If I Forget Thee
by Lev Stone

a sequel to Doors

Chapter 6

Eli was a ball of seemingly inextinguishable energy. Lev and Bill could barely keep up with him as he ran around the apartment.

"My little monkey," sighed Jon as he watched Eli climb onto Lev’s back and over his head.

Within four hours, Eli was so tired out that he fell asleep on the couch, his head in Lev’s lap and feet in Bill’s. Bill was also fast asleep. Jon pulled up a chair and sat next to them.

"I’ll let him nap, but not on the couch," he whispered. Jon picked up Eli and carried him to his room. Lev followed.

"Let’s go outside," said Jon, "I don’t want to wake Bill."

They left the house and walked through the streets of Ba’ka. Once they reached the apartment building where they once lived together, they stopped walking and sat down on a nearby bench.

"So when did you and Bill get together?" asked Jon.

"Months ago," said Lev, "In a different lifetime."

"But you’re not still together?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Lev took a deep breath. "Yes. It’s over. It’s been over for a while."

"May I ask why?"

"It’s a whole bunch of little reasons that just added up over time. We’re from different worlds, we want different things, and we’re going to different places in our lives. By staying together we were only holding each other back."

"I see," said Jon, "And you both agreed to that."

"No," said Lev, "I agreed to it, he didn’t. I’m glad we’re able to be friends though. At the time, I thought he took the break-up really hard."

"What happened, Lev? The last time I got an e-mail from you, you were planning to go to Boston to do a year of service. Then I hear you’re in England with no plans for returning. Today I meet Bill and I understand why you stayed, and then you tell me that the two of you broke up. But the way you two act around each other…. It’s upsetting to think you’re no longer together. So, nu, what happened?"

Lev looked down at the bench. "I was planning on going to Boston. I went to England to do some research, just for fun – on those demi-goddesses I mentioned at lunch. Also, I’d never been to England before. I met Bill through a mutual friend. We hit it off so I deferred my year of service to stay in England. I took an editing job at a small paper and some, um, night classes. Bill had been working in Egypt, but moved back to London so we could be together. He put in for a transfer to his bank’s Boston branch so that we could move to America the next year.

"And then his bank threw us for a loop. Cairo wanted him back and offered him a ridiculous amount of money. He comes from family where money is always tight; he had to seriously consider it. The Boston offer couldn’t compete. Then we find out Cairo wanted him immediately. I didn’t want to move to Egypt, Jon. I wanted to finish what I was doing and then go home and fulfill my obligations. But I couldn’t let him pass up the opportunity. He has friends in Cairo, he won’t have that in Boston. And then there’s my family. You remember them, yes? What they’re like?"

Jon closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Exactly," Lev continued, "So I told him that I thought a relationship between us just couldn’t work out, that he should take that job in Cairo, and I’d finish up my work in England and go to Boston by myself. A few days later I moved out of his flat, er sorry, apartment. He went to Cairo. We didn’t see one another after that. Then, by chance, we met last night. He’s still not over us. I don’t think I am either. It just won’t work out though." He breathed heavily.

Jon gently put an arm on Lev’s shoulder. "You’re an idiot," he said.

Lev smiled and looked up. "So what else is new?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jon and Lev got back to the apartment about the same time Bill woke up. It was close to sunset, and Jon wanted to wake up Eli for the third meal, eaten before Havdalah. Lev slumped over onto the couch. Bill looked up at him and smiled. Then, still half-asleep, he snuggled his head on Lev’s shoulder. Lev absent-mindedly caressed his ponytail.

Jon led Eli in by the hand. Eli yawned, climbed onto the couch, and squeezed into the space between Lev and Bill. Jon brought some food in (rolls, fruit, cheese, and some cookies) and motioned for Eli to sit on his lap. Eli obliged.

After the meal, Jon started to sing a slow dirge-like tune. Lev knew it and joined in. Jon had a very nice voice. Lev did not, but they harmonized well. Eli sang at the top of his lungs. Lev sang softly so as not to disturb Bill, but he appeared to enjoy the singing. After the singing concluded, Lev whispered the translation to Bill ("The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me besides still waters….") There were some more songs, all with melancholy but beautiful tunes. Then they recited the grace after meals. Lev was surprised at how much he actually remembered.

Jon put away the food and went to pray. Eli squeezed himself back into the nook between Lev and Bill. A few minutes later, Jon returned with a glass goblet, a silver plate, an intricately shaped spice box and a braided candle. Eli got up and ran over to him. "Abba, I want to hold the candle," he shouted.

Lev tapped Bill’s knee. "Time to get up," he said. They got off the couch and walked over to the table where Jon poured wine into the goblet.

"Pick me up," Eli said to Lev, who immediately obliged. Jon lit the candle in Eli’s hands and began chanting. He said the blessing over the wine. Then he recited another blessing and motioned for Bill to pick up the spice box. Lev whispered, "Smell it and then pass it around." Eli wrinkled his nose from the strong smell of cloves.

Jon recited the prayer over the candle’s fire and then the final blessing. He drank from the goblet and gave it to Bill, who upon tasting the wine, choked and spluttered. "Kosher wine," laughed Lev. Bill embarrassment was compounded when Eli took a sip, made an exaggerated "ahhhh!" sound, and smiled broadly. Then Jon poured the wine onto the silver plate. Lev lowered Eli down toward the table where the boy extinguished the candle in the spilt wine. Jon kissed his son and shook hands with Lev and Bill. Eli hugged them both. Lev kissed Bill on the cheek, embraced him, and wished him a good week.

"Jon, Eli, thank you very much for your hospitality," said Lev, "But I think Bill and I need to get going."

"No, you have to stay," Eli said.

"Eli, be nice," said Jon, "Lev and Bill have a lot of places to go. They’re traveling all around the country."

Eli pouted. Then he said, "You’ll come back, right?"

Lev got down to his knees and hugged Eli. "We’ll visit again in a few days."

That was not good enough for Eli. "Wait, Lev, before you go, I want to show you something." He took Lev by the hand and dragged him toward his room.

Jon took the opportunity to talk to Bill. "This should take a few minutes," he said. Bill laughed.

Then Jon said, "I’ve known Lev since college. He’s a great guy, but extremely dumb."

Bill looked at Jon in shock.

"Don’t get me wrong," said Jon, "He’s intelligent, but with certain things, he just doesn’t get it. He was never in a real relationship before, you know."

"I was never in one either," said Bill.

"Lev learns through trial and error. Always has. And he’s good at that. But when there’s nothing wrong he has a problem. There was no mistake with you. Nothing to fail at and do better the next time. People like him, when they do something important right in the beginning, they don’t know what getting it wrong feels like and that scares them. So they hav to create a reason to get it wrong."

Bill looked at Jon, "He told you that?"

"Yes," said Jon, "But he doesn’t realize he did. I know him very well; we were practically brothers. I know what he’s saying, even if he doesn’t."

Eli led Lev back into the living room. "I showed him my stuffed Eeyore," he said proudly, "And he promised to come back soon."

They said their final good-byes and within ten minutes, Lev and Bill were finally able to leave. They walked back toward the center of town where the city just started to wake up from its Sabbath rest.

On the way back they stopped by Ben-Yehudah Street and Lev bought Bill his first falafel sandwich. "Now you’re a true tourist," he laughed, and they walked back toward the hotel.