Free Apprentice by Maggie Anton

“Father wouldn’t build a home outside it.”
    There was no time for further discussion. Nurse was waving at us from the top of the ladder. “Come and wash up, you two. It’s time to eat.”
    There were thousands of dates drying on mats on the roof, along with figs and some fruits that could have been peaches or apricots. Enticed by the luscious fruity aroma, I grabbed a handful as we passed.
    Nurse wore a worried expression. “Don’t run off after the meal, Dada. Your mother wants to talk to you.”
    I stopped in alarm, aware that punishment still awaited me. Achti’s almond eyes narrowed in triumph and I knew she was thinking “I told you so.”
    I let Achti go on without me while I headed for the privy. When I was little, Nurse used to come in with me, but now she waited outside, drumming her fingers on the wall or kicking at some dirt. Demons like Nasus and Shayd shel BeitKisay were attracted to privies, which made them perilous to use alone or at night. Even at midday, with Nurse making her presence known nearby, I wanted to get out as soon as possible.
    Thankfully, Father had built our new privies in the Persian style, which harbored fewer demons. According to Persians, seven creationswere susceptible to impurity: fire, water, earth, air, metal, animals, and of course, people. So they lined privies with stone to keep excrement, which Nasus polluted as soon as it left the body, from contact with the pure earth. And to minimize the excrement defiling the air, and the people above, the privy’s shaft sloped down at an angle.
    I knew the Torah said nothing about excrement causing impurity, as opposed to corpses and menstrual blood, which everyone agreed were most dangerous. But when it came to avoiding demons, it was best to take every precaution. That meant wiping myself with round stones rather than pottery shards and washing my hands with lots of water afterward. Father taught that he became prosperous because he always washed with copious amounts of water, and that he never wiped with a pottery shard because it would make him vulnerable to evil spells.
    Cook and the kitchen slaves outdid themselves to make our first meal in Sura special. There was roasted kid plus a savory goose stew redolent of onion and garlic, rich with floating globules of goose fat. There were even small fried fishes that had been taken from the fish trap in our canal that morning. Autumn’s harvest bounty was evident from all the squash, cucumber, and beet dishes.
    Knowing my punishment was imminent, I only picked at my food. Even the honeycombs and pomegranates for dessert couldn’t tempt me. As I feared, Mother and Father were waiting for me. All eyes followed as we solemnly walked outside, but by the time we reached the woodshed everyone had found something else to occupy them. While grateful that I wouldn’t be chastised in public, I wanted my parents to finish their scolding so my physical punishment would be over as soon as possible.
    Mother began her lecture first. “Hisdadukh, you will be betrothed soon. You should be old enough to understand that a pious girl from a good family never goes out without attendants, that to do so risks untold damage to her reputation.”
    I wasn’t sure exactly how it could damage my reputation, but this was no time to ask. So I nodded.
    â€œJust as she does not speak with men other than those in her family,” Mother said, “she also never goes out without covering her hair or with a tunic so short you can see her legs.”
    â€œOr with
dashtana
on her clothes,” I interjected. I still remembered how Mother and my sisters-in-law reacted when Achti came downstairswithout noticing that menstrual bloodstains had leaked onto the back of her tunic. Achti told me that she would have died of shame if it had happened in synagogue, and for once I was glad to still be a young girl.
    â€œWe were lucky that Rami was not here.”