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Her First Solo
Gal’s half-brother burst out crying. He stopped abruptly and before anyone could stop him he shoved his older brother, the one who kicked him when he thought no one was looking, off his chair.
The two boys tumbled onto the lane, screaming and kicking.
Gal’s recital was due to begin in ten minutes. The ZOA’s Meyerhoff hall, which was quite large and could hold up to 400 people, was two-thirds full. The stage was empty, bar for a few flower arrangements. Meanwhile, Gal’s brothers provided the entertainment.
“I’m never going to have children,” Eitan whispered to him.
“When Mom and Dad left, you used to babysit Gal for me, and you liked it,” Erez reminded him. When their parents left for Australia, Erez was still doing his accounting internship and was freshly divorced. Eitan, then twenty-one, moved to live with them, minding the four-year-old Gal almost as much as Erez.
“I never talk to them.” Eitan had never forgiven their parents for this abandonment.
“I called Mom for the usual Friday chat about her only granddaughter. She always sounds so cheerful. They were on their way to the airport to catch a flight to Cairns.”
Professor Ben Ami fell from grace, losing his position and reputation when a student accused him of cheating on his research. His father denied the accusations, but instead of staying and fighting for his good name, their parents left for Australia, their mother’s homeland, where she secured him a teaching position.
“Where is Gal?” Rona’s third son, a mere toddler, asked. He raised his voice. “I want Gal!”
“We should have never brought them to this concert,” Danny, Rona’s husband, said. He was short, with a little belly and glasses, and looked like an accountant. He was actually in the Shabaq, the internal security service.
Erez liked him greatly.
“It would have hurt Gal’s feelings if we didn’t bring her brothers,” Rona said. “I mean, this is so important to her. You know,” she turned to Erez, “she told me that in her final audition she raised the matter of the antisemitic lyrics. They loved this angle–and they said they would make addressing it part of the workshop. She thinks that’s why she was accepted.”
“She never told me!”
He was proud Gal raised a subject that was important but that might cut wrongly with the auditioners. And he was gratified that his insistence on a matter that bothered him proved to be the right move after all.
“I want Gal!” her brother screamed.
“Shhhh!” the crowd murmured.
“How is it going at Dafna’s? Is her startup any good? Do you keep your cool? I bet you have dirty thoughts.” Eitan jabbed him in the ribs, using the hollering children’s noise to drown out his questions. Keeping his cool around Dafna was impossible. He’d wanted her badly today in her office, had nearly broken down and ravished her, and then ran away without even saying goodbye properly. Less than a couple of weeks ago they had met and slept together, but she’d filled his mind so completely that it seemed like a much longer period.
“It was a one-night stand. We both decided we would be adults about it.”
“Right.” His brother chuckled.
After leaving Dafna’s office, he went to the CTO, Chief Technology Officer. Gil had boasted of Kisharti’s product, which was a configure, price, quote software designed to facilitate complex transactions. He’d barely understood what he was told, but he didn’t care. It was very simple for him, because the numbers would tell all.
Four teenagers with violins, a flutist, a clarinet player, and a cellist entered and sat down at the foot of the raised stage, forming an orchestra.
“Here we go,” Rona said to her sons. “Gal will be here in a minute.”
Bringing up Gal’s name was a mistake.
All three boys chimed in unison. “We want Gal, we want Gal!” Their shrill voices drowned the instrument tuning of the small orchestra. The crowd murmured disapprovingly.
“Okay Danny, I give up. You were right. Take them away,” Rona relented just as her eldest climbed the stairs, screaming at the top of his voice.
“I’ll help him.” Eitan ran after the little boy and caught him in his arms, flipping him. The child shrieked with laughter. Danny scooped up his other two sons and made for the exit. Erez and Rona remained seated, basking in the blessed silence, neither feeling the urge to fill it.
They grew up together, Rona was his high school sweetheart. Gal looked very much like Rona used to, including the charming dimple. They broke up right before they both started their service. Years later, following one drunken night, when they both happened to be single, Rona got pregnant. They got married, Gal was born, but there wasn’t enough love to keep the marriage alive.
“They love Gal, just love her.” Rona broke the silence, speaking of Gal’s half-brothers. “She keeps them in line, like that.” Rona snapped her fingers. She slanted a look at him. “I know she complains about it to you.”
“I’m glad Gal takes care of her brothers. She gets to do nothing when she’s at my house. I’m the pampering dad, and it’s not fair to you.”
