Henry & Sarah

by Kadrak, Suzanne

  “Tell me, wasnʼt there a problem when you married Yasmina?” Henry asked. “I mean, you are not Jewish after all. And as far as I know, Jews prefer that their sons and daughters marry Jews.”

  “Yasmina and her family are secular Jews. They are not orthodox in the same way as other Jews are. That allows them to make some exceptions in certain fields of their lives. Well, that at least applies to Yasmina and Esther. As for Bubbe, she is rather traditional. If it had been up to her, I wouldnʼt have been allowed to marry into her family. She grew very suspicious when Yasmina told her that she was in love with me. She called me an old kaker.”

  “A what?!”

  “Well, it means something like old fart.”

  Henry almost burst with laughter.

  “She didnʼt trust my abilities to raise and support a family,” Paul added. “But then she saw that I worked day and night and that I brought home some money. Ultimately, that made her change her mind. She still calls me a fart sometimes, but then she grins at me and I know she doesnʼt really mean it. It is a little teasing game which neither of us takes really seriously. As for Esther, she is really nice. In fact, she is like a mother to me...”

  Paul absent-mindedly stared at the cigarette in his hand.

  “You know, I am really glad that you were there for our dying mother when I couldnʼt,” he mumbled.

  “Donʼt you have any regrets, Paul,” Henry said softly, becoming aware of his brotherʼs qualms of conscience. “You wouldnʼt have managed to come over and arrive in London in time. Her death came quickly and unexpectedly. She didnʼt suffer all too much and simply fell asleep in my arms.”

  Paul nodded. Then silence filled the air.

  “Paul?” Henry asked after a little while, letting his gaze wander up and down the street. “How much does it cost to live in this area?”

  “Not as much as in other parts of the city,” Paul answered.

  “How much?” Henry asked yet again, seriously flirting with the idea of renting a place nearby for himself and Sarah. By no means did he want to move into one of those dreadful tenements which he had seen in the area around the harbour. He found that they might as well could go and sleep under a bridge.

  “Ten Dollars,” Paul answered.

  “A month? Thatʼs surprisingly cheap actually.”

  “That would indeed be surprisingly cheap, Henry,” Paul replied with a bitter laugh.

  Henry frowned.

  “Donʼt tell me that itʼs ten Dollars a day.”

  “No, that again would be far too expensive. I wouldnʼt be able to afford that. No, itʼs ten Dollars per week.”

  Henry tried not to let his disappointment show too much. Ten Dollars a week was cheaper than ten for a day, but still way more than he was able to spend right now.

  “Youʼll be fine, Henry,” Paul said encouragingly. “Go and apply for this position at Sandlerʼs place. I am sure he will employ you.”

  “How come that everyone seems to be so sure about this when I am not?”

  “Because you have always doubted yourself, Bonebreaker. Why donʼt you take Sarah as a living example for what you are capable of? And let Sarah help Yasmina with the sewing. That tailorʼs business of the Levys is going quite well. It will give Sarah something worthwhile to do. Apart from that, Sarahʼs company will surely be good for Yasmina as well, as she tends to brood quite a lot. She might appear rather merry at heart, but deep inside, she often suffers from strong emotions. On the one hand she feels homesick and misses Germany and the people she grew up with, but on the other hand she is struggling with the memories of what happened to her father... Sarah will distract her. And Yasmina in turn will distract Sarah who will surely also find herself struggling a little with the sudden changes in her life. I donʼt actually think that it would be wise to move into a flat with her in a rush now just because you are too bashful to accept our hospitality. Sarah would be all alone then once you start working. Thatʼs not good. She needs family around. Let her spend some time the Ladies Club up there. These girls are great company, believe me.”

  “I donʼt doubt this in the least,” Henry answered. “Alright then, we will stay for a little while. But I will pay you for it, I promise.”

  “Donʼt worry, Henry,” Paul said merrily and added, “You know what suddenly comes to my mind?”

  “What?”

  “Do you remember what our mother would say to us when we were children? She said, ʻIf you ever feel worry about what the future might bring or if you donʼt know which road to take, just look up to the firmament. Then you will see that God created as many opportunities as there are stars in the sky...ʼ”

  Henry had to smile at that memory.

  “Yes,” he whispered, “I actually do remember it very well, that comparison with the stars.”

  “Well, donʼt forget it then.”

  Paul winked at Henry, then he flipped the remnants of his cigarette on the ground, and the two men went back inside.

  * * *

  Back in the living room, Sarah was still sitting at the dinner table with Renana on her lap. The girl was fully immersed in drawing a picture of a horse.

  “That is a lovely picture,” Sarah remarked.

  “Do you like horses?” Renana asked.

  “Yes, I like them very much.”

  “A friend of my father has many horses,” Renana explained. “We go and visit them quite often, and then my father and his friend go for rides. You must ask my father if you can come with us. Maybe he lets you ride, too. And then you can also see the new baby horse.”

  “I would really love to…”

  Seeing Sarah at the table playing with the child, Henry felt his heart jump with joy in his chest. In this moment he just knew that Sarah would be a wonderful mother.

  How much I love you...

  As if Sarah had read his thoughts she suddenly raised her head, looked at him and cast him a happy smile, which he returned.

  In the meantime, Yasmina and Esther were busy preparing dinner in the kitchen. The whole room was filled with the smell of freshly cut vegetables, fish and broth, which reminded Henry that he was actually quite hungry. To his inner amusement, Yasmina had made Oscar put on an apron and had assigned him with the task of peeling potatoes; something which he seemed to rather enjoy as it gave him a chance to flirt a little with the two women.

  Henry sat down next to Bubbe, and after a few minutes of watching Yasmina, Esther and Oscar cook, he fell into a pleasant slumber which he only woke from an hour later when it was time for lunch.

  When they had all assembled round the table, Yasmina sung a short Yiddish prayer. Then she and Esther served chicken soup, followed by something called Gefilte Fish—meatballs made of sliced pieces of whitefish mixed with eggs, salt, pepper, onions, and flour. For dessert, they had baked cakes dipped in molasses, which Yasmina called Pirushkes. Sarah ate eight of them.

  After lunch everyone helped clear the table. With the weather being rather mild and sunny, Esther suggested that they should all go for a walk while she would take care of the washing up. And so, Yasmina and Sarah helped the children put their coats on, then Yasmina linked arms with Sarah while Sarah in turn took Renana by the hand, and together they followed Henry, Oscar, and Paul outside.

  It wasnʼt too cold and the sun shone down on them as they were taking a walk through the borough until they reached a very noble area with innumerable wonderful villas and beautiful little parks.

  “This is Brooklyn Heights,” Yasmina whispered reverentially. “Thatʼs where all the rich people live. Mr. Sandler has a house here as well, hasnʼt he, Paul?”

  “He does indeed,” Paul answered. “Just that I wouldnʼt really call it a plain house. Considering its dimensions it rather reminds me of a fortress…”

  Henry could immediately understand why everyone seemed to be attracted to this area and why it was obviously a place which only very wealthy people such as diplomats, politicians, and rich entrepreneurs could afford: It was because of the spec
tacular view over the bay that it was offering.

  “From here you can see the East River, Brooklyn Bridge, and the skyline of Lower Manhattan,” Paul explained as they were walking along the promenade which lined the shore.

  “And there is Governorʼs Island and the Statue of Liberty,” Yasmina added.

  Paulʼs and Yasminaʼs fingers excitedly pointed into all directions at the same time, and Henry didnʼt know at all where to look first.

  Suddenly he began to feel as if he had already lived here for all of his life. Nothing seemed unfamiliar to him. He was unable to tell, though, if it was only due to the fact that he was with Paul, Oscar and Sarah, who werenʼt strangers to him after all, or due to the fact that Yasmina, Esther and Bubbe were giving him the feeling that he was already part of the family. All he knew was that he felt at home and happy as he was being surrounded by all the people he loved.

  “Oh no, there we go again...” Yasmina suddenly moaned and pulled a face. Henry turned his head into the direction she was looking and tried to understand what she meant, but all he could see were two young women who were lingering a little bit further down the road, one of them holding a parasol in her hands, the other one sporting a big hat. They were chuckling nervously and pointing at Paul, who cleared his throat and let his hand nervously run through his hair a couple of times as if he was already expecting that the women would shortly come over to him—which, to Henryʼs surprise, they did.

  When the two ladies arrived, they quickly mumbled a greeting into the direction of Yasmina, Sarah, Oscar and Henry, but other than that they only had eyes for Paul.

  “We are terribly sorry to disturb you, Mr. Abbott,” the woman with the parasol said and blushed a little. “It is you, isnʼt it?”

  “It is indeed,” Paul answered politely and obviously flattered.

  “You see, Charlotte, I told you it was him,” the woman hissed to her friend and then turned to Paul again, chuckling nervously. “She just wouldnʼt believe me.”

  “Margaret and I just wanted to express our admiration and inform you how impressed we were with your latest performance,” the woman with the big hat remarked.

  “Thank you very much. I am glad you enjoyed it,” Paul replied and blushed.

  “Oh, we did not only enjoy it. We were spellbound!” Charlotte exclaimed. “We so much loved the part when you said, ʻSo shoot me then and know that thy deed shalt not remain unatoned, for my people will know that I died for them!ʼ”

  Paul took a slight bow and blushed yet again.

  “Oh, please, do tell us, Mr. Abbott, when can we except another stage performance of yours?” Margaret asked excitedly.

  “Well, I am currently preparing for a play that is called Sodom and Gomorrah,” Paul explained.

  “Is it a romantic story again?” Charlotte enquired, a curious flicker in her eyes.

  “Well, not really. It actually is about the life of a destitute writer, who is an alcoholic and ends up going insane, having visions of black cockroaches until he ultimately believes he is one himself.”

  For a moment Margaret and Charlotte stared at Paul with a blank expression on their faces.

  “Oh, well, that sounds very interesting,” Charlotte finally said, “and very challenging, I suppose.”

  “It is challenging indeed,” Paul said, “especially that part with the cockroach...”

  “Well, we should go now,” Charlotte said to Margaret. “We do not want to disturb Mr. Abbott any longer, as he is apparently having a family day.”

  “He is indeed,” Yasmina snapped, obviously jealous, her eyes sending out little flying daggers over to the two women.

  “Well then, the best of luck to you—and your family, of course,” Margaret said, then she and Charlotte hesitantly turned around and walked way, huge smiles on their faces.

  “Paul, what the hell was all that about?” Henry asked, rather surprised and amused by the incident.

  “He is a rising star on the local theater stages!” Yasmina explained proudly.

  Henry looked at his brother in wonder.

  “Why have you never told me?”

  “Well,” Paul began, “I think that in one of my letters to you I mentioned that I had got somewhat interested in acting a while ago. It was really only meant as a kind of distraction, a vent so to speak after long days of doing dull and hard work at the docks. I needed to do something to keep me mentally sane. Anyway, I began to attend an actorsʼ workshop, run by some really talented people who happened to have some connections to well-known stage producers. With the help of the people from the workshop I managed to get some minor parts as a supernumerary every now and then; you know, these extras who play people in crowds or corpses—in short, characters whom the audience hardly notices and doesnʼt really remember once the performance is over. I was happy with that; it got me a little additional money. Well, at some stage I was offered a part as a messenger in a historical play. That part was originally meant for someone else, but that someone had tripped over one of the cords of the stage curtain shortly before the performance started. He had broken his leg and was from then on unable to play. He only had two or three lines to say, and the stage producer, who was rather under pressure, demanded that someone from the extras should fill in. And as I happened to stand right next to him, he grabbed me by the collar, dragged me out of the crowd of extras, and barked at me, ʻYou! You get out there and do it. Quick!ʼ And so I went out on stage and said my few lines.”

  “And then?” Henry asked curiously.

  “Can you believe that the next day the headlines of all the papers wrote ʻA new star is born!ʼ” Yasmina threw in. “Everybody was impressed by Paulʼs little performance. The critics said that he practically overshadowed all the other actors. Eventually, he got really big important parts; for example, in ʻDawn over the Creek,ʼ a rather emotional and dramatic tale about love and hate and the likes, which made all women swoon and got us enough money to afford that sewing machine we so desperately needed. Mother and I were in no way able to deal with all the orders from our customers manually. We had a huge backlog of work. In this regard ʻDawn over the Creekʼ really came just in time.”

  “I have been leading sort of a double life ever since,” Paul added. “During the day I am the worker at the docks, and on the weekends I am the celebrated actor whom people occasionally recognize on the streets.”

  “And are you really going to play a cockroach?” Henry asked slightly amused.

  “Well, I am still at a stage where I canʼt really afford to be all too choosy... But it is good money.”

  Suddenly, Renana appeared next to Paul, tugging at the sleeve of his coat.

  “Papa, when you are rich, can I have a puppy dog?”

  Paul knelt down in front of his daughter wrapped his arms around her tiny waist.

  “Of course you can, my little princess...” he said softly and kissed her forehead.

  “And can I then have that lovely green dress from that store in 5th Avenue?” Yasmina grinned coquettishly. “And Bubbe needs new glasses! And Esther new shoes!”

  “Yes, I will try and fulfill all your desires.” Paul sighed and then turned to Henry again. “You see, the peace of mind of a whole family depends on my interpretation of a silly cockroach...”

  The men laughed and merrily continued their walk until the late afternoon.

  * * *

  In the evening, Paul and Henry were sitting at the table over a glass of wine, talking about how London had changed during the years of Paulʼs absence. In the meantime, Oscar was attentively listening to Esther as she explained to him the principles, traditions and beliefs of the Jewish culture, and Yasmina was showing Sarah how the sewing machine worked and how to do cross-stitches with it.

  Henry was glad to see that Sarah looked happy and proud, especially when Yasmina let her make a seam on a vestment ordered by regular customer Rabbi Schlomo Grünspan, who was the head of a nearby synagogue.

  “You are doing very well,” Yasmina rema
rked and handed Sarah another unfinished piece of garment. “That one here is not so important. You can mess with it. It is just a pair of Paulʼs knickers which needs to be mended...”

  Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

  “That will surely be the Rosenzweigs,” Esther said. Then she got up from her chair and rushed over to the door.

  “The Rosenzweigs are lovely people,” Paul told Henry. “They live just across the road. We got to know them shortly after we had moved here.”

  The next moment, the Rosenzweigs entered the room.

  “Henry, Oscar, Sarah, this is Samuel Rosenzweig, his wife Leah, and their daughter Tamar,” Esther introduced the family.