“Leave no room for mistakes. This is the first time we’re having company since your mother died. If the two of you are planning to get married, tonight everything must be as precise as a Swiss watch.”
“Dad… who said anything about getting married?”
“No one,” Max said simply.
“Then why did you mention it?”
“Because,” he answered teasingly, “I think that one of us—either you or me—will eventually get married, and it seems to me the chances are greater that it will be you.”
The sun set behind the houses of the village of Udim and itslight faded away from the yard of Max’s home. Yiftach pierced half an onion with a long metal fork and began rubbing it on the grid of the grill that was heating up. “What would you like to drink?” he asked Melody.
“What have you got?” she responded with a question.
“Beer, soda, and the wine you’re holding in your hand.”
“Beer!” she immediately answered and placed the wine bottle on the garden table where Max was sitting. Yiftach placed juicy slices of meat on the grill and entered the house, leaving the back door ajar. Melody sat down next to Max, who was busy cutting up fresh tomatoes for the salad. “Can I help?” she asked the old man.
“Thank you, my dear, but I’m nearly finished.”
“I want to ask you a rather stupid question.”
“There are no stupid questions, my child. There are only stupid actions that wouldn’t happen if supposedly stupid questions were asked.”
“In that case, how do you feel about the fact that your son has returned to live with you at his, let’s say, not particularly young age?”
He remained focused on cutting the tomatoes. “See how the wheels turn? In the beginning he lived with his parents, and now, towards the end, he’s back again, living here with me.”
“Don’t use the word ‘end.’ It always saddens me.”
“My dear, make no mistake—I am not afraid of death.”
“Your son also said that to me once, but somehow I believe it when you say it.”
“What’s the point of being afraid of what you will never encounter?”
“Do you mean eternal life?”
“No. When death comes—I won’t be here anymore,” he answered with somewhat chilling realism, “but, as long as I’mhere—death isn’t. Simply put, Melody—it is either him or me, and never the twain shall meet.”
While in the kitchen, Yiftach observed Melody and his father from the window, and he suddenly realized that her presence in his family setting generated in him a pleasant feeling of security and peace. The way she smiled at his father and the way she took his hand in hers while talking to him made Yiftach feel as if he had known her for many years. Apparently, Dad was right, he thought to himself, I am ready to be with other women now.
“By the way,” Melody suddenly recalled and said to Max, “I tried the Buddhist monks’ method that you advised me to adopt. Well, between us… it didn’t really help.” He looked at her benevolently. “You know, Max, sometimes I think to myself that I wish I could simply forget all my past sufferings and begin all over again.”
“I’m not sure I agree with you. I believe that we can live well without the pleasures of the past but, as to the suffering we’ve experienced—we will never relinquish them.” His words sounded perfectly logical, but she couldn’t quite understand why. “The pain we experienced,” Max continued, “taught us very important lessons, and the adversities we had to contend with drove us to seek remedies. Who would want to give all that up?”
Yiftach returned carrying three chilled beers. He handed one bottle to Melody and one to his father and, while drinking from the third, he focused his attention on the meat on the grill.
“I’ll set the table!” Melody offered, happy she found a way to be useful and help the evening along.
“Good idea,” said the old man, “I just finished the salad, let’s go inside.” Yiftach glanced at Melody and his father as they walked towards the house and what he saw pleased him very much. Melody set the table in the small dining area. She placed a glass next to each dish, then laid out the silverware. She picked up her beer bottle, just to discover that there were just a few drops left.
After the successful dinner, Yiftach and Melody returned to her place. As soon as they entered the apartment, they quickly shed their clothing and clammy bodies came together as one.
“Let’s do it again!” she said after a brief lull.
“Don’t be impulsive.”
“Don’t be impotent.”
