Twenty minutes later, Ethan plunked his plate down next to us. “Guys. Real talk. I think I might be a brilliant thespian.”
I tilted my head. “Are you sure, though.”
Ethan stretched his exceedingly long arms over his head. He’d wound up with several inches more than the rest of the Barbanel cousins, courtesy of his father, though neither of his brothers were quite as tall. “I nailed my last reading. Ask the purple flower. She said, ‘That’sexactlythe energy we’re going for.’ ”
“So she basically called you a maniacal despot.”
“ ‘Maniacal’ is a strong word.” He tried to steal my toast. “How about charming despot?”
When breakfast had been reduced to scraps of crust, we migrated into the downstairs TV room with most of the family.The Sound of Musicwas on, as it always seemed to be this time of year. I sat on the couch seat closest to the armchair Isaac had chosen, and we smiled at each other, but with the triplets at my feet and Miriam at my other side, there wasn’t privacy fora conversation. Besides, my family treatedThe Sound of MusiclikeThe Rocky Horror Picture Show,with well-worn commentary: howyoungJulie Andrews looked; how many children there were (seven, one more than the Barbanel siblings in my father’s generation); the hotness of Christopher Plummer. Everyone sang along aggressively to each musical number, even Dad and Uncle Harry, whose voices could charitably be called “bad.”
Outside, the rain melted away the snow. The sky was an endless, uniform gray, the depth indecipherable. It made everything all the cozier, being cocooned inside with my family. This was my ideal kind of day, all the Barbanels laughing over inside jokes and bantering and simply being together.
As the credits rolled, Iris slid over to my side. “We need another rehearsal.”
“I’ll have to bow out of this one.” Even if I wanted to spend the day hanging out with my family, I needed to make progress with Isaac. I felt like we’d started to get somewhere last night, and I needed to keep our momentum going. “But I’m sure it’ll go great.”
Three identical expressions of dismay faced me. “Why?” Iris asked.
“It’s because of Isaac, isn’t it,” Rose said. “You want to hang out with him.”
Lily gave her sister a scandalized look. “She doesn’t likeIsaac!”
“Yes, she does,” the other two said.
“We’ll give Isaac a role,” Iris said. She looked at Lily. “I’m sorry.”
Lily let out a long-suffering sigh. “I understand.”
“Wait, what?” Sometimes the three of them moved too fast for me.
“Isaac!” Iris hollered, jerking Isaac’s attention away from his phone. “We need you. You’ll be Holofernes.”
He looked at me, bemused, then at the triplets. “I’m sorry?”
Lily turned to me, her limpid eyes wide. “Shira, you’re Judith. I’ll be the handmaiden.”
“But you’re Judith!” I said, alarmed she was giving up her large, juicy part.
“No,” Iris said, dead set already, a familiar voice and expression, Grandma in miniature form. “This makes more sense from a casting direction. Obviously, it pains Lily to give up the role, but you’ll be able to play the parts more realistically.” She gestured to Isaac. “The audience will take your pairing more seriously, while they would have seen Lily and me as a farce. You’ll have chemistry.”
Chemistry.I would have died from embarrassment if I wasn’t so busy being amused at the triplets’ careful consideration of audience opinion. I faced Lily. “I see. Are you sure?”
She nodded, self-sacrificing, the captain going down with her ship. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“Okay, then.” I gave Isaac a dry smile, then remembered I wasn’t supposed to be dry and tried to let it warm up.Don’t be snarky. Don’t be cold. Beam.“You in?”
He smiled right back at me. “Why not.”
Iris nodded, problem solved, then looked around at each cousin as though eye contact was a contract. “Time for rehearsal!”
“I can’t,” Ethan said, draped over an armchair. “Don’t make me. I’m so hungover.”
“You shouldn’t have had so many shots, then,” I said unsympathetically, and shepherded everyone upstairs.
Rehearsal lasted for several hours, though we never quite made it to Isaac’s and my scenes. He was learning how to take over the known world, and I was telling my town leaders to suck it up and get better at standing up to imperial forces. The triplets were focused on the Maccabee story line, making sure the blocking for the battle scenes fit their vision exactly.
We traipsed downstairs around five for Chinese food: scallion pancakes and braised eggplant with garlic, spinach-and-mushroom dumplings, three treasures, sautéed spinach, lo mein. We lit the candles languorously and ate in the glowing light.
