A Diamond in the Rough

by Marilyn Land

  The next day, clad in new outfits—Zoe had chosen her own—they set off to take in the sights of London. After breakfast, Lexi took Zoe to the Underground; they rode to the end of the line and returned to London where they took in a film at the cinema—Easter Parade an American musical featuring music by Irving Berlin had just opened. They lost themselves in the singing and dancing of Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Zoe loved it all—it was her first film.

  The next day, Lexi allowed Zoe to again pick out her outfit, but told her they were going on an adventure that required sturdy shoes. She wore blue overalls, a striped blue and white shirt with a matching jacket.

  Zoe’s curiosity was relentless. “Where are we going Mama? Why couldn’t I wear my shiny shoes? Are we almost there?”

  They boarded the Underground and headed to Regent’s Park. The London Zoo opened in 1828 and is the world’s oldest scientific zoo. It was renovated in 1927. Repair to the bomb damage from the War began in 1946 and lasted through most of 1947.

  They didn’t miss a thing—the Clock Tower, the Raven’s Cage, the collection of buildings that housed animals, birds, and reptiles, and the East Tunnel that linked the North and South parts of the Zoo. They covered every inch of the park and it left them exhausted but exhilarated.

  On the train back to the hotel, Zoe hugged Lexi. “Mama, I love you. Thank you; the Zoo was so much fun.” She put her head on Lexi’s shoulder and slept until they arrived at their station.

  Energized after her short nap, she convinced Lexi to stop at the Tea Shoppe for a snack before returning to the hotel.

  Jake was on his way back to De Beers when he saw her, the hair, her beautiful red hair. Walking beside her was a little girl, her clone. He slowed his pace and followed a distance behind them. His mind was racing; his heart was pounding. It was Lexi; he would know her anywhere.

  He continued to watch as they entered the Tea Shoppe. Unsure of what to do, he stopped and stood in the doorway of a building. Deciding it would be easier to control his emotions in a public place, he opted to stop for a cup of tea. They sat at a small table with her back to the door, and she did not see him come in.

  As he approached the table, Zoe looked up, her deep blue eyes staring into his own. At the sound of her name, she thought she was imagining his voice, Jake’s voice, as she heard, “Lexi?”

  She turned and realized this time she hadn’t imagined it at all. It was Jake, her Jake. The cup slipped from her hand and clattered on the plate. “Mama, be careful. You almost broke it.”

  Neither spoke; they continued to stare at one another. They had both been disappointed so many times over the years they didn’t trust themselves to believe.

  “Mama, do you know the man? Man, do you know my Mama?”

  They both laughed; Zoe had broken the spell. “Yes sweetheart, we know each other; we’ve known each other for a long time.”

  As Jake was about to ask her when she had returned to England, his eyes rested on the finger of her left hand where she wore the ring he had given her when he asked her to marry him. He turned to Zoe. “My name is Jake. What’s your name?”

  “My name is Zoe Elise Lyons and I’m three and a half years old. Mama took me to the Zoo. Have you ever been to the Zoo?”

  Jake kissed her on the cheek. “Yes I have; isn’t it fun?”

  He turned to Lexi and without a word lifted her out of the chair, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. As Zoe tried to get between them, much to her delight, Jake lifted her onto his shoulders.

  “Can we go someplace and talk?”

  “We arrived back in England three days ago, and until I find a flat, we’re staying at the Savoy.”

  They talked throughout the night as Zoe slept in Jake’s arms. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the beautiful little girl that their Love had created. She took to him immediately, and when Lexi gently told her Jake was her Daddy, that they had found him in London after all, she said, “I told you we would.”

  There was still a lot of ground to cover, but when morning came, Jake was determined. He was not leaving without them. They packed up their things and checked out of the Savoy and made their way to Charing Cross Station.

  They took the train to the Cotswolds, and less than an hour later they were at the cottage. As Zoe ran in and out of the rooms talking a mile a minute, and Jake showed Lexi around, Jamilia’s prophecy came to mind.

  Zoe was the most excited little girl on the planet. “What are we going to do today? Are we going to live here? Is this our new home?”

  “Let me tell you what I would like to do today, and you tell me if you agree. First, I think you should pick which bedroom you would like to be yours. Then we have a wedding to plan. There are some people that are very important to me that I would like you to meet and get to know; and you have uncles, an aunt, and a baby cousin in London that are your family. How does that sound?”

  “I want the bedroom with the big window. Can I put my clothes in there? Can you help me Mama?”

  Lexi smiled. “You go ahead; I’ll be right there.” To Jake she said, “I knew you would be the best Daddy to our little darling. She’s so much like you; you’ll see as time goes by that she’s a real Daddy’s Girl.”

  “What do you think of my suggestions? I will give notice with the register office, and talk with the new Rabbi at the Great Central Synagogue in the East End and ask him to marry us. We can plan a dinner afterwards here at the cottage; I have a good friend who can cater it. There are eight adults, Zoe and your nephew, and I think the cottage is the perfect venue. It’s our home.

  “You really should contact your brothers. Running into them on the street would be awkward to say the least. Marcus and Elena are my family, and I must tell them sooner rather than later. I was on my way back to the office when I met you yesterday, and I didn’t even ring him up to tell him I wasn’t coming back.”

  As Zoe called out for Lexi, she leaned over and kissed Jake. “Everything sounds good and right. Let’s do it.”

  That night, Jake made love to Lexi as though it was their first time. As she lay sleeping in the safety of his arms, all adversity melted away. They had found their way back to one another once again, and that was all that mattered. They had Zoe; they were a family.

  It took them less than a week to arrange everything.

  Jake spoke to Marcus and asked if he could stop by their house the following evening. He would never forget the look on Marcus’s face when he opened the door and saw Lexi and Zoe standing beside him. Elena’s endless supply of cookies was not wasted on Zoe. When they left, she gave her a kiss and hugged her. Elena held her tight unwilling to let her go.

  When Lexi rang up Mark, he was not in the least surprised. After Manny had seen them off in Haifa, he returned to Jerusalem a sad and beaten man. For the first time in a long time, he considered the error of his ways. It was perhaps too late for him, but not for Lexi and Zoe. He placed a call to London notifying Mark and Sam that they were returning home.

  “Please don’t be angry with your sister. It was a big decision for her to make, and she needs time to work it out for herself. Lexi will contact you when she’s ready. I miss them as I miss all of you, and I miss your mother; she kept me grounded. It just took too long for me to realize it; I’m so sorry for the mistakes I made. The happiness and wellbeing of my children should have been my first priority, my only priority.”

  Manny left the Irgun and returned to work at the hospital. When he received the call from Lexi telling him they had been reunited with Jake, he was genuinely happy for them.

  They were married in the Rabbi’s study. Jake in a blue serge suit and striped tie stood beside Lexi, the Love of his life, wearing a blue silk dress that had been her Mum’s. A very happy Zoe stood smiling in her blue party dress and shiny patent leather shoes.

  As the Rabbi pronounced them man and wife, she added, “and Zoe too.�
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  Jake kissed his beautiful wife, and scooped his beautiful daughter up in his arms kissing her too to the applause of their guests.

  Mandy had taken care of everything at the cottage. She brought flowers, and a case of her finest wine. Tables throughout the great room held a bounty of hors d’oeuvres that included her petite vegetable pies, set out for all to enjoy. The dining room table was formally set for a dinner of roasted Cornish hens and fresh local vegetables.

  The tiered wedding cake was heart shaped, and adorned with red, pink, and white roses. Guests were given a choice of coffee or tea.

  Jake insisted that Mandy shed her apron, and join them for dinner. Elena entertained them with the story of their first invitation to the cottage when he returned home. Zoe stood guard over her cousin Ethan like a mother hen.

  As Jake looked about the room at his family, emotion engulfed him. He had forgotten how much the family dinners at their flat in the East End meant to him. How ironic that the only one he missed had saved his life.

  One of the visions of the Zionist movement was the establishment of a Jewish university in the Land of Israel. The cornerstone for the university was laid in July 1918, and seven years later in April 1925, the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus opened.

  By 1947, the University had become a large research and teaching institution. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, attacks were carried out against convoys moving between the Israeli-controlled section of Jerusalem and the University.

  The leader of the Arab forces in Jerusalem threatened military action against the University and the Hadassah Hospital if the Jews continued to use them as bases for attacks.

  On April 13, 1948, an armored convoy of Hadassah and Hebrew University doctors, nurses, and civilians set out attempting to bring medical supplies and personnel to the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus.

  The convoy was attacked on the way by an ambush of Arab terrorists and after being besieged and under fire for hours, all 77 members of the convoy were killed; among the dead was Dr. Emanuel Portman. Hadassah evacuated all its Mount Scopus medical facilities due to the difficulties of the Arab siege and set up a makeshift hospital near Ein Karem.

  Nobody was ever prosecuted for this crime against humanity nor were British collaborators investigated; the planners of the massacre became heroes of the Arab Palestinians.

  The Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus would not be restored for 30 years hence.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Jake took a leave of absence from De Beers determined to make up the years that he had missed with Lexi and Zoe. He was no longer the same Jake Lyons that grew up in the Jewish Quarter of the East End; that person ceased existing that awful night he lost his family. The War brought an abrupt end to the first seventeen years of life as he knew it, and impacted everything that occurred in his life from that time forward until he was discharged.

  Losing fellow RAF pilots was the hardest to come to terms with; one had to accept God’s choice as to who lived and who didn’t. In retrospect, spending an isolated year on Guernsey Island was not so bad compared to what others had to endure though it had resulted in him losing touch with Lexi. He was no longer naïve; the world today was not the world of his youth, and he was well aware of that. He was merely twenty-four years old, and yet he had lived a lifetime.

  Having been raised by parents who placed more emphasis on love and family, and less on strict religious observance, finding himself alone was devastating. Thankfully, Marcus and Elena Hirsch had stepped up immediately to fill that void becoming his surrogate family. He couldn’t imagine what going through the hardest times in his life would have been like without them.

  Now to his delight and good fortune, in addition to Marcus and Elena, he had a wife, a daughter, two brothers-in-law, a sister-in-law, and a nephew; he felt truly blessed.

  He planned to spend the remainder of 1948 getting to know his daughter, and loving Lexi, which was all he ever dreamt of. He wanted to introduce them to the new Jake, to his new world. He would leave no stone unturned.

  He began in the Cotswolds. He took them to the Village and introduced them to the shopkeepers he knew; they stopped in to see Mandy; they shopped for food and prepared meals together—the three of them. They were inseparable.

  Wendy told Jake she would be leaving at the end of the school year. She had met a young chap, and they were planning to be married in June.

  On a bright sunny day in May, he excitedly told them he had a surprise planned. When they arrived at Eagle Aerodrome, Lexi grew apprehensive. She was nervous about watching him fly. Their long separation had taken a toll, and the thought of losing him if anything went wrong was more than she could bear.

  He introduced her to Joe, and asked if a plane was available. “Yes, as a matter of fact, both planes are available; you can have your choice.

  “I’m glad you stopped by; I was going to contact you to give you a heads up that the new planes are due to arrive by the end of the month.”

  Jake let out a whoop. “That is great news, really great news. It’s been a year since we placed the order.”

  “Let me know which plane you want. It’s been my pleasure meeting you Lexi and you too Zoe.” Joe walked away.

  “Jake, why are you taking up a plane today? How often do you fly?”

  “I didn’t exactly come here to take up a plane, as you put it. I want you and Zoe to let me take both of you flying; I guarantee that once you try it, you’ll be hooked. You’ll experience a feeling like no other. I do some of my best thinking up there. When I missed you most, ironically flying was the only thing that brought me back to earth.”

  Lexi’s hesitation gave Zoe an opening. “Daddy, I want to fly. Can we go, please, please?”

  “Your Mama has to decide. I can’t take you if she doesn’t want you to go.”

  Zoe turned to Lexi, but before she could speak, Jake said, “I’m sorry; that wasn’t fair. Let me start over.

  “I would like to take my two best girls for their very first flight. It is a perfect day for flying, not a cloud in the sky, and once we are in the air and you can look down and all around, I’ll even point out the cottage. It looks really small from up there. I can assure you our safety is very important to me, but my flying credentials are solid; I’m an ace pilot, I’ll have you know.”

  Lexi melted. How could she have possibly thought that Jake would endanger them in any way?

  He chose the bright yellow Staggerwing. Once they were seated, Jake taxied to the end of the runway and suddenly they were airborne. Zoe clapped her hands. “Daddy, you did it. Look Mama; look how high up we are.”

  As she sat frozen in her seat, Jake looked over at her with a big grin on his face. “Come on Lexi, that wasn’t so bad. I got us up here, now you only have to worry about my getting us down. Why don’t you relax and enjoy the ride for now?”

  To Zoe who was seated behind them, he said, “How’s it going Zoe? Do you want me to point out the cottage? I’ll point out the Village too.”

  Lexi relaxed and began to laugh and laugh and laugh. He was right; flying was euphoric. One could see for miles the open countryside, the cottage, the Village, and places beyond. “I love you Jake Lyons; don’t ever forget it.”

  God promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning their descendants:

  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse the one who curses you. The rise and fall of many great empires in history can be traced to how they blessed or mistreated the Israelites.

  The survivors emerged from the Nazi Holocaust a different people. The Jews of Europe became the Israelis of Palestine, tough, disciplined, and courageous in the face of overwhelming odds. They fought against British immigration restrictions; they fought against a hostile Muslim population that was being flooded with new Muslim residents from all over the world.

  When the British disarmed them and hea
vily armed the Muslims, they organized freedom fighting cell groups that gave the British more than they could handle causing their ultimate withdrawal.

  The land of Palestine was proclaimed the Jewish homeland on 14 May 1948. They providentially named the new State Israel. Never before in history had such a thing happened. Scattered across the face of the earth for 2,000 years they returned to the same piece of real estate from which they were driven.

  After World War II, the Empire on whose flag the sun had never set found itself progressively diminished. The UK emerged only a shadow of what it once was.

  Manny Portman died one month shy of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. Although his brief involvement in the Irgun overshadowed his relationship with his family and his years of accomplishments as a physician for the Hadassah Medical Organization, he managed to set things right before he died.

  They returned to the aerodrome when weather permitted, Lexi as avid as Zoe. When Jake got the call that the planes had been delivered, they dropped everything and headed off excited and anxious to see the beautiful new plane Jake spoke nonstop about.

  It was all white with a blue stripe along the body and on the tips of the V tail; the under wings were red. They climbed aboard the plane sitting back in the plush seats while Jake checked out the instruments. She was a beauty. As Zoe urged Jake to take off, he explained to her that he had to fly the plane himself before he could take them along.

  They returned two weeks later, and boarded Lady Lyons, the name Jake had painted on the side. Throughout the summer they flew often mostly at the behest of his two best girls. In September, Jake arranged a surprise for Zoe’s fourth birthday. He flew them to Guernsey Island for a few days.