Dovid encouraged Abby to try by offering to teach her to ride. He ran up and down the street holding onto the seat as she pedaled, constantly looking back at him to be sure that he was still holding her up.
“Okay, now Ab, you’re doing great. I’m going to let go,” Dovid said.
“No, Daddy. Don’t let go. Please. I’m scared I’ll fall,” Abby screamed in terror. Then the bike teetered and Dovid had to hold it straight. Finally, without giving Abby warning, Dovid let go. At first, Abby didn’t realize that Dovid had taken his hand off of the seat and she was riding alone. But once she saw Dovid was not running beside her, Abby panicked. She lost her balance and fell, skinning her knee and both elbows. Tears of accusation filled her face.
“Why did you let go, Daddy? I wasn’t ready and you let me go.”
“I’m sorry, Abby. I wanted you to be able to ride on your own and the only way was to let you ride without knowing that I was no longer holding on.”
“I don’t trust you anymore,” she said, folding her arms across her chest and walking into the house.
Now the bike sat completely abandoned in the basement. Dovid was disappointed that the children didn’t enjoy the bicycle but he also felt a nagging guilt for tricking his daughter. He’d had her best interest at heart, he thought she would realize that she was riding on her own and it would make her happy, but it hadn’t turned out that way. He was sorry for what he’d done and worried that Abby might take a long time to forgive him. She was polite to him but he could feel that he’d lost her trust and it grieved him.
Children’s feelings can be so delicate. I am not sure how to be a good father. I think I am doing the right thing only to find I am doing it all wrong, Dovid thought. I never really had the opportunity to be a child for very long. In the Jewish religion, a boy is a man at thirteen. But, in reality a thirteen-year-old is still a child. I was a tender thirteen-year-old boy when the Nazis came. Then, between the war and the murder of my family, my childhood was stomped out. I never had the chance to play. I was busy hiding from the Nazis and then fighting on the Eastern front. I was just a child with a gun. It is only by God’s miracle that I am still alive. God has been good to me even if I grew up fast. He blessed me with Eidel and my children. And I know there must be a reason that I lived while so many others perished. I only hope that someday I will know what God wants from me and why I survived. I pray that I am able to fulfill whatever it is that I have been put here to do.
Dovid Levi was forty-FOUR years old. His hair was turning gray, there were deep lines at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. In the forty-FOUR-years he’d been on earth, Dovid had been both a wealthy man and a poor man. He had fought in a war, seen death as close as his own hand. He still carried a painful gaping hole of loss in his heart for every loved one he’d had to say goodbye to. Dovid had felt both tremendous agony and extreme joy. He would never forget the horrors beyond human imagining he’d witnessed when he liberated the camps. But he would also never forget the ecstasy he’d felt the first time he made love to Eidel, the love of his life. And then God, in his generosity, had bestowed upon both him and Eidel the joy of three wonderful, healthy children. Although Dovid was no longer a rich business owner and now only a custodian, he found himself thanking God every day for all of his blessings. Working at the temple, he learned more then he’d ever known about Judaism, and although he knew he would never be religious, he found comfort and acceptance in the comradery of being around other Jews. At the synagogue, he knew that no one would ever call him a dirty Jew. He found he liked feeling like he was a part of something bigger than himself. He’d searched for this for years but he had to be out of work and desperate to find it. Many nights someone at the temple was having a minyan, a service for the dead, for a lost loved one. In order to conduct a minyan, the rabbi needed ten men. Eidel’s job was to get on the phone and call members until she got a commitment from ten men to attend the minyan that night. However, whenever they were short a man, Dovid would always volunteer to stand in.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
September 1973
For the first time since he was a boy living in his father’s house, Dovid celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. He still wasn’t religious, he didn’t keep the dietary laws, and he wasn’t keen on the structure of religion. But he loved Rabbi MIttleman, and he loved the other members of the shul, so for the first time, he wanted to celebrate the holidays. He wanted his family, especially the children, to feel like they were a part of a community. Dovid couldn’t afford to send Mark to Hebrew school or give him a bar mitzvah. When the rabbi asked Dovid about sending Mark to Hebrew school, Dovid answered, “As you know we don’t have the money for Hebrew school, or to give him a big fancy party like all of his friends are having. I wish I did. I would do it for him.”
“Don’t worry. I will see to it that he gets a good Jewish education. And there will be a party too. We will have the party right here at our Shul. The Congregation will take care of the cost.”
“I couldn’t allow you to do that,” Dovid said.
“But that’s what we do. We take care of each other. We’re Jews!”
“You’re too kind to me, Rabbi.”
“Nonsense. When Mark is thirteen and he has finished his Jewish education, he will make a fine addition to our Jewish family of congregants. And it will bring me great naches to attend the party that welcomes him into Jewish manhood.”
It was an Indian summer that year. The sun was still hot even after the Jewish New Year ended. By then it was well into September. One warm night, Dovid made hamburgers for dinner on a used barbeque grill that one of the other members of the congregation had given him. The family gathered around the table. The school year had only recently begun. The children were talking to each other about their new classmates and teachers as they were gobbling up their hamburgers. Dovid watched Eidel as she poured lemonade into glasses. Looking at her, he was suddenly struck again by how much he loved her and he felt a deep tenderness for her. The feeling was so strong that he wanted to stand up and take her into his arms. But he didn’t. He was afraid that such a random display of unexplained affection might in some way frighten the children. Instead, Dovid carefully gazed into the faces of his wife and each of his children. He smiled to himself. They were so American. Every one of them looked well fed and healthy. Sometimes, he still felt a pang of sadness when he let himself think of all the money he’d once had and lost, but not right then. At that moment in time, as he was looking at his loved ones, he said a silent prayer of thanks. A tear formed in the corner of his eye, but no one noticed it. Eidel was busy going back and forth to the kitchen. The children needed this or she’d forgotten that. Mark and Haley were engaged in conversation. Abby was sulking as usual but Dovid didn’t think it was anything serious. He just attributed it to the fact that she was a female. Over the years, he’d decided that women, by nature, could be moody.
That doesn’t make me love my girls any less, he thought. Suddenly, Dovid felt that he was standing outside of his body and watching them as a family sitting at the table. A smile spread from his eyes to his lips.
What a beautiful family I have. I am truly blessed.
The Levis were finishing their dinner as the golden sun was setting in the west. Mark stood up, claiming he had to leave the table and go to his room to do his homework. Abby followed her brother without a word and she went to the room she shared with Haley. Haley stood up and began to help Eidel clear the table while Dovid went outside to clean the grill. There was a knock at the door. Eidel dried her hands on her apron and went to see who was there.
“Who is it?” Dovid called from the backyard.
“I think you’d better come in and see for yourself,” Eidel said.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Dovid laid the grill brush down on the ground next to the grill and walked into the house through the back door. Then he wiped his hands on a dishtowel and went to see who wa
s waiting at the front door. Dovid put his hand to his heart when he saw who had come to visit. It was Cool Breeze. A little older, slightly thinner, and maybe a little worn, but it was him. He was alive and he was there.
Cool Breeze has come home, Dovid thought.
“Cool Breeze! Come in, come in …” Dovid said, throwing his arms around his old friend as Cool Breeze entered. Dovid looked down at his feet and saw that Cool Breeze had a dog with him, a black lab who sat quietly
“Mister Dovi. I sure did miss you.”
The two men embraced again, Dovid patting Cool Breeze’s back, feeling the tears form behind his eyes. They were like lost brothers.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dovid asked.
“Here and there. I got myself into a little trouble with the law. Hell, let’s us not waste time talking about this stuff. It ain’t important. I got somebody I wants you to meet. This here is Buddy,” Cool Breeze said, pointing to the dog. “Say hello to my friends, Buddy.” The dog barked.
As soon as the children saw the dog they came running over to pet her. The dog responded by wildly wagging her tail with excitement. Buddy was affectionate with all of the children, licking them and rubbing her head against them. However, when everyone sat down in the living room, Buddy chose to put her head in Abby’s lap.
Eidel went into the kitchen and put a pot of water up to boil for coffee while in the living room the two men began to reminisce. After the children went to bed, Dovid told Cool Breeze all that had happened since they’d last seen each other. He explained how he’d lost the tavern.
“Things got rough here for a while. But now Eidel and I both work at the synagogue. We’re lucky to have found jobs. It wasn’t easy.”
“Oh, Mister Dovi, I sure is sorry to hear that. You bein’ the kinda man you is, you sure don’t deserve that.”
“Well, it’s over now. We are doing all right. I want you to know that you are always welcome to stay here,” Dovid said. “But I am afraid that I don’t have any spare money to pay you to do any work for me.”
“I don’t want no money from you, Mister Dovi. I heard tell that a new hospital just opened up here in Skokie. I am gonna see if I can get me a job there. Ifin’ I can I is gonna help you and Eidel by payin’ some rent. You always been a good friend to me. Now it be my turn. I’ll do what I can for you now.”
“Well, your apartment is still open. We haven’t changed a thing down there. Except that I bought a bicycle for Mark but he didn’t want to ride it so it’s stored in the corner downstairs. You’ll see it. It’s up against the wall, shouldn’t really get in your way.”
“Won’t nothin’ get in my way. Don’t you worry about that.”
“I’m so glad you’re here, Breeze. You had me worried.”
“Thank you for lettin’ me stay.”
“Welcome back home. It’s damn good to have you back,” Dovid said.
“And Mister Dovi … I can’t thank you enough for what you done for Glory. I mean the burial and all. I’s truly sorry that I couldn’t be there. You see, I was all balled up inside. Still is, I suppose. I loved that gal. I sure enough did.” He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Shouldn’t a ended that way for me and her. It wasn’t right how it all happened.”
“I know, Cool Breeze. I know. We all felt terrible about it.”
“Yeah. It sure been one long hard ride since she been gone.”
“Go get some rest, my friend. We can talk more in the morning,” Dovid said.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The new hospital, Skokie Valley Hospital, was located on Gross Point Road, several miles from the Levi’s house.
Cool Breeze got up the following morning and took a shower. Then he borrowed a clean white shirt from Dovid.
“Where you going?” Dovid asked.
“I tol you. The hospital. I be applying for some kinda job.”
Cool Breeze smiled that big smile that had a way of making Dovid feel as if all was right with the world. Then Breeze winked, waved to Eidel, and walked out the door.
“Cool Breeze, don’t you want something to eat?” Eidel opened the door and called after him.
“Naw, don’ you be troubling yourself about me. I’ll get me somethin’ later.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Cool Breeze was hired by the hospital to work the three to eleven shift in housekeeping. It was minimum wage, but because he lived with the Levis it would suffice. At first, Dovid didn’t want to take money for rent from Cool Breeze, but Cool Breeze insisted.
“You ain’t got no money no more either,” he said in his street philosopher way. “You needs this money much as I do.”
Dovid nodded. “You’re right. We do need it. And since we have a little extra now, we can try to do what we can to help Harry and Ida. They’re having a hard time making ends meet too. The restaurant is barely paying the bills.”
“Well, we gonna help them as well then.”
Abby had taken to Buddy from the moment she saw him. She was a loner who trusted no one, but the dog won her heart. Buddy gladly reciprocated with the unconditional love that only an animal can give. Buddy slept on Abby’s bed, and during the day she followed Abby from room to room, making it clear that she loved Abby the best of anyone in the family. Cool Breeze asked Abby if she would mind walking and feeding Buddy when he was at work and she gladly accepted. It was the first time Abby had put her heart into anything.
By the time Cool Breeze got home from work, Abby and his dog were fast asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms. One night he watched them for a few minutes then laughed softly and whispered to no one, “Looks like I done lost my dog to that little girl. Well, poor little Abby needs Buddy more than I does.”
Mark had his own small group of friends that he spent much of his time with. On school nights after dinner, he went into his room alone. Sometimes he talked on the phone, whispering quietly but he never came out to play games or watch television with the rest of the family.
Not meaning to hurt the other children, but unable to hide it, Eidel made it obvious that Haley was her favorite. She and Haley baked and cooked together. Haley showed an interest in learning to sew and embroider, which Eidel promised to teach her as soon as she got a little older. Haley, unlike Mark or Abby, loved to have Eidel read to her. She especially enjoyed Bible stories. Because of Dovid, Eidel was careful to read only stories from the Old Testament. However, when Haley laid her head on Eidel’s shoulder and listened intently to the stories that Helen had once told Eidel, Eidel was overcome with a fierce love for her daughter.
Abby saw the bond between Eidel and Haley and felt alone and left out. Had it not been for the dog, she might have run away or turned to hurting herself. She was a strange, quiet, and frightened child. Her father was always too busy for her. He made it clear that they were living from paycheck to paycheck. It seemed that there was never enough money and he was always immersed in a desperate search to find a way to keep them from starving. Her mother was around more, but she was distant. Abby wished she could believe that her mother loved her. But, in truth, Abby felt that her mother had never really wanted her. It wasn’t until Cool Breeze arrived with that scrawny black mutt with its wagging tail and soft eyes that Abby knew the real meaning of love. She adored Buddy and because she did, she became best friends with Cool Breeze.
He seemed to love all the children. Once when he was on his way home from work he found a broken record player in someone’s garbage can. It was a heavy, massive wooden box, but he lugged it home and tinkered with it for weeks until he fixed it. Then he gave it to Mark who was thrilled by the gift. From then on, music could be heard coming from Mark’s room every day. In his spare time, Cool Breeze built Haley a dollhouse with tiny furniture. But it was Abby who was his favorite, his dearest friend. Abby hated dolls, so Cool Breeze asked her, “Why don’t you be riden that bike that’s downstairs?”
She shrugged.
“You ain’t never rode, have ya?”
She shook
her head.
“Don’t know how?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, why don’ I just learn ya? It ain’t that hard.”
“Can you ride?”
“Sure enough. And so can you.”
“Cool Breeze?” Abby said, holding Buddy’s shoulder. “If I tell you something you promise not to tell anyone?”
“Sure do. Go on an’ tell me.”
Abby hesitated. Then she pulled Buddy closer to her. “I’m afraid to learn to ride. I’m afraid I’ll fall. I’ve always been afraid of everything, Cool Breeze. I could never go down the slide or climb the jungle gym.”
He nodded. “You scared, huh? Well, that be all the more reason you gotta do it. When you scared a somethin’ the only way to get past them fears is to do it. Ifn’ you let em, them fears is gonna paralyze you and seal your whole life. Sunday morning, we gonna have our first bike riden’ lesson.”
“I don’t know if I want to.”
“How about we gonna give it a try? You ain’t never rode no bicycle. But let me tells you this. Once you rides, you gonna feel like you’s flyin.’ You trusts me?”
“Yeah, I guess…”
“Then ifn’ you don’t likes it. We gonna stop. What do ya say?”
“Sunday morning?” Abby said.
“Yep.”
“Okay…I’ll try.”
“Good girl. You gonna do just fine. You’ll see. You gonna surprise yourself.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Abby was terrified; it took her almost an entire day to agree, but once Cool Breeze convinced her that she could trust herself to keep her balance all on her own, she finally agreed for him to let go. Her palms were wet with sweat as she held the handlebars. Her small body was trembling. Cool Breeze ran down the street, holding the seat of the bike. Abby peddled as fast as she could. Her mind was laser-focused on holding the handlebars straight.
New Life, New Land Page 14
