A Wall of Light Read Online Free
Author: Edeet Ravel
shouldn’t be poor because Mom’s a lawyer and Dad’s a doctor. But Mom’s clients never pay her and Dad’s paying back all the loans they had to take out when he was in med school and Mom was studying to be a lawyer, plus he only works part-time so he can be with his family and make up for Mom being away a lot of the time.
That leaves Gran. Gran is a waitress, though I think lately she’s been doing less waiting on tables and more just hanging out at the café with all her friends, who are always coming over for supper and reading us their horrible poems about dead horses, right when we’re trying to eat. She’s also an actress but she can’t get good roles anymore because she can’t act too well in Hebrew. In Moscow she was Juliet, but here all she can get are small parts. She was the housekeeper in Uncle Vanya (by A. Chekhov), the musician in Twelfth Night (by R. Shakespeare), and a neighbor and nurse in An Electrician Named Desire (by Tennessee Williams). She goes through a lot of vodka. Sometimes when she sends me to buy her a bottle of vodka at the supermarket the cashier says, “How’s your gran?” I wish people would mind their own business.
That’s it for my family. The only other important people in my life are Oren and my teacher Ruthie. She wears garters.
L ETTER TO A NDREI , F EBRUARY 13, 1957
D earest, I have not heard from you in over a month and of course all my worries come to the fore and I imagine the worst. But maybe something has happened to our “postal service”—maybe Heinrich has been delayed in Vienna, or in Moscow. I wish he would write and let me know when he plans to see you, but it’s very kind of him to act as our courier, and I don’t want to impose on him further. Do you remember our “electrical service” when the fuses blew! Such memories fill my nights.
Kostya is thriving. He broke his wrist but it’s healing well. He’s involved in some very complicated war among the neighborhood boys (and two girls). I couldn’t follow it if I tried. The intrigues, mixed loyalties, betrayals, and dramas could compete with anything that goes on you-know-where. Well, during one of their ambushes he fell and broke his wrist. He went to three libraries looking for an anatomy book so he could figure out exactly what happened to his bone, but he couldn’t find anything that satisfied him, and the new university here isn’t really on its feet yet and doesn’t have a science library.
Now here is what happened, and it was quite wonderful. We have very good mail delivery here—everyone relies on it because it’s so difficult to get a telephone. You can send plain white postcards in the mail and they arrive quite quickly. Well, Carmela sent a postcard to someone who knows someone else who works at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who has a daughter who comes to Tel Aviv who is friends with someone else who works with Carmela … in short, five different people coordinated the bringing of an anatomy book from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv for Kostya! Everyone wanted our Kostya to have that book, and they went to so much trouble for him. I told you Carmela was invaluable.
Well, it was not a waste, because Kostya was glued to that book all week (he was only allowed to keep it for a week), even neglecting his playtime with his neighborhood friends. I thought this might be a sign that he has a future in medicine. However, when I asked him what he wanted to be, he said he wants to wait tables in a restaurant like me so he can get free cakes! I often bring home small cakes and pastries that I’ve stolen from the restaurant. Of course, our dear Kostya doesn’t know that they are not exactly gifts … but don’t worry, dearest. Nothing at all would happen to me if I were caught—they don’t take such things very seriously here.
We now have seven actors of varying ages and ranges and a translation of As You Like It! Still no stage and no budget, though, but Carmela is hopeful about an
That leaves Gran. Gran is a waitress, though I think lately she’s been doing less waiting on tables and more just hanging out at the café with all her friends, who are always coming over for supper and reading us their horrible poems about dead horses, right when we’re trying to eat. She’s also an actress but she can’t get good roles anymore because she can’t act too well in Hebrew. In Moscow she was Juliet, but here all she can get are small parts. She was the housekeeper in Uncle Vanya (by A. Chekhov), the musician in Twelfth Night (by R. Shakespeare), and a neighbor and nurse in An Electrician Named Desire (by Tennessee Williams). She goes through a lot of vodka. Sometimes when she sends me to buy her a bottle of vodka at the supermarket the cashier says, “How’s your gran?” I wish people would mind their own business.
That’s it for my family. The only other important people in my life are Oren and my teacher Ruthie. She wears garters.
L ETTER TO A NDREI , F EBRUARY 13, 1957
D earest, I have not heard from you in over a month and of course all my worries come to the fore and I imagine the worst. But maybe something has happened to our “postal service”—maybe Heinrich has been delayed in Vienna, or in Moscow. I wish he would write and let me know when he plans to see you, but it’s very kind of him to act as our courier, and I don’t want to impose on him further. Do you remember our “electrical service” when the fuses blew! Such memories fill my nights.
Kostya is thriving. He broke his wrist but it’s healing well. He’s involved in some very complicated war among the neighborhood boys (and two girls). I couldn’t follow it if I tried. The intrigues, mixed loyalties, betrayals, and dramas could compete with anything that goes on you-know-where. Well, during one of their ambushes he fell and broke his wrist. He went to three libraries looking for an anatomy book so he could figure out exactly what happened to his bone, but he couldn’t find anything that satisfied him, and the new university here isn’t really on its feet yet and doesn’t have a science library.
Now here is what happened, and it was quite wonderful. We have very good mail delivery here—everyone relies on it because it’s so difficult to get a telephone. You can send plain white postcards in the mail and they arrive quite quickly. Well, Carmela sent a postcard to someone who knows someone else who works at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who has a daughter who comes to Tel Aviv who is friends with someone else who works with Carmela … in short, five different people coordinated the bringing of an anatomy book from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv for Kostya! Everyone wanted our Kostya to have that book, and they went to so much trouble for him. I told you Carmela was invaluable.
Well, it was not a waste, because Kostya was glued to that book all week (he was only allowed to keep it for a week), even neglecting his playtime with his neighborhood friends. I thought this might be a sign that he has a future in medicine. However, when I asked him what he wanted to be, he said he wants to wait tables in a restaurant like me so he can get free cakes! I often bring home small cakes and pastries that I’ve stolen from the restaurant. Of course, our dear Kostya doesn’t know that they are not exactly gifts … but don’t worry, dearest. Nothing at all would happen to me if I were caught—they don’t take such things very seriously here.
We now have seven actors of varying ages and ranges and a translation of As You Like It! Still no stage and no budget, though, but Carmela is hopeful about an
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