Recap: Aida’s family hasn’t heard from her father at all since he left on his business trip. Aida’s mother is ill and needs to go to North America to have surgery. Aida is told to go to Rabbi H to ask for help
I headed to Rabbi H’s home but I decided to stop by Stella. She would be home by now.
The sound of a beautiful piano sonata drifted into the courtyard.
I knocked hard and Perel, Stella’s sister, answered.
“Stella, Aida is here,” she called.
I stepped into the living room. Stella had reached a crescendo in the music. I listened trying to calm my fast-beating heart.
Stella looked up from the piano. “Aida, what’s wrong. You look so pale.”
“My mother is having her heart problem, and you know that my father is away. We haven’t heard from him at all. Dr. Brownstein said she needs an operation and it can’t be done here in Syria. She has to apply to go to America.”
“Come sit. I’ll get you a glass of ice water. You look so unwell.”
I sat on the plush white velvet couch. I recited the brachah and sipped ice water with a straw.
“Can you come with me? I have to go to Rabbi H and ask him for help to get a visa for Ima. I’m so scared, Stella.”
“Of course I’ll come with you. Let me go tell my mother.”
We headed back out into the late afternoon.
“Have you heard from your father yet?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“I’m sure you will soon,” she said.
I wished I felt sure of that. Right now, I felt my whole world was turning upside down.
Rabbi H was in his study and he ushered us in. There was something calming about viewing his floor to ceiling s’farim and his kind sympathetic demeanor.
“How can I help you girls?” He asked.
I told him what Dr. Brownstein said. Rabbi H’s eyes filled with concern.
“Your mother should have a r’fuah sh’leimah. Hashem yaazor.”
He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out some forms.
“Take these home and have your mother fill in the information. Bring them back as soon as you can. I will contact the woman in Canada who helps us with these situations. With Hashem’s help, we should be able to procure a visa and a plane ticket for your mother.”
I rose and thanked the rav.
Stella motioned for me to wait. “Rabbi H, her father is away in Canada, and she hasn’t heard from him.”
“I will inquire from my contact,” he said.
As we were leaving, I suddenly realized it was Thursday and I had a piano lesson in 15 minutes. “Stella, I can’t be late again. Oh, no!”
I raced home. I was out of breath when I ran inside.
Mrs. Thorn wasn’t there yet. I was so glad. I didn’t want her prickly criticism about me being late again.
Ima was on the couch. “Are you any better?”
She nodded but her cheeks were so pale.
I handed her the papers. “These are from Rabbi H,” I said.
Just then, there was a knock and Katlin ushered Mrs. Thorn into the room.
Mrs. Thorn marched towards the living room and I followed her.
“Begin with the F Major scale. I want a steady rhythm.”
I played everything she asked with almost no mistakes.
She was busy jotting down my assignment for next week. “Is your father away now?”
Why was she asking me that? She mut be worried about getting paid.
“I have the payment. I’ll go get it.” Abba had left three weeks’ worth of payment for the lessons in envelopes in his desk.
“Where does he go on business?” She asked and her voice, which was usually harsh, took on a softer tone.
I didn’t want to answer but I didn’t want to be rude.
“I think Canada,” I blurted, regretting it as soon as the word escaped my lips.
“Hmm, Canada. Have you heard from him?”
I squirmed in my seat. I didn’t want to continue this conversation.
“Thank you for the lesson.” I handed her the envelope.
She strode away.
I sat in front of the piano without playing a note, just thinking how odd it was that she kept asking me about my father. I shouldn’t have disclosed what I knew. Any information could be dangerous. What if I endangered my father now? Why did Mrs. Thorn want to know about him anyway?
…
I checked on Ima. She was sitting up in bed reading. “How was your lesson?”
“Fine,” I said. I wasn’t going to trouble Ima with my concern over Mrs. Thorn’s odd questions.
“Please go to the post office to see if any mail has come for us or a telegram.”
I went, hoping something would be there. It would give Ima a lift, but still there was no word.
I strolled over to Stella’s house for the second time that day. I wanted to ask her about Mrs. Thorn and if she thought I should stop my lessons. There was something so unsettling about Mrs. Thorn’s questions.
“It is odd,” Stella said. “Very odd.”
She whispered in my ear. “You know there are spies everywhere in the Jewish quarter.”
What if Mrs. Thorn was a spy? I wiped beads of sweat from my forehead.
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).
