by Lily Brett
“We are going to pay you for the privilege,” Ruth said. She looked at Tadeusz. He translated what she had said.
“Oh,” said the old man.
“Very good,” said his wife.
“Come outside,” Ruth said. “We’ll show you where we think it is buried.”
“My daughter would like you to accompany us outside to the backyard, where we will show you where we think the small item is buried,”
Edek said.
“I think we should discuss the price,” the old man said.
“We can talk outside,” Ruth said. “I don’t feel well. I need some air.”
Tadeusz relayed this to the old couple.
“She is still not well,” the old man said to his wife.
“She doesn’t look the sickly sort,” the old woman said.
“Trust me,” said the old man, “she is a sickly type.”
“Anyone would feel sick in his presence,” Ruth said to Edek.
“Ruthie,” Edek said. “Please. You don’t feel so well?”
“I think I’ll feel unwell until we’re out of the country,” Ruth said. Edek looked at Tadeusz.
“She does not mean this as an insult to you, Tadeusz,” he said.
T O O M A N Y M E N
[ 5 0 7 ]
“Tadeusz knows that,” Ruth said.
“You must calm down,” Tadeusz said to Ruth.
“Yes,” said Edek. “This is what I am always telling her. Column down, Ruthie. Column down.” Tadeusz nodded.
“Your daughter is not such a calm person,” Tadeusz said to Edek.
“You can say that again, brother,” Edek said. He turned to the old couple. “Are we going to go downstairs?” The old man looked at his wife. His wife nodded.
“We will talk downstairs,” she said.
The large brown dog was at the bottom of the stairs. The dog saw Ruth.
He looked at Ruth, and then turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Ruth felt hurt by the dog’s rejection. She didn’t want to be rebuffed by an old Polish dog. She felt peculiarly deserted by this dog. The dog must be remembering the kick, she thought. The dog was clearly brighter than it looked, she thought.
Edek walked to the far corner of the yard.
“I think it is buried approximately here,” he said.
“We did look here,” the old man said.
“We found nothing in this area,” the old woman said.
“We looked here first, because that is where we saw the Jew digging,”
the old man said.
“The sight of a Jew digging probably electrified the neighborhood,”
Ruth said to Edek. “Every second Pole was probably in here with a shovel.”
“You want to make this more hard for me, Ruthie?” Edek said.
“No,” she said.
“Then do not say stupid things,” he said.
“They’re not stupid things,” she said.
“Your father means that it is not wise to voice these opinions at the moment,” Tadeusz said.
“I know what he means,” Ruth said sullenly. It all felt too much to her.
She could feel her heart pounding. She just wanted to slug the Polish couple and leave.
“There is nothing buried here,” the old woman said.
“Well, let’s try anyway,” Ruth said to Edek.
“We will try ourselves,” Edek said to the old couple.
“How much is it worth?” the old man said.
[ 5 0 8 ]
L I L Y B R E T T
“A hundred dollars,” Ruth said. Edek translated.
“It’s not enough,” the old woman said.
“Two hundred,” said Ruth.
“Not enough,” the old woman said.
“I’ll pay you more, if we find something,” Ruth said. “If we find some -
thing, I’ll pay you an extra five hundred dollars.”
Edek turned to Ruth. “What for do you offer them more money if we do find something?” he said.
“It’s expedient,” she said.
“We want more money than that,” the old man said. “What’s a few dollars to rich Jews?” He laughed. All of the brown stumps in his mouth were on display in the laugh. Ruth felt queasy.
“I can stop you from digging,” the old woman said. “After all, this is not your property.”
“Tadeusz, can you get our companion from the car?” Ruth said quietly.
“Tell him that this couple are making threats.”
“Certainly,” Tadeusz said. The old man and the old woman looked at Tadeusz walking away.
“Are we going to deal directly with each other?” the old man said to Edek. “Just us and you. We can do business together. I did some very good business with your daughter.”
“Don’t bother answering him,” Ruth said to Edek.
“We will accept five thousand dollars,” the old woman said. Ruth gasped. She thought she mustn’t have heard the number correctly. She looked at Edek. He looked numb.
“How much did she say, Dad?” Ruth said.
“Five thousand dollars,” Edek said, shaking his head.
“What’s a few more dollars to you?” the old man said.
“A few more dollars is nothing to her,” the old woman said.
“Tell her I said I’d pay an extra five hundred dollars if we found any -
thing,” Ruth said.
“If you really want me to say this, Ruthie, I will say it,” Edek said. “But I do not want to give them any more of our money.” Edek told the couple.
“That is not good enough for us,” the old woman said. “You Jews need to learn to treat Poles with respect.” Ruth could see Edek’s face clenching.
She felt sorry for him.
T O O M A N Y M E N
[ 5 0 9 ]
“Don’t let them get to you,” she said. “We can’t let them upset us.”
“I am okay,” Edek said. “We have a companion with us,” Edek said to the couple.
“A relative?” the old man said. “The cousin who buried this?”
“The cousin is no longer alive,” Edek said.
“I am very sorry,” said the old woman.
“Our companion is Polish,” Edek said. “I think we should let him negotiate on our behalf.”
“Negotiation is the right attitude,” the old man said, and grinned.
Tadeusz arrived back with the doorman. The doorman was carrying the spades and shovels. He nodded to Ruth and Edek. He walked over to the old couple.
“Good morning, good people,” he said in a very loud voice. “Are we having any trouble this morning?” The old man and woman looked at the doorman.
“All of a sudden they’re mute,” Ruth said to Edek.
“We are not really having trouble,” Edek said to the doorman. “This kind couple are merely trying to establish a price for allowing us to dig up a small part of their yard.”
“A price?” the doorman said. “Just to dig in a dirty old yard?” He moved closer to the old couple. He was three or four times their size, Ruth thought.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the old man said, trying to edge away from the doorman. “We have negotiated a price, the rich Jewess and I have agreed on a price.”
“The rich Jewess, did you hear that?” Ruth said to Edek.
“You do understand what he says?” Edek said to Ruth.
“Unfortunately, yes,” said Ruth.
“What is the price?” the doorman said to Ruth.
“Two hundred dollars now and five hundred when the digging is finished,” the old man answered.
“Five hundred if we find anything,” Ruth said to the doorman.
“That is very expensive,” the doorman said to Ruth. “Shall we try to lower the price?” he said, in Polish.
“An agreement is an agreement,” the old woman said vehemently. Both of her wigs shook.
[ 5 1 0 ]
L I L Y B R E T T
“I�
��m happy to stick to that,” Ruth said to the doorman. She got out her purse.
“Your money is in American dollars, I hope,” the old man said.
“Yes,” said Ruth. She handed the money to the doorman. “Give it to him, please,” she said. The old man counted the money and grinned.
“Do you want to dig?” Ruth said to Edek. “Or should we ask the doorman to help?”
“I will dig myself,” Edek said. He took one of the spades and looked at the ground. He started to push the spade into the earth. No one spoke. The ground was hard. Edek pushed and pushed. He was hardly making a dent.
“Let me help you, sir,” Tadeusz said.
“Why should you help?” the doorman said to Tadeusz. “I can help.”
“Dad, would you like me to try?” Ruth said.
“No,” said Edek. He kept digging. He managed to get through the top layer of frozen earth.
“Please,” said the doorman. “Let me assist you.”
“I am okay,” Edek said. He bent down and ran his fingers through the uncovered earth. The old man and his wife peered at Edek’s hands finger-ing the black earth he had brought up.
“Anything there?” the old man said, in a high-pitched voice. Ruth looked at the old man. His face was stretched and pulled into a large leer.
His wife, who was next to him, was shriveled and creased in concentration.
“I cannot see anything,” Edek said. He wiped his brow. Digging had made him hot. Ruth could see the sweat on his brow.
“Please, sir, let me,” the doorman said to Edek.
“No, thank you,” Edek said. He took off his jacket and handed it to Ruth.
Edek dug the spade into the ground and pushed it in farther with his foot. He brought out several more spadefuls of earth. Ruth watched her father. He was in the middle of a ritual. He didn’t want anyone’s help. This was his own ritual. His own upending and bringing up of something long buried. Something long swallowed and covered. It seemed like a funeral in reverse, Ruth thought. What would that be? A funeral in reverse? Rebirth, renewal, redemption? A small object, buried in the ground, couldn’t possibly cause rebirth, renewal, or redemption.
Edek kept digging. He was opening the earth. The earth that his mother T O O M A N Y M E N
[ 5 1 1 ]
and father and brothers and sister and nephews and nieces had all walked on. Ruth looked at the earth. It was very black. Ruth wanted to dig, too.
“Can I do some digging?” she said to Edek.
“No, Ruthie,” Edek said, standing up. “There is nothing there.” He had dug a large, deep hole. “There is nothing there,” Edek said again.
“You’re still going to pay for this,” the old man said. “You have dug a very big hole on our property.”
“You’ve spoiled our garden,” the old woman said. Both of them looked pinched and tense.
“Your garden?” Ruth said and laughed.
“Let me fix the hole up,” the doorman said. “There will be no mess left,” he said to the old couple. They looked grim. Ruth looked at her father. He looked flat. Deflated.
“I am sorry, Ruthie,” he said. “It is not here.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” she said. “We tried our best.”
“I am sorry to bring you here again,” Edek said to Ruth. “I did drag you all the way from Kraków for what? For nothing.”
“I’m fine,” said Ruth. “And it was good that we looked for whatever it was. Now at least you’ll know it’s not there.”
“Nothing is here,” Edek said. He looked as though he might cry. Ruth walked over to her father. She put her arm around him.
“We’ll be in New York, soon,” she said. “We can go to the Carnegie Deli and we can take Garth with us.” Edek tried to smile. Ruth felt flat herself. What had she been hoping for? She didn’t know. She just knew she had been hoping for something.
“We feel we are entitled to more money,” the old woman said, adjusting the upper wig. “We waited for you to do this, and now we have missed church.”
“You had a long list of confessions prepared, did you?” Ruth said.
“Do not translate this,” Edek said to Tadeusz.
“These people are the assholes of the earth,” Ruth said.
“Do not translate this, too,” Edek said.
The doorman laughed. Ruth saw that every one of his back teeth, upper and lower, was covered in gold.
“I like your language,” he said. “Assholes of the earth.”
“Please,” said Edek. “Do not speak like this.”
[ 5 1 2 ]
L I L Y B R E T T
“Forgive me,” the doorman said to Edek. “You will not pay them any extra?” the doorman said to Ruth.
“No,” she said.
“I will fill in the digging,” the doorman said to Edek. “And I will speak to the old couple.” He rolled up his sleeves.
Suddenly, Edek spun around. “I did just remember something what Herschel did say,” he said to Ruth. “Herschel did say he did bury it very close to the wall of the toilet, nearly under the wall.” Edek picked up the spade and walked to the wall of the outhouse. He began to dig. Everyone moved closer. Ruth, Tadeusz, the doorman, and the old couple were all now standing only a few feet from Edek.
“You will have to pay for this destruction,” the old man said. He was staring at Edek. Following the movements of the spade with his eyes. He looked almost mesmerized, Ruth thought.
“Destruction?” Ruth said. “In this place? This is landscaping we’re doing. Tadeusz, tell them we’re doing them a favor.” The old woman glared at Ruth. She had clearly understood the tone of the comment if not the content. Ruth smiled at her.
“This is not a helpful attitude,” Tadeusz said to Ruth.
“I don’t care,” she said.
She looked at Edek. He was still digging. He was glistening with sweat.
She felt worried about the effect of the stress and the physical exertion on him. But she knew that she had to let him dig. He dug for several minutes in silence. No one spoke. Edek had uncovered part of the foundation of one wall of the outhouse. What were they doing, she and Edek? Ruth thought. Here they were, in Lódz in this miserable, wretched, industrial city, with coal smoke in the air and soot in the souls of its inhabitants. What were they doing? Two Jews surrounded by four Poles, all of whom they were shelling out money to.
Ruth looked at the old man. A grimace of excitement filled his face. He was hopping from one of his skinny legs to the other. He seemed unable to keep still. His wife was scowling. Both of her feet were planted firmly on the ground. They were both staring at the spot Edek had now uncovered. Edek kept digging. Ruth wished that she could stop looking at the old man. His face was shiny. Every now and then a big grin slipped from his grimace.
“I think we are going to find something,” the old man said to his wife.
T O O M A N Y M E N
[ 5 1 3 ]
“Maybe we will,” she said. “Our luck has been with us lately.” The old man roared with laughter. He clutched his crotch in excitement. Ruth felt sick. The old woman looked at her husband clutching his crotch, and grinned. A wide, sly grin. Ruth felt furious. She wanted to blotch that grin.
To muddy it. To smudge it right off the old woman’s face. The old woman looked at Ruth and gestured with her head in the direction of the old man’s hand firmly gripped around his crotch. She grinned at Ruth. Ruth felt sick.
Ruth looked at the doorman. “Would it be possible for you to come back later?” she said to him.
“Yes,” he said.
“Good,” she said. “Could you come back and beat up this old couple for me?” The doorman looked at her. “I would pay you very well,” she said.
“I understand,” the doorman said.
“This is not a wise idea,” Tadeusz said.
“I wasn’t asking you,” said Ruth. She felt better. She smiled at the doorman. The doorman moved closer to Edek.
“Do you know what
your daughter has requested of me?” he said to Edek. The doorman lowered his voice. Ruth couldn’t hear the rest of what was being said. Edek stopped digging.
“What has got into you, Ruthie?” he said. Why did Edek keep asking her what had got into her?
“Nothing has got into me,” she said. “I’m still me. The same me. I just want to kill the old couple.”
“Ruthie, Ruthie,” Edek said.
“It’s okay, I won’t do anything,” she said.
Edek resumed his digging. He dug and dug. Half of the outhouse’s foundations now seemed to be exposed. Edek got down on his knees, and dug a hole at the base of the foundations. Suddenly he stiffened.
“I think I did find something.” Everyone crowded in.
“Step back please,” the doorman said to the old couple.
“I thought you looked in this spot,” the old woman said to her husband.
“I did,” the old man said. “But I didn’t look under the wall.”
“Idiot,” she said, and cuffed him on the back of the head. He cringed.
“We still get five hundred dollars from this,” he said to her.
“But who knows what he’s got hidden under that wall,” she said, in disgust.
[ 5 1 4 ]
L I L Y B R E T T
“Hit him again,” Ruth said to the old woman. The old woman spat in Ruth’s direction.
“Ruthie, Ruthie, column down,” said Edek. “I think I got something.”
He reached under the foundation and dug around with his fingers. He was lying stretched out on the ground.
“Could I help you?” the doorman said.
“I got it,” Edek said breathlessly. He pulled out a small object, and began removing the dirt from its surface. The old man and woman tried to get closer.
“What has he got? What has he got?” the old woman said.
“Step back please,” the doorman said. The old couple stepped back in unison. Like two schoolchildren who had been ordered to move by the headmaster. Ruth wanted to hug the doorman.
Edek got up. He had cleaned up the object. Ruth could see it. It was a small, rusty, flat tin. “I did find it,” Edek said, and smiled. He looked pleased with himself. Ruth looked up. Two strange men had arrived. They were standing there watching Edek.
“Who are you?” the doorman said to the men.