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

here much.”
    â€œThat’s an easy way to love.”
    â€œEasy and successful. But come see, Mr. Abadi, how you can support this love, because the little
haredim
are driving me mad.”
    â€œI’ll help on one condition—that you call me Yosef and not Mr. Abadi.”
    â€œYosef. There, I said it.”
    And he goes to the front door, whose lock had seen better days. But in order to replace it with a reliable lock, one would have to replace the entire doorpost. It would therefore be best to wait until the experiment in Tel Aviv is resolved, and in the meantime the Jerusalem apartment will be protected by an ordinary bolt. Abadi, at home in this house, makes for the kitchen, opens the father’s tool drawer, takes out a folding ruler, screwdriver and pliers, and returns to the front door to remove rusty nails before taking measurements.
    From there he goes to the bathroom and stretches nearly all of his flexible body out the little window into the black of night, to estimate the distance to the drainpipe and the gutter. And again, since the window lock has disappeared entirely, and since only if Tel Aviv loses the experiment will it be worth hiring a carpenter to build a new window, all she needs now is a simple hook, which admittedly could be pried open from outside with a screwdriver, which would be a criminal act, not just a prank by kids who slide down the building’s drainpipes for fun and accidentally land in their neighbor’s bathroom.
    She follows him around the apartment, studying him with appreciation. His movements are unhurried, his words level-headed, practical, and it’s clear why her father liked him. After all, he is the talented inventor of the electric bed.
    â€œYou know, I myself sleep in it part of the time.”
    â€œWhy only part of the time?”
    â€œBecause sometimes, in the middle of the night, I miss my childhood bed.”
    â€œAre you aware of all the possibilities offered by this electric bed?”
    â€œI should hope so. I have the quick fingers of a harpist, and your bed doesn’t have forty-seven strings or seven pedals.”
    He laughs. “Not quite. But I do think it has a few possibilities you haven’t discovered. This was originally a hospital bed designed for gravely ill patients, designed to meet many needs, but so a healthy person could also enjoy it, I installed an upgraded electrical mechanism. Come on, I’ll teach you, because I’m not sure you’re aware of all the options.”
    â€œWhat I know is enough for me. I’m only here for a short time.”
    â€œEven so, it’s a shame you won’t enjoy it more.”
    His excitement is almost childish, but was apparently appreciated by her father, who had appointed him as his successor at the water department. And so, after writing down the measurements for the bolt and the hook, Abadi strides into her parents’ bedroom, sheds his shoes, sprawls on the bed and begins to jiggle its controls, elevating and lowering its sections, activating internal vibrations, raising the whole bed levitation-like and finally tipping it over like a canoe, ejecting the recumbent man, who lands on his feet.
    â€œYou see?” he says, his eyes sparkling. “You didn’t know it could do that!”
    â€œTrue,” she admits.
    â€œSo come here and I’ll show you how.”
    It’s hard to say no to such enthusiasm, and she too removes her shoes and carefully lies down on the bed, and he bends over her, and she can feel his steaming breath, which steams not for her but for his machinery, and he gently takes her hand and guides it to a hidden lever, slick from machine oil. But when she pulls, nothing budges, and a furious gargle emanates from the engine box.
    â€œThe machine is rejecting me.”
    â€œImpossible.” He places his hand on hers, to pull harder, but still nothing moves, and the same furious gargle is heard. He then slides under