Just People

by Paul Usiskin

  ‘He got engaged. Nili’s a lovely girl. I was stupid and upset and, well, I became green eyed, and did and said things, I mean, and ... oh this is terrible.’ She was close to tears, eyes pleading for it all to be over. Instead he let her emotional knots tighten a little more.

  Then he said sympathetically, ‘Take a couple of deep breaths and tell me what happened.’

  She nodded gratefully. He watched her regain self-control. Her eyes came up to his, embarrassment in them and her voice.

  ‘Office politics are a mean version of life, like a jungle, especially when there’s constant pressure.’

  He nodded. He’d been intentionally aloof from all that throughout his career and never regretted it.

  ‘So when Aviel arrived, I thought he could take me out of the pettiness of it if I could get to work with him. I was physically attracted to him from the first time I saw him. It would have been a perfect combination. Problem was I wasn’t the only one who wanted him.’

  ‘Who else was there?’

  ‘That bitch Yardena Rotem.’

  ‘Anyone else?’

  ‘Nili Baum. She was a dark horse, I didn’t see her coming, but she’s good people, not pushy, quiet and smart.’

  ‘So you’re dropping your allegations against Aviel Weiss?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You understand that you may face disciplinary proceedings for your allegations?’

  ‘Yes. Maybe I should consider another department?’

  ‘Voluntarily resigning from the Embassy would be the right move.’

  She winced at that and started to speak, but he shook his head emphatically, just once, and she stood and left the room.

  A full minute later, Yardena Rotem knocked and entered before Dov could say, ‘Yes.’

  Last evening’s come-on look was replaced by a severity that would have intimidated lesser beings, face scrubbed of make-up, coppery red mane tamed in black hair-sticks, a vague hint of perfume, smart charcoal trouser suit, no jewelry, no painted nails.

  ‘Let’s make this simple,’ she said, handing him a silver memory stick. ‘Watch this.’

  For five minutes Dov watched on a laptop as Aviel raped her.

  He said, ‘I need to get this analyzed. Not here, back home. When did this alleged event take place?’ He didn’t ask where, the decor made it obvious, an office here in the Embassy.

  ‘Alleged? Isn’t what you’ve just seen incontrovertible?’

  ‘It’s evidence; it has to be analyzed. Answer my question.’

  ‘Two months ago.’

  That didn’t figure with Aviel’s timeline.

  ‘How would you characterize your relationship?’

  ‘Voracious. He couldn’t get enough of me.’

  ‘It was a one way relationship?’

  ‘You mean I was all give and he was all take?’

  ‘You tell me.’

  ‘OK. It was physical to begin with, very physical and then it developed into something more like a team, and I started to think we might make a go of it, you know? Maybe even get married? But he went cold on the commitment. I thought I could add an essential dimension to his career path. He just wanted to fuck. So one night, I said no I didn’t want to and, well you saw what happened.’

  ‘Your explanation for the alleged rape is?’

  ‘He couldn’t get enough of me.’

  ‘Isn’t it that you’d built up the expectation that he’d share his life with you, and he didn’t want that, so you engineered this as revenge?’

  ‘Believe me, Aviel Weiss wasn’t my only option.’

  ‘Which one are you pursuing now, or should that be who?’

  ‘Some other guy.’

  ‘Too vague Yardena, wholly out of character.’

  ‘What do you know about my character?’

  ‘You know precisely what you’re doing. This session is over.’

  Dov’s next appointment was with Yardena’s former boss, Senator Hank Bernard.

  Dov asked Yossi to drop him off so he could walk in the fall sunshine. He saw the iconic Capitol building with its bronze Liberty gracing the dome. The Knesset in Jerusalem was a special place to him but it and the administrative offices nearby couldn’t compare to the Hill as a statement of grandeur, power and influence.

  The senator was in the Dirksen Senate Office building providing office space to fourteen Senators and ten Senate Committees. He greeted Dov with a cheery ‘Sha-lome.’

  Dov said nothing about the peculiar mauling of that simple word, said ‘Shalom’ and shook hands. ‘Thank you for your time Senator.

  ‘You can call me Hank, we’re members of the same tribe?’ He winked. ‘You’re here about Yardena Rotem?’ Rowtem, another long O. Hank had an unfazed Branch Rickey face, lined with years of stress from political survival, an on-off white-toothed smile, thick-lens glasses, all set on a tall, wide frame. ‘You’re Justice Ministry? You know Teddi Sheffer?’

  ‘My predecessor.’

  ‘Oh right. I had a coupla run ins with him, a real tough guy.’

  Dov said, ‘Hmmm. About Yardena?’

  Hank checked his watch. It needed a small desk crane to lift it. He dropped it easily to his side. ‘I have a House Committee on Foreign Relations meeting momentarily, the Chair person’s profoundly pro-Israel and I like being hard on her…’

  ‘I know about your meeting. I’m seeing Yardena’s current boss in the lunch break.’

  ‘OK,’ Bernard said, mischief in his eyes, ‘you know the phrase fucks like a bunny?’ The gleaming smile was unaltered.

  Dov nodded.

  ‘So, Yardena was lazy with her excellent brain and busy with her body. If she thought she could fuck to serve her ambitions, she did.’

  ‘And how would you describe her ambitions?’

  ‘Ha. No prisoners. Female staffers on the Hill are notorious, so are we Senators. Yardena offered me the chance to sample her charms, but hell, Dov, I’ve been around the houses, I know that way danger lies. I’ve never been disloyal in forty years of marriage.’

  ‘Thanks for your frankness.’

  ‘That’s OK. Tell me, off the record, how will Jerusalem handle Hamas and the vacuum in Sinai with the Morsi government in transition in Cairo?’

  ‘We control Gaza, or we think we do. Sinai is one huge goods and weapons transit yard, run mostly by Jihadists. It’s linked to Gaza by Hamas tunnels which they run like a business, very profitably and they’ve diversified into Sinai overland routes which the Egyptians don’t or can’t control. Sooner or later one will spill into the other and Israel will have to act, but it’ll be messy.’

  ‘Thanks for that. More than the other bunch, in and out of here waving bags of dollars in return for my vote.’

  ‘The other bunch?’

  ‘AIPAC. They’re deaf to the word on the Hill.’

  ‘What word’s that?’

  ‘Two words, fed up. Many Senators are fed up with AIPAC’s antics. Uncle Sam is one of your few remaining friends and he’s exasperated with you. Anyway, good to meet you Dov, leave me your details, you never know when we can help each other. Gotta go.’

  Dov passed over his card and made his way down to the Committee room, wondering how many other Senators were in the fed-up-with-Israel crowd.

  When the doors opened for the lunch recess, Dov got a glimpse of the stage on which public accountability for US foreign policy was practiced. Wood was everywhere, wall panels, three levels of dais, desk tops in theatre style for Committee members, podiums, chairs like leather covered thrones, and the carved American eagle and crest embossing the panel below the Chairman’s seat.

  In a brief meeting in a corner of a corridor near the Committee room, Israel’s Minister for Congressional Affairs was very nervous about discussing Yardena.

  ‘I’m sorry to do thi
s here, you only had this break and I’m flying home tomorrow,’ said Dov.

  The Minister kept glancing around him for all those Hebrew speaking Committee members listening in. ‘It’s not ideal. This is very sensitive, to discuss it here, it’s not…’

  ‘The best? I agree. However I’m not here to discuss allegations against Aviel Weiss. Give me your assessment of Yardena Rotem.’

  The Minister was a monochromatic diplomat. He measured each word, giving the impression that he was concerned he might not be able to retrieve them, like a shopkeeper unhappily counting out change. The result was anodyne. ‘She’s a reliable deputy.’

  ‘Meaning she’s at work on time?’

  ‘I can trust her.’

  ‘With the code to your computer?’

  ‘As my deputy.’ He gave Dov a quizzical look. ‘What do you mean about the code?’

  ‘She’s accessed my classified personal file. I’m guessing you’re cleared to that level, so …’

  ‘I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘Sorry would be good, but that’s not the issue. At least change your pass code? Anyway, would she make a good Minister?’

  Diplomatic eyes narrowed. ‘I’ve only been in post a year. Has my performance been less than good? Might I be replaced?’ His possible expendability made him hiss the last four words.

  ‘It’s probably just Embassy chit chat. Is she such a threat?’

  ‘No, no, it’s just the implication …’

  ‘Look, I’ve told you why I’m here OK?’

  The Minister remained unruffled. ‘She is apt to be a little too forthcoming.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘She can be a little too ah friendly.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘With, um, her, ah, herself.’

  ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘She isn’t an unattractive person.’

  ‘You mean her personality or her figure?’

  ‘The latter.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘She can border on the indiscrete.’

  ‘You mean she is too obvious about her physical attractions.’ I should have been a diplomat.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Would flaunt be an accurate word?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And would that describe her behavior towards you?’

  ‘I couldn’t possibly comment.’

  ‘Neither yes nor no?’

  ‘Correct.’

  ‘Look, I know this isn’t the best place and everything. The alternative could be formal questioning at the Embassy, and if I’m not satisfied with that, then a recall to Jerusalem.’

  The Minister’s next words were without inflections or emotion, and aimed at a spot on the wall above Dov’s head. ‘I have never allowed anything or anyone, anyone, to deflect me in the work I do on behalf of my country.’

  ‘And an attempt to deflect you was made?’

  Standing, the Minister’s blue and Dov’s chocolate eyes met. ‘It failed, as it was bound to. I hope that satisfies you?’

  ‘Thank you for your time. I’m curious. The Chairperson of the Committee, why is she so supportive of Israel?’

  ‘She’s a Republican and she’s taken the President to task over repeated US condemnations of our settlements.’

  ‘And the effect?’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Did the administration take heed and did we stop settlement activity?’

  ‘Neither.’

  ‘Diplomacy’s so much fun,’ Dov said and walked away down the corridor seeking the fresh air.

  Back at his hotel, another reception clerk in an accent he couldn’t place, called him over. ‘Someone they are waitin’ for Joo in the lounge. He give no name.

  ‘If they ask whether I’m back, tell them I’m not and ask them to leave me a message with a name and contact details,’ he instructed.

  His cell rang as he closed his room door.

  ‘Mr. Chizzik. There’s no need to have that memory stick analyzed. She’s telling the truth.’

  Dov looked at the display. It read Unknown Caller, but the voice spoke in Hebrew, American accented.

  ‘I don’t know who you are. I’m ending the call.’

  ‘Weiss raped her. Trying to prove he didn’t is a waste of time. Have a safe journey home.’

  ‘Did we meet last night outside the Grand Hyatt?’ Dov tried, but the line was dead.

  He called Aviel on the house line. ‘I need to see you. Can you come here?’

  ‘You OK?’

  ‘Yes.’

  7

  In the half hour before Aviel arrived, Dov felt a knot in his stomach. The clear-thinking inquisitor with immutable instincts wasn’t merely his projection. Yet, the relentless questions he asked of himself didn’t always produce answers. The person that had emerged after years of experience, the real Dov at the heart and soul of his being was never as certain as he appeared. Perhaps, he thought, those men who were that self-assured, were fictions, creations of self-rationalization, liars to themselves, capable of living with their own truth switch turned off. He’d found a vocation early in his life, after being wounded in war and earning a medal for bravery, and it was to serve his country. Even then he’d had doubts, about one battle in which he’d fought, about the men who’d led the country to war, about the medal they’d given him. He’d suppressed his doubts, never spoke of them, but never wore the medal.

  He’d been in more wars since, they all seemed to meld into one, but his sleep was sometimes disturbed by horrific memories. His doubts wouldn’t leave him; he had no truth switch, and he knew that for every stated truth there was always another.

  Aviel sat opposite him in a lounge chair near the window. Dov tuned the TV to what it’s founder called the Cable Nooz Network. He wondered whether their newsreaders were chosen because their names were easy to say, like catchy tunes. Hala Gorani tripped off the tongue like the five notes of Woody the Woodpecker’s theme. He pushed the volume up as a CNN reporter renamed her, ‘... DamascusHala...’

  Aviel mouthed why, Dov opened his hands in a who-knows gesture, and Aviel him that the police were continuing to investigate the Freund assault, the attackers hadn’t been found, and the police had said such an assault was atypical for that area of Washington.

  ‘It’s called Metro Center and there was only one assault nearby last month, no burglaries, no robberies, not even thefts, and none were connected to us.’

  Dov told him about the phone call. ‘I couldn’t be sure if the caller was one of the two who attacked Freund last night. But it’d be hard to ignore the link.’

  ‘If they were that clued up about Freund, they’d have found out who you were too, if they didn’t already know. After all, you said you did them serious damage.’

  ‘Hidden strengths Aviel.’

  ‘I remember. Krav Maga, right?’ He meant the Israeli self-defense system. ‘I work out everyday at a martial arts place, run by a couple of our ex-commando guys. Learned a couple of new moves too, one of them quite, how shall I say, ultimate.’

  ‘Good to hear. I did surprise those two thugs,’ said Dov.

  ‘I can imagine,’ said Aviel. ‘I’ve not met Freund. The assault feels like a Kahane Kakh thing, you know, targeting someone who’s pro-peace.’

  ‘Freund told me he opposes the occupation.’

  ‘I know who he is; he advises the White House,’ he shrugged. ‘Anyway someone wants me to go down for raping Yardena and it isn’t all her idea.’

  ‘Did you rape her?’

  ‘I already said I didn’t.’

  ‘No you didn’t. You denied having sex with Hannah Drori. You’ve said nothing about Yardena’s allegation, and now there’s this.’ He produced the memory stick.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘It’s a video f
ile of you raping her.’

  ‘Which you’ve seen?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘I told her I needed to have it analyzed back at home.’

  ‘Can I see it?’

  ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’

  ‘Legally speaking I’m entitled to see evidence against me.’

  ‘This isn’t a court of law.’

  ‘And I’m not on trial. This is a PID investigation. I can’t call in a favor for the years we worked together?’

  ‘It was maybe three years in total, and no, you screwed up any chance of that with Yaniv’s detention.’

  ‘I’m sorry Dov.’ Aviel looked genuinely contrite, and tried to move on. ‘I don’t know, that anonymous call to you, maybe this is something else than an alleged rape, something bigger.’

  ‘Though I head PID, I’m still an investigator at heart. You’ve morphed into an administrator with flashy insignia on your shoulders. They say you might head the police force one day soon, which means you’ll leave the job of policing behind, if you haven’t done so already. From the sublime to the ridiculous ...’

  ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’ Aviel tried a look that said give me a break.

  ‘That phony-baloney apology about Yaniv was just that, you said it because you’re in trouble. The anonymous call’s worrying, but it and this memory stick are all I have.’

  ‘Yes,’ Aviel said and looked away for a moment, then tried again, ‘Can’t we call it quits? I’ll come home for any questions about Yardena’s allegations and hope the video analysis proves what I know for sure, that I didn’t rape her. Is that fair? Is that a good enough basis to show me the video?’

  Dov stared at him, ‘Fair? You could have said something about Yaniv before now. You’ve got my cell number, my direct office line, my personal e-mail. Nothing. All this time and no word from you.’

  ‘So why did you agree to come?’

  ‘I’ve never been to Washington before and Hassid was keen it was me and not someone else in PID. And even he mentioned our history.’

  ‘You make it sound like you’re doing him and me a favor, like you think I did rape Yardena and you couldn’t care less if my career goes down the tubes.’

  ‘You didn’t care about me tearing myself apart over Yaniv.’