Chapter 74, (PG 14) New Job

     First thing first, I had to find a job. I had a little more than 7 months before enlisting to the air force. Second, I had to get my driver’s License. For that I need to find a job so I can pay for the drivers’ course.

 

    Now that I graduated this military technical academy, I had a professional certificate. I was an Electronics/micromechanics technician now. I need to find a job with my qualifications. Dad wanted to teach me his busines, but I wasn’t interested. I didn’t go to technical school to be a diamond polisher. I had plans to go visit him at his new place of work, he just partnered with some guy who was a very fast polisher with good connections in this field.

 

    On the way to downtown in a very busy street was an appliance store. “Tel-Or”, they sold washer machines and ovens and a new line of stereo systems. Whenever you walked next to the store you would hear loud music from their very big speakers. Tel-Or also provided a car’s radio service and repairs. 

 

    The sound of Elton John singing “Rocket Man” was luring me to the store. I walked in and looked around at the fancy record players and was amazed by the size of some of the speakers.

 “May I help you?” A red head man asked me politely. He was about an inch shorter than me.

 “I saw your advertising in the paper, you install radios to cars and do electronic repairs. Who is the technician in your store?”

 “We have two guys outdoors now installing a radio in that Beetle.” He said, “My brother is out there with them. He is the one with the knowledge.”

 “Does any of them have a technician certificate?”

 “Well…”

 “I do! And I am looking for a job.”

 “Great! We also had an ad in the wanted section. But when did you get your license? You are just a kid.”

 “I graduated last week from the air force academy, if you will hire me, you will be able to advertise that you have a certified technician.”

 “When can you start?” 

  “Now?”

 “Come tomorrow and bring lunch. Our store works on a split shift with two hours break between 2:00 to 4:00 but the installation department doesn’t take the break.”

 

   That afternoon I walked to visit Efri. He lived across the street of the park where all the kids with the moppets gather every afternoon. After school and weekends, they would come with their girlfriends and hang out until they decided where and if to go next. Efri’s girlfriend was not permitted to ride so Efri asked me if I could join him. We had fun riding his “Tustus” as it was called in Israel. I remember one day we drove almost to Hadera north of Netanya. We stopped and camped on the side of the road under a big carob tree. I climbed and picked a few carobs. They were so plump and sweet. Once you broke them, you could see the honey dripping. I could see why they called Israel the “land of milk and honey”. 

 

   I loved visiting with Efri, besides his sexy sister who was older than us he had movie posters hanging on his walls. His father owned a dry-cleaning store downtown on Hertzel street. The windows of his store had weekly posters of the movies playing in the Sharon theatre. Naturally, he would give his son the posters once the movie was over. Efri offered me a few but Mom didn’t want to hear about it. “No posters in my house!” She’d said. Efri’s mom liked having me there too, she would always offer us cookies or even asked me to stay for dinner sometimes, when we played our guitars and forgot how time passes fast.

 

    “Hey, I have to teach you this song I learned last month from my friend Yahalomi at the academy. He is a musical genius. I met him too late in the program. I wish I spent more time with him. He knows all the cords and plays by ear everything.”

 “What song?”

 “The house of the rising sun”.

 “Oh, I am learning it too,” he said. “My former classmate, Amir Froelich has been teaching kids here for a small charge and I took some lessons with him.”

 “I almost forgot to tell you; I just got a new job. I will be starting tomorrow.”

 “Nice! What kind of a job?”

 “I will be working at Tel Or on Shmuel HaNatziv. I will be installing radios to cars and do some electronics repairs. How is Shulamit?”

 “Still doesn’t put out and still are not allowed to ride on my Tustus. I don’t know why I am still with her.”

 “She is a nice girl, that is why you are with her, but I am glad her mom doesn’t let her ride with you, this way I get to ride. Well, at least until I get my driving license. My dad is talking about buying a car.”

    As if he heard me talking, that evening dad drove in with a Citroen 2C.  A white small French car with only two cylinders. It was an old car, a 1960 model. I loved it, almost everything in it was mechanical the lights were movable up and down, the vent was just a panel in the front that opened by hand. The windows didn’t have a crank, they folded up. The thin doors, rear, and front opened toward the center. The chairs were light and made with stretched springs. The car had a crank to start if the electric started didn’t work. But dad didn’t know about that. He forgot the lights on overnight and the battery died. We spent 2 hours trying to push start the car until some guy on the street yelled, “hey, this car doesn’t push start, it has a centrifugal clutch. Let me give you a jump.” But the best part was the car had independent suspension to each wheel. The front wheels tilted when turning to prevent from accidently rolling over. I was told the new Citroens came with a lifetime warranty that if you manage to roll the car over, they will give you a new one. I simply liked pressing on any corner of the car with my leg and look at it bounces.

 

    Uncle David had a car just like this one and he had an owner’s manual. He promised to send it to me, and my first project was to replace all the old electrical cables. 

 

    Our first family trip was to the Jezreel valley. My uncle Rone came to join us with his Contessa (another small car). We were all piled in the car on Saturday morning. Mom holding My little brother Claude on her lap in the front seat next to Dad. Avi and I were seated in the back. My uncle Rone who came the night before with his family; Aunt Rachel – Mom’s sister and their two kids Batyah and Ofer. As soon as we started driving, on the first intersection Mom Yelled, “Stop sign!” Dad of course stopped and said nothing. “Red light! Mom yelled again. “One-way street!” and so on. I really don’t know how did Dad put up with it. He just drove and said nothing. We passed Hadera and went on east toward the valley. All cars were passing us except for Uncle Rone who was keeping a short distance behind. Mom didn’t like it, “How dare they pass us?” she would yell at dad. We had to climb a little mountain through another valley with Arab villages on both sides – “Wadi Arra”. Dad didn’t like them, “they are communists”, he said and continued driving and more cars were passing us because our car was slowing down. The Jezreel valley was a pretty place all year round. It had plowed farmlands or fields with different vegetables or fruit. From above the hill, it looked like a pretty patch work blanket. We stopped at Kibbutz Ein Harrod (the same one I went on my school’s first overnight trip). Us kids were left to roam around the park while Mom and Ant Rachel were preparing lunch. Dad and Uncle Rone were gathering next to our Citroen and discussing the engine and stuff like that. For some reason I liked Mom’s picnic lunches better than most of her everyday lunches.

 

    A little after lunch we headed back home. We didn’t want to drive back home at dark, Dad was after all still a new driver. We drove on the “Ruler Road” it was the only straight road that stretched for a few miles. We could see mount Tabor on the right, and I remembered climbing it in one of our yearly school trips and seeing the French monastery on top with the tall and heavy doors, two tons each. As we started climbing the hill toward the Arab Communist villages, the little Citroen started to slow down. When we almost made it to the top, the car started to roll backwards. Dad slammed the breaks and walked outside. Uncle Rone behind us did the same. 

 “Get the kids” Uncle Rone Said. “We will need to push.” It looks like the centrifugal clutch needs changing it isn’t holding and the engine slips.”

All of us got out and started pushing the car over the hill. On the way down the car started to pick up some speed. We even passed an old car. 

 “Look Mom!” Yelled Avi, “we passed that car, aren’t you happy now?”

The next day Dad took the car to the mechanic to change the clutch. And when I received the manual from Uncle David I started working on the electrical system.

 

    At Tel-Or I was given more responsibility, they liked my skills and even changed their advertisement to “installation by certified technicians”. I got to learn about many cars. How they are built, where is the best place to install speakers, how to run the cables without messing up the car. In no time I was known all over town as the radio installation expert. But I wanted to practice repairs and learn more about the actual equipment so every time I was sent to pick up an electronic part from the local electronic supply stores, I befriended the owners. One of them knew me from years ago when I was taking the extra curriculum electronic class. I Bought parts from him to build my first real radio, not the one I made when I was five. Now I was negotiating with him about my new project - a stereo system. 

 

    “Oh!” was the only sound I could utter one morning when I walked through Tel-Or’s door. At the front desk was an angel seated with a big, beautiful smile.

 “Good morning!” The soothing voice of her I will never forget.

 “G, g, goo, good mmm, morning.” 

She was almost as dark as I was, her eyes were a little slanted almost Chinese. Her black hair was long all the way below her lower back. She had it loose behind the chair so she wouldn’t seat on it. and she had a beauty mark on her right cheek.

 “My name is Hanita”

 “Tibi”

 “The new genius – the young star of the company.” She said with a smile.

 “What are you talking about?”

 “I was told about you last night. They told me that there is a kid working here and not to confuse you with just some kid from the street.”

 “What happened to Hannah?” Hannah was the front desk secretary no one liked. It was our opinion she had an affair with one of the brothers. And she was nasty to everyone. Including the third brother – Moshe who wasn’t an owner but was in charge of the delivery and installation.

 “She had a big fight with one of the owners last evening when I walked in to look at the stereo record player. I am not sure what happened, but she quit, and I was offered this job at that moment.”

 “Welcome!” I said “I hope you like it here. “So did you buy the record player?”

 “No, not yet.”

 “I can build one for you.”

 “Really?”

 “Yes, it is my hobby”

Hanita was three years older than me, yet we became very good friends. Not boyfriend girlfriend, just friends. We spent a lot of time talking and even went to the beach together. Boy! Did I wish she was younger and we could be together. I loved her skin her hair her smile her everything. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be, so we just stayed friends for many years.

 

   One afternoon I had to take Claude to visit Dad at work. I put him in his stroller and left the house. As soon as we arrived at the first intersection and Claude yelled; “stop sign!” The whole way to Dad’s place he kept on yelling the names of the street signs. To tell the truth, it helped me preparing for the driving theory test that was coming. 

 “Let’s hope you remember the signs by the time you get your driving test.” I said to him. 

Avi was waiting for us at Dad’s, and we went shopping for new shoes for the coming holiday.

 “Hey, Dob!” Avi started – we adopted this name calling each other. Dob – Bear but it was used as a derogatory way to call someone who wasn’t so smart. Yet it became a show of affection between us. “There is a kumzitz (come seat in Yiddish – a bon fire) at the Four-Season beach tonight. Want to bring your guitar and have some fun?”

 “Anybody I know?”

 “Yes, Yossi Tayar the graphic artist, Tuggi and a few others. Oh, Yossi Tayar is bringing his girlfriend and she will be bringing some of her friends from Havatzelet.” 

 “I’ll be there.”

 

   The hills over the beach at the Four-Seasons hotel were mostly sand and a few tumbling bushes. We collected wood scraps from the construction site nearby and built a small bon fire on the bottom slope next to the beach. Avi brought some potatoes wrapped in newspaper, and I brought my guitar. We gathered around the fire and staired at the fire quietly. I pulled the guitar out of the case and started playing “The House of the Rising Sun”. I didn’t know all the words, but I was able to sing the first two verses. A feminine voice joined me for the third part and a curly head girl sat to my left. We sang together a few other songs and she got even closer to me. running her hand softly down my back. The fire was getting smaller, and I saw Avi put the potatoes under the coals when the girl next to me whispered; “let’s move to that shadowy spot”. I put the guitar back in its case and we crawled far away from the group. Before I knew it, she was all over my mouth, soft lips and quivering tongue. Here hands were moving all over my body, I was about to reciprocate when we saw everyone getting ready to leave. She got up quickly and started walking toward the campfire.

 “Can I see you again?” I asked.

 “Sure, how about tomorrow?”

 “Where do you live?”

 “In Havatzelet, but I will be in town tomorrow evening. How about at Pundak HaYam?” 

 “Say 7:30?”

 “See you there, you are a great musician and a fun kisser!”

These were the last words I hear her say as she left and in fact, ever. Pundak HaYam loosely translated the “Sea Inn”, was a popular place where most of the young people liked to hang out. It was also one of the only two restaurants who served white stake, in other words pork. I still didn’t make enough money to pay for one of those, but I loved to buy a bag of “Chips” – that is how we called French Fries. I got my usual bag and a coke. I stepped out and waited. It was 7:25 and there was no curly girl in site. I waited for an hour and no one approached me or looked like that curly hair I saw last night. I guess I will never know, I didn’t quite remember what she looked like, it was dark, and we barely looked at each other. Hell, I didn’t even know her name. 

 

***

 

Broccoli Almandine

   One of the easiest dishes to prepare and just as fast. It is healthy, full of calcium and vitamin C.

 

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Broccoli

½ Onion 

2      Garlic Cloves 

     1 Tsp Crushed Ginger 

½ Lb. Cherry Tomatoes

¼ Cup Sliced Almonds

¼ tsp Salt

1 TBSP Soy Sauce

3 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar

 

  Cut the broccoli to small pieces and put it in a zip lock bag with a TBSP soy sauce, 3 TBSP vinegar and microwave for 1 minute.

Chop and sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and almonds In that order, to golden brown. Mix with broccoli and add sliced cherry tomatoes and serve.

 

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