Free The Book Borrower by Alice Mattison Page A

long.
    â€œDon’t be afraid of the mounted policemen,” said one of the organizers, at the meeting to which Maurice brought Jessie. “But don’t get close to them. Always look around you to see where the crowd is moving. Don’t be caught alone.”
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    The sitter was rude about extra time. On her way to teach, Ruben broke off twigs from a hedge near the bus stop, thinking about their conversation. She began to walk to the next bus stop, keeping warm, but the bus passed her. Walking, she’d arrive just in time for her own class, and then she’d have to wait an hour to teach Deborah’s class. If she’d taken the bus, she’d have had time for coffee in Carlotta’s office first. She burst red-cheeked into the dim classroom, and the students all talked about it.
    Emma had brought a religious pamphlet, which she tried to read out loud. Ruben kept nodding her head, trying to keep her tongue from supplying the next word too fast. But the pamphlet made tired, flushed (now chilled) Toby Ruben uncomfortable. It was not about God, which would have been fine with Ruben, atheist though she more or less was, but about men and women. The wife, read Emma, should respect her husband’s . . .
    â€”Judgment, Ruben said, reading upside down across the table. But think, Emma—is that necessarily true?
    â€”I should hope so, said Emma.
    Two of the others sniffed.
    â€”Are you married? Ruben persisted. She thought of Harry and his judgment. For some reason she thought of Harry naked, saying, Your back or my back? Nursing made her breasts hurt and sex was easier if she was on top. But Harry’s judgment could be terrible. Harry had wanted to buy a new car so Ruben could drive around town and drive to this class. They couldn’t afford it. She was afraid to drive. She’d have an accident; the Squirrel would die. Policemen.
    â€”No, said Emma. I’m separated.
    She made herself stop. Well, let’s do math.
    â€”When is the test? said Lily.
    â€”I don’t know, said Ruben, but I’ll ask Carlotta. You’re right. It’s time to sign you up. You and Cecile.
    â€”Not me? said Emma.
    â€”I don’t think you’re ready.
    â€”Oh, you don’t love me because I’m stupid, Emma said.
    â€”Emma doesn’t mean it, said Mary.
    Emma was smiling. Cecile’s white, that’s why you want her to take the test. She was talking in a baby voice, teasing.
    When Carlotta came through, shouting encouragement as usual, Ruben asked about the test, but Carlotta wanted to talk about Deborah’s baby. Miss Toby, have you seen that new child?
    â€”I have.
    â€”And is she a fine child or not?
    â€”A fine child, said Ruben. A very fine child.
    Carlotta left and they looked at the next page in the math book, a chart about taxes. Emma couldn’t imagine what a chart might be. They had been through this. But the others grew quicker each week. They answered the questions, fighting and laughing, working it out. Sometimes they could answer more quickly than Ruben. Maybe even Mary could take the test.
    When the class was over Emma left in a hurry. The pamphlet from her church, “A Woman Finds God,” lay on the table, and Emma ran back and took it. She didn’t hug Ruben. When Ruben left it was snowing a sharp gray snow. She couldn’t go for a walk after walking to the school in the first place. She didn’t want to stay in the basement room.
    Amid dingy houses and gas stations she found a coffee shop and had coffee and a doughnut. She left in the stinging snow. Even now it was early. Sometimes an hour will not pass.
    When she and Deborah talked, Ruben didn’t imagine Deborah teaching at the same table in the same basement. For some reason she imagined a different room, but of course Deborah taught in the same basement room. Deborah had eight students, not just five, and Ruben would have to meet another class in the morning.