have a boy ask you out for the first time.” She patted my arm. “Please, dear, sit down.”
I lowered myself back into my chair. “Please, Mom! Please, Dad! Let me go.”
“We already told her she could go,” Dad said. “Be reasonable, Agi.”
“But, Jonah, it’s Shabbos dinner.”
“I’m sure the … er, what’s their name, Alex?”
“Pearlman.”
“I’m sure the Pearlmans are perfectly respectable people. There’s nothing wrong with her going to their house.”
“But Shabbos dinner!” Mom repeated.
“If you won’t let her go, you must explain why,” Dad said.
Mom gave a shuddering sigh. There was an almost palpable cloud of unhappiness surrounding her. “You may tell your friend, Alexandra,” she finally said in a melancholy voice, “that you can have dinner with his family.”
I bit my lip to keep my tears from falling. “What’s going on, Mom? I’ve never seen you act like this. You’re scaring me!”
“Agi, can’t you see that it’s time for Alexandra to be told the truth?” Dad asked.
“Mom, please tell me what’s wrong!” I sounded desperate even to my own ears.
She squared her shoulders. “I can’t, my darling. Not yet. Give me time.” She got up from the sofa and hobbled over to my chair to kiss me on the forehead. “Be patient with your old mother,” she said. “I have a lot of thinking to do.”
Chapter 8
O ur teachers had a staff meeting on Friday afternoon, so we were let out of school early. As I hurried home, I realized that I had forgotten to give Mom the note about the early dismissal It didn’t really matter because I had my own key, and anyway she was always home.
I let myself into the house. Through the kitchen door, I could hear my mother talking to somebody in a strange language. I was fairly certain it wasn’t Hungarian, which I usually recognized, but some other language I’d never heard before.
I peered around the doorframe and saw Mom standing beside the kitchen table, her hands fluttering over thebright flame of two tapers in my grandmother’s candlesticks. Her eyes were closed and her hair was covered by a scarf. At the sound of my footsteps, she spun toward me, her face white and full of surprise.
“Hi, Mom. What are you doing?”
“Nothing … nothing,” she stammered. “I was just praying.”
“But you never pray! And why is your head covered?”
She didn’t meet my eyes. “Covering our heads was an old custom in my church back home.”
“Well, what language were you speaking? It didn’t sound like Hungarian.”
“I was using an old dialect my mother taught me. I’ll teach it to you when you’re older.” She blew out the flames and put the candlesticks into a cupboard. “Why are you so early?”
“The teachers had a meeting. I forgot to give you the note.”
She sighed. “Alexandra, you must become more responsible.” She looked at me and smiled. “Take your books upstairs. I’ll get you something to eat in the meantime. I baked some cookies for you today.”
I ran up to my room, dropped my school bag to the floor, and went to my closet to take out the dress I was going to wear that night. Molly was coming over, and I wanted to try it on for her. But the dress wasn’t in thecloset. I pushed aside all of the hangers and looked more carefully. Mom always hung my dry-cleaned clothes in my closet after she picked them up from Freddy’s, but the dress definitely wasn’t there.
I bounded back down the stairs two at a time. She was at the kitchen table, reading and smoking. A plate of cookies and a glass of milk were waiting for me.
“Where’s my new dress?” I asked. “I can’t find it anywhere.”
She looked up reluctantly, her index finger separating the pages of her book. “You’ll have to wear something else,” she said. “Your father was held up at the office, and Freddy’s was closed by the time he got home.”
“Why didn’t you go by yourself?” I yelled. “It’s so close by that you
I lowered myself back into my chair. “Please, Mom! Please, Dad! Let me go.”
“We already told her she could go,” Dad said. “Be reasonable, Agi.”
“But, Jonah, it’s Shabbos dinner.”
“I’m sure the … er, what’s their name, Alex?”
“Pearlman.”
“I’m sure the Pearlmans are perfectly respectable people. There’s nothing wrong with her going to their house.”
“But Shabbos dinner!” Mom repeated.
“If you won’t let her go, you must explain why,” Dad said.
Mom gave a shuddering sigh. There was an almost palpable cloud of unhappiness surrounding her. “You may tell your friend, Alexandra,” she finally said in a melancholy voice, “that you can have dinner with his family.”
I bit my lip to keep my tears from falling. “What’s going on, Mom? I’ve never seen you act like this. You’re scaring me!”
“Agi, can’t you see that it’s time for Alexandra to be told the truth?” Dad asked.
“Mom, please tell me what’s wrong!” I sounded desperate even to my own ears.
She squared her shoulders. “I can’t, my darling. Not yet. Give me time.” She got up from the sofa and hobbled over to my chair to kiss me on the forehead. “Be patient with your old mother,” she said. “I have a lot of thinking to do.”
Chapter 8
O ur teachers had a staff meeting on Friday afternoon, so we were let out of school early. As I hurried home, I realized that I had forgotten to give Mom the note about the early dismissal It didn’t really matter because I had my own key, and anyway she was always home.
I let myself into the house. Through the kitchen door, I could hear my mother talking to somebody in a strange language. I was fairly certain it wasn’t Hungarian, which I usually recognized, but some other language I’d never heard before.
I peered around the doorframe and saw Mom standing beside the kitchen table, her hands fluttering over thebright flame of two tapers in my grandmother’s candlesticks. Her eyes were closed and her hair was covered by a scarf. At the sound of my footsteps, she spun toward me, her face white and full of surprise.
“Hi, Mom. What are you doing?”
“Nothing … nothing,” she stammered. “I was just praying.”
“But you never pray! And why is your head covered?”
She didn’t meet my eyes. “Covering our heads was an old custom in my church back home.”
“Well, what language were you speaking? It didn’t sound like Hungarian.”
“I was using an old dialect my mother taught me. I’ll teach it to you when you’re older.” She blew out the flames and put the candlesticks into a cupboard. “Why are you so early?”
“The teachers had a meeting. I forgot to give you the note.”
She sighed. “Alexandra, you must become more responsible.” She looked at me and smiled. “Take your books upstairs. I’ll get you something to eat in the meantime. I baked some cookies for you today.”
I ran up to my room, dropped my school bag to the floor, and went to my closet to take out the dress I was going to wear that night. Molly was coming over, and I wanted to try it on for her. But the dress wasn’t in thecloset. I pushed aside all of the hangers and looked more carefully. Mom always hung my dry-cleaned clothes in my closet after she picked them up from Freddy’s, but the dress definitely wasn’t there.
I bounded back down the stairs two at a time. She was at the kitchen table, reading and smoking. A plate of cookies and a glass of milk were waiting for me.
“Where’s my new dress?” I asked. “I can’t find it anywhere.”
She looked up reluctantly, her index finger separating the pages of her book. “You’ll have to wear something else,” she said. “Your father was held up at the office, and Freddy’s was closed by the time he got home.”
“Why didn’t you go by yourself?” I yelled. “It’s so close by that you
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