gathering. Why was Edek aligning himself against her with these two women?

“You want a beer?” Zofia said to Ruth.

T O O M A N Y M E N

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“She will have a cup of tea with lemon,” Edek said.

“Ladies, let me order you another drink,” Edek said to the two women in Polish.

“We can speak English,” Zofia said. Ruth wished they’d speak Polish.

She wouldn’t be expected to join in.

“Of course,” Edek said. “My daughter does not speak too good a Polish.”

“I will have a beer,” Walentyna said.

“I will have a schnapps,” said Zofia.

Walentyna looked disturbed. “I will have a schnapps, too, not a beer,”

she said. Zofia turned to Walentyna.

“You do not drink schnapps,” she said.

“I would like a schnapps now, please,” Walentyna said.

“Of course,” Edek said. He called over the waiter and ordered the drinks.

“I’ll have chamomile tea,” Ruth said to Edek.

“Bring some more liverwurst, too,” Edek said to the waiter.

Ruth wondered whose account this get-together was being billed to.

“Put it on my bill please,” Edek said to the waiter.

“Your father tells us that this trip was planned by you,” Zofia said.

“Yes, it was my idea,” Ruth said. “Possibly not my best idea.”

“Why?” said Walentyna. “Your father says it is very interesting.”

Zofia interrupted Walentyna. “He says he is very happy to have this experience,” Zofia said to Ruth.

Walentyna looked hurt. “I was going to tell this young woman how happy her father is with her,” she said to Ruth.

“So I did it for you.” Zofia said. Walentyna looked crushed now. Ruth wondered why the women were traveling together. They looked like such an unlikely and incompatible couple.

“Have some more cheese, Edek,” Zofia said. She patted him on the arm. “A grown man needs to eat.” Few people, Ruth was sure, had felt the need to encourage Edek to eat. “My father has a very good appetite,” Ruth said to Zofia.

Zofia looked at Walentyna and rolled her eyes. “I think we can see this,”

she said. Walentyna smiled coyly. Ruth was startled. It was not Edek’s appetite for food Zofia was referring to.

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L I L Y B R E T T

Ruth looked at Zofia. Zofia was wearing a skin-tight short black skirt and a low-cut white T-shirt. Her legs were bare in winter. They were sturdy, firm legs, as firm as Zofia’s handshake. Walentyna was dressed in a loose beige cotton blouse and a brown pleated skirt. The skirt was entirely the wrong length and had too many pleats for such a slight body. Walentyna looked enveloped in pleats.

Both women looked about sixty. Zofia saw Ruth looking at Walentyna’s skirt. “This is a beautiful skirt Walentyna has, no?” Zofia said.

“It’s beautiful,” Ruth said.

“I chose the skirt and the blouse for her,” Zofia said. Ruth couldn’t believe that Zofia had chosen Walentyna’s clothes. Everything Zofia had on was designed to display exactly what she was made of. The outfit Zofia had chosen for Walentyna covered Walentyna more thoroughly than a blanket.

“Have you two been friends for a long time?” Ruth said.

“Fifty-six years,” said Walentyna.

“Since we were children,” Zofia said.

Zofia’s and Walentyna’s roles were too established, Ruth thought, for any modification. She felt sorry for Walentyna. Walentyna was smiling.

“We are very lucky to have each other,” she said. “When my husband died, it would not have been easy to manage without Zofia.”

“When my husband died, Walentyna was very good to me,” Zofia said.

“It is good to have friends,” Edek said. Zofia leaned over and slapped Edek on the knee. “It’s very good to have a friend,” she said.

The drinks arrived. Ruth tried to catch Edek’s eye. She wanted to signal to him that she would like to leave, soon. She couldn’t get Edek to look at her. Edek was trying to balance a large slice of liverwurst on a small piece of rye bread.

“Do you like to swim?” Zofia said to Ruth. Ruth nodded. “I like to swim every day,” Zofia said. “I go in the water every morning. In summer and in winter, I swim in the sea. It is very good for the skin and the stomach to swim.” She slapped her legs and arms. “I feel very good after I swim,”

she said.

“She swims in winter,” Walentyna said.

“I love to swim in winter,” Zofia said, her voice growing even louder than its naturally loud state. “I have a cold shower every morning before I go in the sea.”

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“You live near the sea?” Edek said.

“We live in Sopot,” said Walentyna.

“I’ve been to Sopot,” Ruth said.

“My daughter knows everything,” said Edek.

“You have been to Sopot?” Zofia said.

“Yes,” Ruth said. “I’ve walked along that wide boardwalk with the seats on either side, the one that goes out to sea.”

“That is where I swim,” Zofia shouted. “I jump into the water from this place. Did you see the steps into the water?”

“Yes,” said Ruth.

“That is where I jump.” Zofia stood up and imitated herself jumping into the water. Zofia’s bust was inches from Edek’s head. “Woosh,” she said, as she pretended to jump.

“She must be good at swimming,” Edek said to Ruth with admiration in his voice.

“Have some more fish,” Zofia said to Edek, scooping up some smoked fish with a fork and putting it on Edek’s plate.

“Thank you,” Edek said.

“Did you like Sopot?” Walentyna asked Ruth.

“Yes, I did,” Ruth said.

“You went to Sopot for a holiday?” said Zofia.

“No, I was in Gdansk,” Ruth said. “I went to Gdansk because I wanted to go to Stuthof, the concentration camp where mother was transported to after Auschwitz. Stuthof, like Sopot, is close to Gdansk.” Both women looked very solemn. “I went to Sopot to try and recover from the day in Stuthof,” Ruth said. Walentyna looked tearful. She looked away from Ruth.

Zofia took Edek’s hand.

“I am very sorry about this,” Zofia said to Edek. “The things that happened to the Jews of Poland should never be forgotten.” Ruth looked at Zofia. Zofia’s face was red, she looked distressed.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Ruth wondered how she could suggest that she and Edek had to leave. Zofia was still holding Edek’s hand.

“I think I’ll have a piece of pickled cucumber,” Ruth said. She reached across to the platter. Zofia’s arm was in the way. Zofia removed her hand from Edek’s hand. Ruth chose a large piece of pickled cucumber.

“You are a good daughter, Ruthie,” Zofia said. Walentyna nodded. Ruth

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L I L Y B R E T T

wished Zofia wouldn’t call her Ruthie. It was disconcerting. Ruthie was too familiar a name to be used by a stranger. Why had Edek introduced her as Ruthie?

“I can see you are a good daughter,” Zofia said, again.

“Ruthie’s mother did know Ruthie was a good daughter,” Edek said.

“Her mother is not here with us.”

“She is in Australia?” Walentyna said. Both women angled their heads anxiously toward Edek.

“He means she is no longer alive,” Ruth said. “My mother died fourteen years ago.”

“Nearly fifteen,” Edek said.

“She was a young woman?” Zofia said.

“Sixty,” said Ruth.

“Like me,” said Zofia. “It is terrible.” Walentyna nodded in agreement.

“We loved her very much,” Ruth said.

“I loved my husband like this,” Zofia said.

“I loved my husband also,” Walentyna said.

“What time are we going to this cabaret?” Edek said to Ruth.

“Seven o’clock,” Ruth said.

Edek looked at his watch. “We still got a bit of time,” he said.

“You are going to a cabaret?” Zofia said.

“Yes,” said Edek. “My daughter did book tickets.” Ruth hoped neither of the women would ask to join them.

“We’re having dinner there, too,” she said. Although looking at the fish and meat and cheese her father had eaten, Ruth couldn’t see how he could possibly eat dinner.

“Is it a buffet, the dinner?” Edek said. Ruth smiled to herself. Edek was still interested in dinner. She really shouldn’t underestimate his appetite.

“I don’t think it’s a buffet,” Ruth said.

“Do you like a buffet?” Edek said to the women. They both nodded. “I do like a buffet very much,” Edek said.

Ruth felt agitated. How could she suggest to Edek that they leave? She didn’t want to offend Zofia or Walentyna. She realized with a surprise that she liked these women. There was a straightforwardness about Zofia and Walentyna. It was hard to be straightforward in New York. There was a T O O M A N Y M E N

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hidden agenda in most people’s interactions. Zofia and Walentyna, Ruth thought, were definitely not trying to disguise themselves.

“We have to go, Dad,” she said.

“Can I buy you ladies another drink before we go?” Edek said. Ruth groaned.

“One more schnapps would be very nice,” said Zofia.

“For me also,” said Walentyna.

Edek went off to find the drink waiter.

“Your father is a very nice man,” Walentyna said to Ruth.

“A man like that would crush you,” Zofia said to Walentyna. “One minute on top of you and he would break your bones.” Ruth was stunned.

She couldn’t believe the swift turn the conversation had taken.

“My husband was a big man,” Walentyna said in Polish to Zofia.

“Not big like our Edek,” Zofia answered in Polish. Ruth looked at the two women. They both ignored her. They continued to speak in Polish.

“Edek is a man I could really get my legs around,” Zofia said. Ruth was astonished. Did Zofia really say that? she thought. Maybe she had misunderstood. Maybe Zofia had said that Edek was a man you could get your mind around. Maybe in Polish, what Zofia had said translated colloquially as Edek was a man she liked. No,
noga
was leg in Polish.
Nogi
was the plu-ral of leg, legs.
Moje nogi
was what Zofia had said. My legs. Ruth realized her mouth was hanging open in astonishment. She closed her mouth. Neither of the women took any notice of her. “Edek is a man I could really get my legs around,” Zofia repeated. There was no getting around that, Ruth thought. She laughed at her own pun, it was definitely Zofia’s legs, Zofia was thinking of getting around Edek.

“I think he also likes me,” Walentyna said to Zofia.

Ruth was speechless. Ruth didn’t want to hear any more. “Your English is very good,” she said loudly to both women.

“We have both of us worked for an export company, in Sopot,” Walentyna said. “It was necessary to speak English.”

“What did they export?” Ruth said. She wanted to talk about anything other than one of these women winding their legs around her father.

“They did export jams,” Zofia said.

“Yes, jams,” said Walentyna.

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L I L Y B R E T T

“My father loves jam,” Ruth said. She immediately wanted to kick herself. Why had she brought her father back into the conversation?

“So do I,” said Zofia.

“So do I,” said Walentyna.

Edek came back to the table. “So do I,” said Ruth with relief. Edek sat down.

“We have to go, Dad,” Ruth said.

“Okay, okay,” Edek said to Ruth. “Ladies, it has been a pleasure for me to be with you,” he said to Zofia and Walentyna.

“It has been a big pleasure for us, too,” Walentyna said.

“This was, for me, a very nice afternoon,” Edek said to her. Walentyna seemed to grow in stature. She sat up very straight.

“Do you like cheesecake?” Walentyna said to Edek. Ruth grimaced.

How long was it going to take Edek to extricate himself? Ruth tried to hurry Edek up with her expression. But Edek was looking at Walentyna. “I make a very good cheesecake,” Walentyna said.

“Walentyna makes a quite good cheesecake,” Zofia said. While Zofia was saying this, she was shaking her head and making a face at Edek. The shake made it clear that Walentyna’s cheesecake was not that good. Walentyna didn’t notice. She hadn’t taken her eyes off Edek.

“We have to go,” Ruth said. Edek stood up. Both of the women stood up.

“Enjoy the cabaret,” Zofia said wistfully.

“Yes, please enjoy the cabaret,” Walentyna added. For a moment Edek looked as though he was going to ask Ruth if the women could join them.

Ruth shot him a look that said no.

“They are very nice women,” Edek said to Ruth in the taxi on the way to the cabaret.

“They are very nice,” she said. She was holding her head.

“What is wrong with you?” Edek said.

“I’ve got a headache,” she said.

At the Samson Restaurant, Ruth and Edek were shown to a table near the performance area. Ruth sat down. She was glad that she and Edek would have a good view of the cabaret. The restaurant was crowded. Ruth looked around at the other guests. There was not one Jew among the people who had come to the Samson Restaurant to eat Jewish food and see the T O O M A N Y M E N

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Jewish cabaret. Most of the audience looked like tourists. Tourists from Germany, Spain, France, and a smattering of Poles.

There were two Samson Restaurants in Szeroka Street in the heart of Kazimierz. They were next door to each other. The Polish owners had had a court battle for the name. Ruth and Edek were in the original Samson Restaurant. Samson number two was in the process of changing its name.

Why would anyone open a restaurant and call it by the same name as the restaurant next door? Ruth thought. It seemed so stupid. Both Samsons offered Jewish dinners and cabarets. And Yiddish music. The decor at this Samson Restaurant was made up of the usual Jewish artifacts, aided and abetted by several paintings of Orthodox Jews praying.

Ruth looked at the menu. She was hungry. There was carp, Sephardic style, fish in Jewish jelly, chicken soup, Passover cheese, and a strange assortment of other dishes. A waiter brought two bread rolls and a very pale piece of matzoh in a basket to the table. The matzoh didn’t look right—it was too thick and too pale. Ruth looked around her. Every table had a basket of bread rolls and matzoh.