Chapter 5: CAUGHT!
God's Little Drop of Water
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The next morning, Ima was hurrying about, still in a state of half-dress, helping Yaroni select his outfit. Yair remained in bed, fast asleep, and Taliya was in the kitchen, staring at a bowl of oatmeal.
“Abba, there’s no chocolate,” said Taliya.
“I forgot,” replied Abba. He paused in his preparation of the sandwiches, retrieved two pieces of chocolate from the refrigerator, and placed them in the bowl of oatmeal, using the spoon to hide them.
Much relieved, Taliya set to work shifting the oatmeal around in the bowl, hoping to accelerate the process of melting the chocolate. She felt rather impatient this morning, for she wanted to take her brothers to school and get home in order to begin her university studies. Her plan was working perfectly and she was learning a very great deal more than the children forced to endure Gal’s dreary lectures, confined as they were all day long to the hot, stifling classroom.
The fact that this was the fourth day of the new school year and Gal had not yet realized that one of her students was not present in class only lent credence to Taliya’s belief that poor Gal was not very bright, and that studying at home was a better use of time.
That afternoon, after Taliya had enjoyed a marvelous day learning about many wonderful things and improving her English, which would surely be of use in conquering the world, she was preparing to pack up her books in order to fetch Yair from school when the front door of the apartment opened and Yair entered.
“What are you doing here?” Taliya asked.
“What are you doing here?” Yair asked. “Did you stay home today?”
Taliya did not want to lie to her brother. “Yes.”
“Have you been staying home every day? Leaving me at school?”
Yair always was too smart for his own good.
“Yes,” said Taliya. Surely it was time to confess, to convince Yair that her plan was for the best, lest he inform Abba and Ima that she hadn’t been attending school. She would then be forced to listen to boring ol’ Gal blather on. “But it’s okay, I’ve been studying! I have my own university. See?” Taliya motioned to the precise arrangement of books and notebooks and writing instruments spread across the coffee table.
“You’re watching television!” said Yair.
“It’s okay, it’s the education channel! See?” Taliya pointed. A man and woman dressed entirely in khaki were standing on an African plain where many lions dozed a mere few meters away. Taliya hoped the man and woman would not be eaten by the lions. They certainly deserved it, for being so stupid as to get so close to a bunch of lions, but Taliya did not want to witness their meeting such a gruesome end.
“Please don’t tell!” Taliya implored. “I’m studying really hard. I promise.”
Yair appeared unconvinced. She would have to sweeten her offer.
“I’ll… do your homework for you.”
This caught Yair’s interest. “You will?”
Taliya sensed this was her opening. She knew her brother loathed the hours required to complete tedious school assignments, question-and-answer, fill-in-the-blank, silly book reports… “Yes! I’ve already read the books you’re reading this year, so I know exactly what to say.”
“You’ll make sure I get an ‘A’?”
“Of course!”
“And you’ll make sure I have time to re-copy everything so it’s in my handwriting?”
“If you promise not to tell Abba and Ima.”
“Okay.”
It was a deal.
And to Taliya’s mind a very good one. She could easily spend an hour per night completing her brother’s assignments because she had already done them when she completed his grade. She had even had the same teacher he had this year. Perhaps she could even go into her closet and retrieve the actual assignments (upon which she had gotten entirely A’s, of course). Yair could then simply copy her work and she could continue to attend Taliya’s University.
With that settled, Taliya and Yair sprawled on the cool floor, waiting for Ima and Yaroni to arrive.
Yair asked if there was any chance Gal was going to notice Taliya was not present in class.
Taliya assured Yair that if Gal were capable of noticing such a thing, she would have already done so. And that minding a classroom of 40 children required patience, discipline, and intellect, and some school teachers, such as Ima, were quite good at it, while others, such as Gal, were not. Taliya pointed out that she was actually helping Gal because by not being in class, there was one fewer student to fuss over, and fewer papers to correct every night.
Yair asked if there was any way he could attend Taliya’s University.
Taliya did like the notion of increasing the size of her university. She could easily stand in the front of the room and instruct.
But the likelihood that Yair could stop attending class after having already been there four days seemed low, and they agreed he would likely need to continue going to school.
But Taliya assured him that he would be able to copy all of her old assignments, and he would score high marks with minimal effort.
Yair liked this idea very much.
♦♦♦
Dinner that evening was pasta, which Taliya enjoyed. Pasta with cream sauce.
Halfway through their meal, Ima stated that the children were halfway through their first week of school. She asked how they were liking their new teachers.
Taliya and Yair shared a look.
Taliya hoped Yair would honor their agreement, that he would say nothing about the fact that Taliya had been coming home every day and had not been going to school.
“Fine,” said Yair.
“Fine,” said Yaroni. Everyone laughed.
“Taliya, how about you?” Ima asked.
“Fine,” Taliya said.
“Yofee,” said Ima, which meant lovely.
“Yofee toffee!” declared Yaroni, and everyone laughed.
Confident that her plan was working perfectly, Taliya ate all the food upon her plate and there was no need to throw any food out of a window.
♦♦♦
That night, as everyone was preparing for bedtime, the children implored Abba to read them a bedtime story.
Abba was clearly exhausted, but agreed. When he suggested Little Red Riding Hood, the children readily approved.
Abba left the room and returned a moment later with a tape recorder. He pressed Play. His voice emanated from the recorder, reading Little Red Riding Hood.
Everyone laughed, Abba most of all.
Abba kissed the children good night and went to bed.
Taliya and her brothers listened to the story three times, enjoying the story more and more each time before finally going to sleep themselves.
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