Read Online The Extra by A. B. Yehoshua - Free Book Online Page A

the stars, and that you condemned a young woman to death—”
    â€œI didn’t condemn anyone, I just said she was guilty. That’s all.”
    â€œAnd you enjoyed it?”
    â€œA little. What can I do, Ima? I’m trying to pass the time until you decide where you want to stay for the rest of your life.”
    â€œAnd I will decide. I’m not just dawdling, I’m weighing the pros and cons. And you, Noga, please don’t put pressure on me, don’t begrudge me the three months, and then you’ll be able to fly back to the bosom of your orchestra . . . What’s bothering you the most?”
    â€œThose children.”
    â€œWhich children?”
    â€œThe little religious ones you made into television addicts.”
    â€œBut Honi said they returned the key I lent them.”
    â€œI had to take it from them by force, but they had apparently made a copy, and they come in whenever they feel like it, and it’s annoying, even scary.”
    â€œScary? You’re exaggerating. These are little kids from huge families, and so they’re a little lonely and depressed, sometimes a little crazy. After all, they are Shaya’s kids, that handsome fellow you used to talk to on the stairway when you were young.”
    â€œOnly the older one. The other one, the little one, the strange one, is his cousin, some kind of
tzaddik
.”
    â€œ
Tzaddik?
How so?”
    â€œNot important. But to change the lock would mean changing the whole front door, which is falling apart, and that should wait till you make up your mind.”
    â€œYes, you’re right, till I make up my mind.”
    â€œBut in the meantime let’s put in a bolt to lock the door from the inside. So I’ll at least know that I’m safe when I’m in the apartment.”
    â€œExactly. I’ll ask Honi to put in a bolt for you on the inside of the door.”
    â€œYou don’t need to drag Honi to Jerusalem for that. I’ll find someone in Jerusalem.”
    â€œYes, that’s possible. For example, Abadi, Abba’s friend. This man, so polite, he and his wife brought food every day to the shiva, and after you left, he was the man who put in the electric bed. He’ll install whatever bolts you need, not just willingly but with love.”
    â€œThe devil only knows why you gave those children permission to come in.”
    â€œRight, Nogaleh.” Her mother sighs. “Exactly. Only the devil can explain why I did such a foolish thing, but where do I find such a clever devil?”

Sixteen
    A BADI ROSE QUICKLY to the occasion. Having stayed in touch with the family, he knew about the experiment and even hoped it would succeed, but had not understood why they needed to summon the daughter from Europe. “No reason to worry about the empty apartment,” he said. “I’ll be happy to stop by every so often to see that all is in order. What’s left there to steal? Everything is old, nothing to tempt a thief.” They had to explain to him that what they feared was the elderly lawyer looking for any excuse to liberate the apartment, and if a stranger like Abadi were to start dropping by, it would only strengthen his claim.
    Now Abadi walks through the apartment and is astonished by its emptiness. “It’s bold of your mother,” he says, “to get rid of so many possessions without being sure she was leaving Jerusalem for good.”
    â€œShe’ll come back,” says Noga to the gentle, melancholy man, whom she recalls as a passing shadow among the many visitors during the week of shiva. “I know her well. We’re soul mates.”
    â€œSo the experiment, bottom line, is just for Honi?”
    â€œYes, so he can be reassured that he has no choice, that till my mother’s final day of clarity he’ll be tied to the city that makes him very angry.”
    â€œAnd you?”
    â€œI love Jerusalem, but I don’t come