Hush by Judy Brown, Eishes Chayil Page A

finally she sighed and said that she was thinking of giving up this whole mothering business. I sat worriedly in school, wondering exactly what that meant, but between recess and a spelling game forgot the whole issue. And that very evening at the supper table she revealed her escape plan to us.
    “Okay, everybody,” she had said, looking very serious as she poured too much ketchup on Sruli’s schnitzel. I stuck my plate out underneath the ketchup bottle and she squeezed even more onto mine.
    “So, everyone,” she repeated distractedly. “I have something very important to tell you.”
    We licked at the ketchup.
    “Remember Mommy’s friend Shaindy from Israel?”
    I stuck out a pointy tongue and tipped it with thick red paste.
    “She stayed here a few years ago, and she brought those talking dolls.”
    I crossed my eyes, trying to see the red tip of my tongue waving delicately in front of my face.
    “Her daughter is getting married in two weeks, and it’s very important to her that Mommy come to the wedding.”
    I snuck the ketchup out from behind the vase of flowers. I quickly squeezed out more.
    “Her husband died last year, and it’s important to make her happy.”
    My sister glared at me. I crossed my eyes again.
    “So Mommy is going on Sunday to Israel for a week so I can go to the wedding.”
    My eyes uncrossed abruptly. Ketchup dripped off my chin. There was complete silence around the table.
    My mother smiled. “Hey, I’m not going to the moon. I’m only going to Israel for one week.”
    Israel, for one week? And she wanted me to believe that? Once she got on that plane I would never see her again. But my mother was calmly instructing us.
    “Now, Totty will be home with—”
    “It’s not true! It’s not true!” I yelped. “You’re running away from us!”
    “Are you crazy?” she demanded. “You would think that I’m leaving you for a few months!”
    “Oh, yes,” I wailed. “Oh, yes. You even told me that you don’t want to be my mother anymore, and now you’re going to be someone else’s mother.”
    My mother stared at me. “Gittel, your imagination will eat you up one day. Now, listen to me—”
    But I kicked the table and sulked angrily. My mother sighed and ignored me.
    “Totty will be home with Surela and Avrum. Yossi and Leiby are anyway in yeshiva , and Sruli will go to Aunt Sarah. Gittel will stay by Devory for the week. I was thinking of keeping her home, but”—she waved her hand dismissively—“Totty will never manage her.”
    Stay by Devory’s for one whole week? I stared at my mother in utter disbelief. Oh, boy. I shrieked happily.
    “Yay! I’m going to Devory’s! So when are you going already?”
    My mother looked at me, surprised, and then burst out laughing. She ran over to me and hugged me tightly. I stared at her curiously, wondering what was so funny, but I didn’t really care. I was going to stay by Devory for one whole week. I would eat Cocoa Pebbles in the morning, peanut butter for lunch, and hot dogs for supper. I would play with her every day after school, never do homework, and we would even sleep in the same bed. Why, we would really be just like twins.
    But when Sunday morning arrived, I stood unhappily at the doorway to Devory’s house with a small suitcase, my purple jump rope, and a bar of chocolate, feeling very abandoned. My mother had kissed me good-bye just now at home and I had cried. Then she gave me a bar of chocolate and I smiled. My father drove me to Devory’s and I cried again. But then as I sat in Devory’s room I felt happy once more. It was very confusing. Finally I settled permanently into bliss. It was just so much more convenient.
    Devory and I unpacked my clothing, stuffed it as neatly as we could onto her shelves, and ran around the room playing catch. We played until we reached the dining room, where Devory’s mother sent the ball careening out the window and us into the kitchen to do our homework.
    We had a fine time