Chapter 106 (Rated R) Women, Women, Again
Dina, a very pretty girl who joined the Netanya dance company just graduated from the Wingate Academy for Physical education. Walked with me after I announced to the company that I was sadly leaving them. A while ago, against my better judgement and against Sarah’s advice, I told Dina that I joined Shalom. She actually jumped to bed with me before telling me that she was engaged to be married, just so I will give her information about the Shalom company.
“Nice!” she said, “You were invited to join Inbal, how come they didn’t ask me?”
“You know, I am a man; there is always a need for male dancers.”
“Yes, I know, I am sure if I keep working with the Shlomo company they will finally let me in.”
“Maybe, I will let you know when we need more dancers, but I think you should stick with Shalom now.” She kissed me goodbye as she boarded the bus and I walked home.
As I arrived at the top of the hill above our street, I put two fingers in my mouth, folding my tongue and blew a loud whistle. I saw Roul come out of our new yard running toward me and I wondered, do people have that kind of unconditional love and dedication? We walked home together and I took him with me for a ride in the side car of the motorcycle.
“Hey! Tibi?” A familiar female voice called me from behind as I was getting off my motorcycle – Lego. I looked back and was very surprised to see my old crush Hanita. Prettier than ever, tan almost as me with her very long black hair falling down her back.
“Hey, gorgeous!” I always loved the way she dressed too. Simple but so unique to her. Her choice of colors and fabrics were a combination of native American and Indian, two sides of the world yet, on her it looked perfect.
“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you for ages?” I asked her and spread my arms for a hug. She happily gave me a strong embrace.
“In the USA” she replied, “I managed to get married and get divorced and now I am back here, for now, anyway.”
“What are you doing tonight?” I bravely asked.
“No plans, why?”
“I am working on a fashion show in Ramat Gan. Want to join me?”
“Fashion show? Sounds interesting.”
“Great, I’ll pick you up at 6:00. At your parents? Do they still have the small pincher?”
“Yes, at my parents, and yes, they still have the pincher and her son/grandson too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she had pops and one of them got her pregnant and now we have this much smaller runt, my dad couldn’t give away.”
I left her as I entered the bank with one more hug. I had to pull some money to return the loan to from my brother. Now that I finally managed to save with all the jobs and before I lose it, my paycheck from Inbal was exactly half of what I was making at the studio. Lucky for me Avraham still gave me a few gigs to supplement my income.
“Who is that gorgeous girl?” Whispered Beatrice in my ear after the show.
“A woman, I had a crush on for years, her name is Hanita.”
“Hmm.”
“Well, you never had time for me,” I said.
“Oh, like you had time for me, with both of our schedules we could never find time for each other. See you next time, you…” she didn’t finish the sentence, and turned to leave. Hanita did look prettier that day with her yet another outfit of wide Harem pants and an embroidered black silk vest.
“Who was that?” She asked.
“Her name is Beatrice, she is from Holland, you saw her on the runway.”
“Yes, I did, I just didn’t know you were actually friendly with the models.”
“Not all of them, just the nice ones. Hey, Hanita, will you be my girlfriend?” I don’t think I ever actually asked any of the women I knew before that question. They all just lead to this unspoken connection.
“Yes, why not.” She said with a smile. We drove back home talking about all the things we missed about each other on those last few years.
“See you tomorrow?” I said as I dropped her off. “Want to come over to our Tea House?
“Sure,” she said, kissed me on my chick and ran up the stairs to her parents’ apartment.
I just got out of the shower when she walked in. It was a hard day at the Inbal Dance Theatre. We started to work on reviving an old work of Sarah Levi Tanai called “The Book of Ruth,” one of two works we were going to perform in Paris. I had to take the bus to Tel-Aviv early in the morning and from there to take one more bus to Jaffa. I found out that with all the bus stops on the way, it was faster to walk that one long street to Jaffa. I would stop at a small kiosk and order an omelet in a pita which I would eat on the way. I discovered that had to do it every morning. A few days earlier I danced without eating a good breakfast, I started shaking even before we finished the warmup. I ran to the kitchen and stuffed a spoonful of sugar in my mouth to hold me until lunch.
“Hey Hanita,” I said with a smile. “I didn’t expect you until later this evening.”
“Yes, about that,” she said seriously. “Remember I told you I would be your girlfriend last night?”
“Yes.” something didn’t feel right.
“Well, I got to think about it, and I want to get back to the way we were before you asked me to be your girlfriend.”
“Hmm… OK,” I said looking down.
“I love your friendship and don’t want to risk it. I need my freedom – I just got divorced as you know.”
“I Know, and understand, and you may count on my friendship,” I said but it felt as a rock fell on my heart. This was the shortest relationship I was involved in. She kissed me on my cheek and left. I called Roul and we went for a walk.
“Nice dog!” A voice of a woman called from behind me as I walked out of our yard. “He looks like you.”
“Fuck you!” I said softly without looking back. I was in no mood for any small talk.
“Don’t promise anything you don’t plan to keep.”
“Shit! She heard me,” I thought to my self and turned back to see who was so brave to challenge me.
“Yes, I heard you,” she said as if she read my mind. It was a woman I saw walking next to our house every afternoon. She was a little heavy, short yet very pretty with a contagious smile. “I meant it,” she continued, “You do look alike. Both of you walk like dancers – proud and light on your feet.”
“thanks, I guess!”
“So, what do you say? Want to keep your promise?” …
Two girls were hitch hiking on the highway when I was driving to a job in Tel Aviv. I picked them up. One was Laura, a tall brunet, with nice breast and a pretty smile. The other girl Debbie was a little shorter than me a cute blonde but with too much acne for me to be able to look at her directly. We talked during the drive, and I learned that they were volunteering in a kibbutz for the next few months. They were on a long weekend break and were on the way to Tel-Aviv for some fun time. I gave them my address and phone number and invited them to visit our tea house.
The following week I got a phone call from Laura.
“Can I come over?” She asked excitingly.
“Sure, we might have to stop for a while at our community center. I have a rehearsal with my new dance company.”
“Sure, I love dance, I used to dance a lot back in the US. I took ballet since I was a little girl.”
“Great! I will pick you up at the bus station.”
“I can’t wait to see again that tall guy I met last week.” She hung up.
“Tall?” I thought to myself. “Where did she get the idea, I was tall?”
I can’t describe the slight disappointed look in her eyes when she saw me. but she displayed it even more when she saw that my dance company was a bunch of teens who just started to learn to dance.
“They are terrible!” she said smugly.
“They are just folk dancers, not ballerinas.” I tried to explain, “and they are doing great compare to what they were when I started with them. Let’s go to the tea house.”
“Who is that handsome guy?” Said Laura when she saw Avi at the front door of Tibi Tea.
“That would be my brother Avi.”
We spent the evening eating some mlawah and Techina. And went to bed.
“Sorry, Tibi,” she said when we snuggled under the sheets. “It’s that time of the month.”
The next day we went to the beach and at the afternoon I reminded her that I was going to a fashion show and that she was welcomed to join me. She preferred staying with Avi and help him at the Tea House.
She missed a good one, it was a nice, combined show from bathing suits to wedding dresses and it included Israel new beauty queen.
When I arrived home, it was late and even the tea house was closed. I walked in and not so much to my surprise, I saw Avi in his makeshift bed with Laura under the sheets.
“Sorry,” Avi Said, “she crawled in without invitation.”
“Time of the month, my eye.” I thought to myself smiling and went to bed. Three days later I got a letter from Debbi, apologizing for Laura’s behavior and asking if she could come over instead. I didn’t bother answering.
***
Crispy Pita Sabich
A breakfast mix, Iraqi Shabat breakfast has a mixture of fried eggplant eggs and other salads. Now, think about putting it all in a pita, and then making it crispy.
Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
1 Hard-Boiled Egg
4 Pitas
1 Tomato
1 TBSP Chopped Parsley
4 tsp Techina
Salt to taste
¼ Cup Panko or Breadcrumbs
Pinch Black Pepper
Pinch Paprika
Pinch Garlic Powder
1 Raw Egg
Preparation:
Slice the Eggplant to ½” thick and deep fry them until soft and dark brown. Slice the tomato and the hardboiled egg, sprinkle salt and put to rest. Beat the raw egg and place in a plate. Mix the panko with spices and spread in a plate. Dip the pitas one at a time on each side in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs and fry for 20 – 30 seconds on each side until the crumbs stick and brown. Cut the pita in half and fill with the Eggplant, hardboiled egg, tomato, ½ tsp Techina and sprinkle of chopped parsley.
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