Chapter 87, Change Of Plan

     The summer was almost over, Aviva came to visit me a few times. She graduated and joined the military. The fact that her father was an elderly man and alone gave her the opportunity to serve close to home and spend most of the nights with him, and her free time with me. I received a letter from the headquarters to appear for an interview in regard to my application of dismissal of the contract. Lucky for me, both the master Sergeant and the logistic officer liked me and my dedication to my swimming pool and promoted me to the rank of sergeant. I had four more weeks before my mandatory service ends and if I stayed for my contract, I would start getting paid. My meeting was set at Tel-Aviv’ Airforce’s headquarter. 

 

    Captain Haim Mizrahi was waiting for me at his office behind a desk with a pile of folders. 

 “We have the same first name.” said Captain Mizrahi.

 “Well, in fact, my first name is Nani, and everyone calls me Tibi.” I said calmly.

 “Have a seat,” said the Captain and pointed to the chair in front of him. “We received your application, and we are ready to allow you to be dismissed of your obligation to your contract. But I have a proposal for you that will look a lot better on your record. And you will have a great opportunity to do some good for your country.”

 “I am listening.”

 “First, I am ready to promote you to sergeant first class within the next three month and master sergeant a year after that if you are willing to take this assignment.”

 “Interesting,” I said, still not very excited. I was there to get my honorary dismissal without any deal.

 “I read your file and record. I saw how you were passed on and you never got any opportunity to show your real talent and value.” 

 “Hmm,” I thought, “interesting approach.”

 “The truth is,” continued captain Mizrahi. “I need you. I could use your expertise. I got my hand on your school records and saw how you tackled difficult scenarios.”

 “You mean my trouble shooting?”

 “Yes, once you started to take the specialty course your scores went up and you never failed a test. I believe if I give you the task of managing the service department, you will be perfect. I saw how well you handled the swimming pool too.”

 “Really? The swimming pool? Is that the best you can come up with? What’s the big deal with the running of a swimming pool?”

 “Forget that, here is the deal: We are building a new Airforce base in the middle of Sinai. It will have the newest Israeli made airplane called Nesher (eagle) and later the Kfir once it becomes official.” Both plains are a combined design of the French Mirage and the American Fantom. The sleek aerodynamic delta shape with the strong American engine. It was a nice challenge. Some of the schematics I colored at the academy were of the Nesher. 

 “So,” he continued, if you accept the deal, you will finish your assignment at Tel-Nof, go on two weeks’ vacation, then come and join me at the new place called Yamit.” 

 “Can you put this in writing?”

 “Of course, You will receive the contract next time I see you in Yamit.

 

    Aviva was very impressed with my promotion and new assignment. She was a code breaker at her new position. I took time settling my affairs. Rachel and Leah insisted on having my phone number and I left for my vacation. I was able to help Aviva and her father move to the new rented house and got to know him a bit better. Imre was born in hungry. In his young age he was sent by the Nazis to a consecration camp in Auschwitz. Because he was still young and strong, he was sent to another labor camp where he stayed until the end of world war II.

 “We had to brake stones of the mountain to make bricks.” He said with heavy accented broken Hebrew. “Sorry, My Hebrew is not good, you will learn Hungarian before I learn Hebrew.”

 “Maybe I will.” I said with a smile, I love learning languages.

 “I had friends in the kitchen who were peeling potatoes every day. They would peel a thick skin because they knew that we would come at night and pick it up from the garbage. So, we would have something to eat.” 

 “How did you survive?”

 “We escaped, crawled under the fence. Walked in the forest the whole night. I remember gathering mushrooms. One of my friends ate the red mushrooms and went crazy. He was dancing on the fire bare feet until he fell and died.”

 “This is awful!” I said, “I am glad you made it.”

Imre smiled and went back to his work in the back yard. He was a house painter by trade and had many ladders. I saw him once literally walking using the ladder as legs while painting the ceiling.

 “Not bad for a 70-year-old man, eh?” He would brag.

Every night he would go to bed early before 8:00 and wake up at 4 or 5:00 am. Walk around the neighborhood collecting mostly planks of wood. One day I came to visit, and he showed me two broken washing machines siting in his back yard.

 “Can we do something with that?” He asked, “I am tired of washing laundry by hand.”

We sat and took both of the machines apart. Before I went back to my new assign post, I finished making a working washing machine from parts of the two. That made our relationship even better. 

 

    The time came for me to pack my stuff and travel to my new Airforce base. I had to get to the big old bus station in Tel-Aviv. The Middle Eastern music was blasting from every direction and the cassette peddlers were yelling at you from each booth or cart. I stopped at Wimpey’s for a hamburger with fried onions. It was going to be a long drive; better eat two. Don’t drink too much, there are no bathrooms on those buses. But when I finally boarded the designated bus, some other peddlers approached the windows and sold me a Jerusalem bagel loaded with sesame and a lemon popsicle – two of my favorite snacks. I saved the bagel for later. The bus was full of soldiers, all on the way to Yamit. We had to drive south pass Ashdod, Ashkelon and to the Gaza Stip. The buss drove a little east of the crowded city and through Rafah. Here for the first time, I experienced pure hate. No, I didn’t hate anyone, the bus drove next to an Arab school – Madrassa – where kids were standing to the side of the road, next to piles of rocks. As soon as we drove next to them, they threw the rocks at the bus. The last time I was in an Arab village I was welcomed for the busines I was bringing, there for I was surprised to feel that hatred from the little kids. Once we got out of that town and out of the Gaza strip into the Sinai Peninsula, we were welcomed with the sand dunes everywhere. We turned south for a few miles. On each side of the road, decorating the dunes were dry wood and shrubs forming fences around black open Bedouin tents. Camels, donkeys and many goats were around each of them. What surprised me most about those nomad people were the TV tall antennas next to their tents. We turned right and drove west into the desert. This was a narrow road. Long and straight. I don’t think I ever saw a straight road that long in Israel. And then, like in a mirage I saw trees, I mean real trees, in the middle of nowhere, and then some buildings that reminded me the dorm buildings at the academy. We entered the base passing the MP guard station and the bus dropped us next to the dormitories. As soon as we exited the bus, as if to welcome us I saw and heard two Nesher planes buzzing over our heads. I found my way to the Master sergeant’s office which was surrounded with trees. Each tree had a small pipe dripping water underneath. I received a key for my room, dropped my gear and walked toward my new assignment.

    About a mile walk south of the dorms were a few prefab units each with a sign above the door. It was easy to find the instruments department. A cute big-eyed girl was sited behind a desk.

 “May I help you?

 “I am here to meet with Captain Mizrahi.”

She lowered her eyes for a moment, “My name is Becca,” then raised her head and pointed to the door behind her.

 “Captain Miz…” I started and immediately stopped.

A dark-skinned officer stood up. He was a little darker than me, but his hair wasn’t curly, it was straight and black. I saluted.

 “Sergeant Tibi, reporting for duty, where is Captain Mizrahi?”

 “Dead, I am Captain Gandhi, I was expecting you, have a seat.”

I sat down. I was shocked.

 “Is there a contract for me?”

 “What contract?” Said Captain Gandhi almost with anger.” That idiot Mizrahi got himself killed in a car accident last week and forced me to move here from my better position at the headquarters.”

 “I am sorry.” I whispered.

 “I looked at your file, you are a troublemaker and I have no idea why they brought you here. I am afraid you will have to sit here in the office with Becca until we figure out what to do with you.”

 “I was promise to head the repair department.”

 “There is no repair department, we will be sending the repairs up north.” I didn’t know what to say. “You were marked as unfit for service,” he continued. “I have to go now, I have to troubleshoot a problem on a plane.” 

 “Can I help?” 

 “No!” He said as we were walking out of his office. A familiar tall guy walked in at the same time.

 “Kuter?”  I asked.

 “Tibi? What are you doing here?” he was holding a fat scroll, like the ones I colored at the academy.

 “Let me see that!” Interrupted Captain Gandhi and took the scroll. He spread it on a long table next to Becca’s desk. I leaned over to look when he turned back at me, yelling: “Stay out of it, sergeant!”

Kuter who was a sergeant first class now cut in. “Captain, he is good at that, he was the best at the academy in trouble shooting.”

 “I don’t care, I don’t want him here anyway.”

 I backed up and asked cute Becca for a transfer request form.

 

  It took a while, I got to sit most of the time with Becca, filing papers and calling Aviva, or home once in a while.

 

    “How are you?  Mom asked, “Are you happy at your new place? Remember you were allergic to dust.”

 “I think I am cured, Mom, this morning I woke up to a room full of sand even when the windows were closed shut. We had to use a shovel to clean the room. The sand was piling up all the way to the windowsills.”

 “Any new friends?”

 “Not new, my classmate Kuter, he is also my roommate. Oh, and there is this girl from Netanya working with me at the same office. How is Claude and Dad?”

 “Claud is fine, he misses you and Avi. But do you remember the guy who stole the diamonds?”

 “The Bas player who worked for Dad? He got a short sentence for returning the diamonds.”

 “Yes, that one, He’s dead.”

 “Not him too…” I said to myself.

 “He was freed last week and his friends from his band “Garden of Eden”, had a big party for him and he played with them on a concert. The next day he was home when someone buzzed him to come down. As soon as he came out of the building, he was shot with an Uzi from a car that took off, leaving him bleeding to death.”

 “Oy!” I said, “We didn’t like him anyway”.

 

    Aviva’s calls were shorter, she couldn’t call much from her camp and her father didn’t have a phone. So, I only got to spend time with her on weekends. Lucky for me I was able to leave on Thursday afternoon. Hitch hiking from the middle of the desert wasn’t easy, even more so when there is a sandstorm.

 

    The storm came as a surprise. I walked to the MP station and from there took a ride to the edge of Han-Yuenes. As I was waiting for my next ride, I saw from the western distance a light brown cloud moving toward my location. The cloud was on the ground and was high almost to the sky. As it was getting closer it appeared as if it was engulfing everything in its way. I felt it first in my teeth. The grains got in my mouth and I could feel them like a handful of sand. Every time I moved my teeth, I could hear the grinding noise in my ear which were filling up quickly with sand. My cloths, my gun my boots, everything was filling with sand. I couldn’t see my way around, not even my hand if I extended it. And then, in a flash like it was never there. It passed me and I could see clearly again. A military pickup truck stopped next to me. 

 “Hop in!” the driver yelled; “you don’t want to stay here, not even without the sandstorm”. 

 

***

 

Broccoli & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

 

 

 Broccoli is a power food; it has vitamins and calcium. It even helps you lose weight. This recipe will show you an easy and tasty way to serve and enjoy it.

 

Ingredients:

1 head Broccoli

½ Onion 

2 Garlic

¼ Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes 

½ tsp Salt

1 TBSP Olive Oil

 

Cut up the head into about an inch size pieces. Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for 30 seconds and transfer to ice. 

Chop the onion and garlic and sauté them to caramelize, throw in the sun-dried tomatoes with salt, mix with broccoli and sprinkle olive oil.

 

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