The Featherbed. Джон Миллер

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СКАЧАТЬ side by side dressed in dark clothing with startled, almost frightened, expressions on their faces.

      “Yes. On my father’s side. They live in Poland. I understand they know your family there too.”

      “Yes, or so my father tells me. But I don’t remember them.” He scratched at his cheek with his pinky.

      “I didn’t realize you ever met them at all. How old were you when you left?”

      “Seven.”

      “Then I suppose you wouldn’t.”

      “No.”

      He picked up his cup and sipped a little. An amber drop of tea clung to a hair just below his lip. She tried not to look.

      “I understand you live here with a boarder,” he said. “It must be quite cramped.”

      “It is. Her name’s Ida, and we share a bed. I barely get any sleep because she chatters incessantly. But then it’s the same everywhere, isn’t it?”

      “Yes, where we are, too.”

      “I shouldn’t really complain.”

      “No, it’s quite all right. I know what it’s like. We don’t have a boarder, but cousin Sophie takes care of us, and we only have two rooms. So that means I share a bed with my father.”

      “Ugh. As bad as it is with Ida, I can’t imagine sharing a room with my parents.”

      “It’s not the best situation, obviously, but then none of us is rich people.”

      “We should only be so lucky.”

      “Yes.”

      “Indeed.”

      Silence swooped in, exposing the creaking of her chair.

      “Excuse me for a second,” she said; she got up and slammed a fist down on the seat, locking the loose leg into place. When she sat back down, she noticed that Isaac seemed startled, and realized that what she had just done was probably considered unladylike. She decided it best to move the conversation along.

      “I hope you don’t think I’m being rude,” she said, “but may I ask when your mother passed away?”

      “It’s okay to ask. It was four years ago. After that, cousin Sophie came from Poland to be with us.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      “Thank you. It’s been hard on my father.”

      “He doesn’t seem so well, if you don’t mind my saying.” She wanted to say neither do you, though at least now his cheeks were flushing a little bit.

      “He hasn’t been the same since she died. He was beginning to get a little confused beforehand, but it’s been worse since then.”

      “It’s lucky your cousin could come, then.”

      “Yes, it is.”

      Rebecca got up to put more cookies on the plate. She thought she would die if the conversation didn’t get more interesting. At least it was moving, but more like a hunchback dragging a lame foot. When she sat down she was aware of Isaac staring at her face again.

      “What is it? Do I have a crumb?”

      “No, no, that’s not it. I was just noticing you’re quite pretty.”

      She felt her neck get hot. “Thank you, but you don’t have to say that.”

      “I know.”

      “These situations ... These arrangements are so outside of our control. It doesn’t really matter what we think, does it?”

      “But it doesn’t hurt when you find a person pleasing.”

      Rebecca turned her face away. She wondered if she should say something about him; it was the polite thing to do, but it didn’t feel right. He wasn’t bad looking, really, but to say he was attractive would seem forced. She picked up the teapot and felt its weight. It was almost full.

      “Should I make more tea?” she said.

      “No, don’t, let’s go for a walk. I want to show you the street I was thinking we could move to when we’re married.”

      “Are you sure? What if our parents come back, shouldn’t we wait?”

      “Don’t worry — we won’t be gone long.”

      “Okay,” she said, removing the tray from the table. Actually she was relieved that they would be getting outdoors. At least walking with him the silences would be less uncomfortable. They wouldn’t have to look at one another.

      Isaac helped her on with her coat, and they left the apartment. When they reached the street, the cold air slapped her face, and the sweet-sickly smell of burning garbage tickled her nostrils. She looked left and right to see who was outside. Thank God she didn’t see Mr. Zussel. Thank God it was the Sabbath and he took the day off. She couldn’t have faced an encounter with him right now, it would surely have involved embarrassing questions and very probably some teasing.

      The street traffic was sparse, but not enough for her liking. People she recognized from the neighbourhood were still returning from services, walking briskly along to get out of the cold as quickly as possible. A family that lived a few buildings down and to whom they had been introduced once at shul nodded at her as they passed, then slowed down and stared as she walked by. It might have been her imagination, but she felt their eyes following her, as if her body, flanked by Isaac’s, were exerting some magnetic pull on their faces.

      The wind picked up as she moved around the corner, intensified by the tunnel effect of the buildings. A cloud of dust picked up, and she squeezed her eyes shut until it passed. It hadn’t rained in a few days, so the usually swamp-like street had dried up, leaving a shifting layer of grime on top of dry, cracked earth. In this state, their boots were temporarily safe from mud and sog, but now the rest of their clothes would acquire a fine, brown coating. A scarf pulled from her pocket and wrapped around her face protected her from the next lashing.

      Isaac pulled a cap out from under his coat. “This is one of mine. Do you like it?”

      She looked it over. It was grey wool, smooth and neatly made, but she could find no features that distinguished it from hundreds of her father’s that she had seen.

      “It’s very nice.”

      “Look at the stitching. Yekl taught me that.”

      She looked at the seam near the brim, but still could not notice anything special. She decided it would be best to steer the conversation elsewhere.

      “You work with him, my father told me. He seems like a good man.”

      “Yes, he’s been very kind. He’s taught me everything I know. He says when he dies I can have his part in the business.”

      “That’s lucky for you.”

      “For СКАЧАТЬ