Chapter 93, (Rated R) Mom and Daughter

    I knocked on Shai’s door, holding a cute Doberman pup in one hand. A pretty dirty blond woman, at her late 30s or early 40s opened the door. She looked at me, then at the pup and back at me.

 “Yes?” she asked in English, then reached to the pup. “Such a cute puppy!”

 “I am here for Shai.” I said and letting her take the pup in her hands. “Is he home?”

 “No, but David is. David! She called back. “There is a puppy here to see you.” David walked from his room.

 “Oh, it’s you.” He said then looked at the pup. “Very cute!” He reached to pet the pup. “Hey I never connected, Is Tibi Tea yours?”

 “My brother’s, I just live there. You should come visit it’s a nice atmosphere and special teas. I even make Mlawah.”

 “Shai is walking his dog now; it will be interesting when he gets back and the big guy get to see his son. We will try to stop by tonight or tomorrow. What do you think, Rachel? Want to visit the tea house? He asked her in English.”

 “Sure, why not?

     She ended coming alone.

 “Shai and David had other things to do today.” Rachel said as she walked in. Roul wagged his short tail when he saw her. We sat at the far corner and in very short time I learned that she just turned 40 and that she had two daughters. The older one, Judith, 19 years old, was here with her and the younger one who was 17 was traveling Europe with her boyfriend. Rachel was visiting her sister who made “aliya” from Holland. After describing her I realized that I have seen her riding her bicycles daily in the morning and afternoon passing our street. She too, was very pretty.

 

    “My sister just had a baby, and I didn’t want to over crowd her space so whenever I can I stay with friends, like David and Shai.”

 “Which one is your boyfriend?”

 “No one, and both,” she said with a smile. “What kind of tea do you recommend?”

 “I like the Earl grey with cherry flavored.”

 “I’ll have the same,” I asked our friend Ilana who was helping at the tea house to bring us the clay pot with two cups. “So, I hear you are a dancer?”

 “Yes, working on it.” I smiled.

 “You should meat Judith my daughter, she is also a dancer.” 

 “I would love to,” I said almost showing too much excitement. If she was half as pretty as her mother that would be very exciting. We stayed and talked about many subjects that night until I walked her to her place taking Roul along. She kissed me on my cheek and promised to come the next day with Judith. 

 

    Did I say that Rachel was pretty? Well, Judith was even prettier. Her blonde hair was long all the way down her straight back. Small nose was just perfect above her thick lips. Her blue green eyes were wide and looked very happy to meet me. I was very happy to meet her too. We sat at the corner again and ordered the same cherry flavored Earl grey tea. Ilana gave me this encouraging look smiling at us as she was serving the tea.

 “I need to go meat Shai,” said Rachel, and stood up a few minutes later. “I will see you tomorrow.” She kissed Judith on her head and left.

 “I am not sure how long I am going to stay,” said Judith. “two of my friends promised to pick me up here later on.” I must say, I wasn’t happy to hear that, but I smiled and nodded my head. “No problems.”

 No one showed up, it was midnight and Judith moved her seat a little closer to me.

 “Are you sure?” I asked as she wrapped her arms around my waist. She didn’t say anything, she just leaned her head on my shoulder. “I wonder if your friends went to the other tea house.” I said, there was another tea house on the other side of town overlooking the seashore. It was called “The Tea House”.

 “I don’t care,” she smiled, “I am having fun, can we go to your room?”

 

    Do I have to tell you how much fun we had that night? All I can say is that Judith didn’t feel bad that her friends didn’t show up.

 

    The next morning as we finished breakfast, Rachel showed up at the door.

 “Ready to go to the beach?” she asked. “I took the liberty to bring you your bathing suit.” She handed the bikini to her daughter along with a beach dress. 

 “Let’s walk south,” said Rachel. “I like to tan at the far end where no one can bother us.” 

 “Sure.” 

 

    The south side of the beach was about a mile walk from the public beach. Like many other people, I used to go there sometimes with a girl, when we didn’t want to be disturbed. As soon as we got to a quiet spot Rachel took all of her cloths and laid naked on her towel. Judith grabbed my arm and pulled me to the water. We swam and played with each other for a while but as we walked out of the water, we saw Rachel entering the water on top of a horse. She was a pretty sight, a naked pretty woman riding bare back on a horse toward the oncoming waves. There was one more horse following her with a man I never seen before riding it. She took the horse back out and road it far south and finally turned back. Jumped of the horse, thanked the man and walked back to the water.

 

    We walked back home together, they dropped me at the tea house and continued to Rachel’s sister.

 “You two look so well together,” said Rachel before they left. I knew then there was no future for me and Judith, whenever a parent likes the boyfriend the girl leaves. That evening I was proven right when Rachel walked in and asked to stay over for the night. (Sorry, no details for you this time.)

 

    A few weeks later on my way to the beach I stumbled upon Judith at a caffe on the southern shore of Netanya. She had a few blue marks on her arm and shoulder. 

 “Hey Judith, I miss you, is everything OK.” She turned her head as if she didn’t see me yet whispered, “go to the water I will meet you at the deep side.”

 “What’s wrong?” I asked when she arrived.

 “I wanted to make sure no one sees us together.”

 “What do you mean? Who are you hiding from?”

 “My boyfriend, he’s a little jealous,” she said pointing at the bruises.

 “Didn’t you have a good time with me?”

 “Oh, I did, very much. But do you remember when I came over and told you people were coming for me?”

 “Yes, they didn’t show up.”

 “Well, they did, and you were right it was the other tea house. It was my boyfriend who was supposed to pick me up.”

 

***

 

Tea

 

I have seen so many people pouring hot water into a mug or a cup, then taking the tea bag, dipping it in the water and puling it out a few times until they get the desired color. Sometimes people would leave the bag in the pot for a while until the tea develops a bitter flavor. I have found a much simpler way to get exactly what you are looking for from a tea bag without all the fuss. All you have to do is hold the bag close to the rim of the cup and pour the hot water through the bag. By the time the cup is full, the tea will be just as strong and without the bitterness.