ropeââ
âGood.â And hoisting the other bag on the roof, he took the rope from her and proceeded to thread it through the handles of the bags and then through the supports of the luggage carrier.
âAnd where are you going? Tel Aviv?â Gittel asked.
âNo, Iâm going to Jerusalem. Maybe I can catch a sherut , or take a cab.â
âTo Jerusalem? But thatâs where weâre going. So come with us.â
âIâll be crowding you.â
âNot at all. Itâs a big car. Miriam can sit in front with me, and you two men can sit in back. Womenâs lib.â
The sun had already gone down, and dusk was soon followed by the darkness of night. Although they could see little beyond the roadway, Gittel persisted in pointing out places of interest. âYou canât see it now, but thatâs a kibbutz on the right.â And, âIf there were light, you could see the armored vehicles that were hit by the Arabs during the War of Independence.â
Miriam made noises of interest and appreciation, and Skinner even turned to peer out of the window, which the rabbi thought was very polite of him, since he had no doubt been over that road dozens of times.
As they neared the city Gittel asked, âWhere do you go, Mr. Skinner?â
âPlease donât bother. You just drive to wherever youâre going and Iâll take a cab from there. Besides, youâll want me to help you with the bags.â
âOh, I can manage to slide them down, all right,â said the rabbi. âItâs not like lifting.â
âWell, if youâre sure you can manage ⦠I live in Abu Tor, Rabenu Tam Street.â
âNear the American Yeshiva?â
âThatâs right. Next door, in fact.â
âOh, now I remember where I heard the name. You had some trouble with them,â Gittel continued.
âI didnât personally because I wasnât here, but my manager, Ismael, reported some. They wanted to buy our place to expand their operation. Itâs quieted down now.â
âNevertheless,â she insisted, âit was hooliganism. I would apologize to you, Mr. Skinner, for the behavior of these young men of the yeshiva if they were Israelis. But since most of them are American, I think maybe you should apologize, David.â
Skinner laughed. âSince Iâm an American myself, Iâm just as much to blame. Ah, here we are.â
Gittel brought the car to a halt, and almost immediately a light appeared above the door. As Skinner got out of the car, an elderly Arab woman came hobbling out.
âMr. James!â she exclaimed, and making a kind of curtsy, she seized his hand and put it to her lips.
Embarrassed, he explained, âMartha has worked for the family for years.â And then as she reached for his bag, he added, âShe still thinks of me as the youngster she took care of when she first came.â
To cover his obvious embarrassment, Miriam exclaimed, âWhat a lovely old house!â
âItâs an old Arab house,â he said. âWould you like to come in and look around? Iâve remodeled some, but I kept the original floor tiles in the hall and the decorated ceiling.â At his side, Martha, still trying to wrest the bag from his hand, continued in voluble Arabic, to which he nodded every now and then.
To his new friends, he explained, âIt never fails. Whenever I come back after being away for a while, Iâm treated to a litany of disasters that occurred during my absence. There was some emergency up in our Haifa office, and my manager, Ismael, had to run up there. And then he called to say that the car had broken down and thatâs why he wasnât able to meet me at the airport. And the stove had to be repaired and it still isnât working properly. And thereâs trouble with the water so that sheâs had to buy bottled water, and Lord knows what else, but do come in.