Recap: Two Canadian security agents come to check out the envelope with Arabic writing. There’s a letter inside threatening Aliza and her siblings if her mother doesn’t stop her work of helping Jews to escape out of Syria. Aliza and her siblings are assigned security guards. Aliza is upset about this. She just wants to be a regular girl.
The next day, Yeshaya, Daliya, and Reuvie came over for dinner.
“Come on upstairs. We can play a game together,” I offered half-heartedly.
Daliya followed me upstairs.
I stepped into my room, and she followed.
“This is a small bedroom,” she said.
“It’s not small,” I said.
“Well, I mean compared to my house. We have bigger rooms, I guess.”
“So?”
“Sorry, I guess that wasn’t such a nice remark.”
I pulled out a Monopoly game and we sat down on the floor to play.
I didn’t want to respond to her thoughtless remark with anger. She seemed like an unhappy girl.
“Do you know when the wedding will be?” she asked.
I hadn’t thought about that.
“Uh, no. I hope not for a while.”
“Yeah, my mother passed away a year ago. It feels weird, if you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do.”
We played the game and, afterwards, I decided Daliya wasn’t so bad. I wouldn’t choose her as a best friend or anything, but she was okay.”
…
I was in bed trying to sleep but I just kept thinking about having a guard following me. Why did Mommy have to do this dangerous work? Why couldn’t she just be a normal regular mother?
I heard whispers coming from downstairs. I know it’s not polite to listen in, but I sat on the stairs and listened.
“Yeshaya, look, this isn’t fair to you or your children. I can’t do this to you. We have to break off the engagement.”
I slid closer. Were they breaking it off?
I felt happy. Then I felt like I was mean when I heard Mommy crying.
There was silence except for her soft sobs.
Then it sounded like Yeshaya left.
Good. Mommy must have broken the engagement. I didn’t want it. We didn’t need any replacement father.
I thought of all the things I would say to Mommy to help her feel better and to explain why what she did was the right thing. I went to sleep thinking how good things would be now that Yeshaya and his kids were out of the picture.
…
The next morning, I skipped downstairs. Dovid had left for shul and Zevi and Reuvie were in the living room laying blocks all over the place. It looked like Reuvie was still going to be coming to play a lot.
“This is my city,” Zevi said. “Reuvie, you get the truck. This is the road.”
“Hey, Zevi, where’s Mommy?”
“She’s upstairs.”
“She was crying,” Reuvie said.
Well, it would take her time to get over this whole thing but she’d see it was for the best.
Carol was in the kitchen laying out the cereal bowls. “You got up late.”
“I’m gonna go daven.”
“Maybe go see if your mother wants breakfast?”
I strode upstairs and knocked on Mommy’s door.
“Come in.”
Mommy was lying in bed. Her eyes were red, and she didn’t look at all like her usual energetic self.
“Good morning, honey. What’s up?”
“Carol wanted to know when you want breakfast.”
“No breakfast. I can’t eat anything.”
“Mommy, it’s really––” I was going to say “for the best” but she stopped me.
“Lizzie, I’m not feeling well. Please go down and keep an eye on the boys. Carol has to go out and I’m not up to it.”
I went back downstairs.
The phone rang.
Carol answered it. “It’s for your mother.”
“She’s not feeling well.”
“Sorry, she’s not––”
“He says it’s important.”
“Who is it?” I asked, knowing it must be him.
“Yeshaya,” Carol said.
“I’ll go up and tell your mother.”
“She doesn’t want to speak to him,” I said.
Carol shot me a funny look and proceeded to head upstairs.
I didn’t want Mommy to speak with him. The engagement was off. Why couldn’t he get that?
Just then, there was a knock at the door. The two agents from the day before were standing in the doorway.
“There are two guards on surveillance outside. Just wanted you to come see who they are,” Henry said.
Reluctantly, I followed him outside. There was a nondescript black car parked across the street. It looked like an old Ford. Henry knocked on the window.
The window slowly opened. Henry motioned me to come close.
“Jake and Bernard.”
The men were both wearing dark glasses.
“Make sure you know what they look like,” Henry said.
I didn’t want to know what they looked like. I didn’t want to have one of them following me around.
“They’ll be outside here until one of you kids decides to go somewhere.”
He handed me a small envelope. “Inside are three small alarms. Give one to each of your siblings. You push the button if you are in trouble or suspect someone is after you.”
“Thank you,” I said, wishing these people would all just disappear from my life.
I plodded back into the house.
Carol was fussing around the kitchen. “I’m worried about your mother,” she said.
“Why?”
“She hasn’t eaten anything all day and she won’t take any phone calls. It’s just not like her. Can you speak to her, Aliza? Dovid isn’t home or I would ask him.”
I headed upstairs and knocked on Mommy’s door.
“Come in,” she said.
She was still lying in bed, and tears were streaming down her cheek.
I suddenly felt alarmed. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry. I’m just sad. I can’t seem to pull myself together. I’m sorry.”
“Can I bring you some water or tea?” I asked, trying to think of what I could do.
“Okay,”
When I went back downstairs, Dovid was there.
I asked him to come speak to me in Mommy’s office.
“Dovid, Mommy’s really not doing––”
“I know.”
“What can we do?”
“Aliza, don’t you realize why she’s upset?”
“It’s cause of us. She had to break off her engagement because of us.”
“But I thought that was good. I mean I don’t want a replacement father. Do you?”
Dovid sighed. “You saw how happy she was the past few weeks. She was happier than I’ve seen her since before Daddy passed away. And now? Do you think maybe you were thinking about your happiness and not at all about hers?”
I looked down at the floor. “I thought of how I’d been so happy when really it was hurting Mommy so much. “But it’s not our fault. I mean we didn’t ask those terrorists to––”
“I know, but Mommy knows how you feel.”
The bell rang.
Yeshaya and Daliya were at the door. Carol let them in.
“I came to pick up Reuvie,” Yeshaya said. He saw me and said, “Hi, Aliza.”
I nodded.
Dovid urged me.
I cleared my throat.
“My mother’s really sad. Do you think maybe you could speak with her? I mean maybe you could help her feel better,” I said.
Carol nodded. “Yes, please speak with her. I’ll go get her.”
Mommy trudged down the stairs with Carol behind her.
Dovid motioned me to come into another room. I followed him upstairs but I plunked down on a high stair to listen. This was affecting my life. I wanted to know what was happening.
…
There was no sound except for Mommy weeping.
“Look, Beth, Hashem put us together. It’s wrong what’s happening. We have to have emunah. This break-up is not good for me or for you. I will not break it off. We are going to be a family, and families stick together when there’s trouble. What you and your husband started was something so important – such a huge mitzvah – pikuach nefesh. There is no way I will pull away and let you fight all this evil alone. Hashem wants us to be a team – to continue what you and your late husband, zichrono livrachah, started.”
“But the safety of your children.”
“We will be in this together. CISS can send agents to watch my kids, too.”
…
When I came back downstairs, Mommy was smiling through her tears.
Oh, Aliza.” She hugged me. “Hashem is so good to me. I can’t believe what a wonderful man He sent me. I am so fortunate to have had such a wonderful husband, and now to be blessed with a new companion who wants to continue his work.”
I saw Daliya sitting in the den, watching our brothers playing with Zevi’s trucks.
“Do you want to come up and see something I have. It’s a journal and you might find it interesting.”
Daliya followed me upstairs.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of an historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams (a novel, Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022), and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).