The Big Nap by Ayelet Waldman Page B

realized. A long black skirt, long-sleeved white shirt, and, most damningly, a beret to hide my hair. Of course he’d thought I was Orthodox. As soon as he’d seen me, Yossi had probably assumed I was a friend of Fraydle’s parents or, at the very least, a member of her community. No wonder he wouldn’t talk to me.
    “Yossi. We need to talk. I’m not one of Fraydle’s parents’ friends. I’m not Orthodox. I’m just a woman that Fraydle worked for once who is worried about her. Just like I’m sure you are. She’s missing and if there is anything you know that can help me to find her, you need to tell me. Her parents and aunt are out of their minds with worry.”
    He leaned against the door to his apartment for a moment and then, shutting it carefully behind him, sat down in one of the lounge chairs. He motioned me to sit in the other. I perched carefully on the edge, bouncing Isaac gently. I was afraid that if Isaac sensed I had actually gotten off my feet, he would start fussing. Miraculously, he seemed not to notice.
    “Is Fraydle here, Yossi?”
    He leaned back against his chair with a sigh and said, “No. She is not here. She is not with me. I wish she was with me. I asked her to come with me many times. But she always says no. Deep in her heart, Fraydle is a good girl. She does what her father tells her to do.” This last part was said with bitterness.
    “Yossi,” I said, “was Fraydle your girlfriend?”
    He scowled. “Can she be my girlfriend if she is not allowed to see me? Can she be my girlfriend if we never spend more than an hour or two together?”
    “I don’t know. Can she? Listen, Yossi, I know she left here very upset not long ago. What happened?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “Tell me, exactly what are you and Fraydle to each other?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “I know that you don’t think this is any of my business, but maybe we can work together to figure out where Fraydle has gone.”
    He remained silent.
    “Is it that you’re afraid I’ll tell her parents about you two? Is that it?”
    Silence.
    Finally, Yossi sighed. “It doesn’t matter now.” He took a deep breath as if to fortify himself for the story he was about to tell. Then he began: “Fraydle and I met about nine or ten months ago. I came to her aunt’s store on my third day in Los Angeles. I was staying with an old friend of my mother’s. This woman asked me to shop for her in the kosher grocery stores, so I came in with a long list and Fraydle helped me. She found everything on the list and even helped me to carry the bags and boxes to the bus stop.And she talked to me. Just for a minute. But she was so beautiful. Her eyes. You know how beautiful she is.”
    “Yes, her eyes really are quite remarkable. Violet, like Liz Taylor’s,” I said.
    “Who?”
    “Elizabeth Taylor? The movie actress?”
    He shook his head.
    “Okay, whatever—you met, you talked. And then?”
    “And then not so much for a while. I came to the store every day, every two days. Sometimes she helped me. Sometimes she stayed in the back and her aunt helped me. And then, one day, I came to the shop and she was not there at all. I came only to see her, I needed nothing. I bought a chocolate bar just to buy something and I went to the bus stop to wait for my bus. Fraydle was sitting on the bench waiting also for the bus.
    “At first I thought it was only a coincidence that we met, but she told me later that she waited for me. I sat down next to her and we talked. All the time we talked, she looked around to make sure nobody noticed that we were together. When the bus came, we got on. I sat down in a seat and she sat in the seat in front of me, not next to me, so no one would think we were together. We rode around the entire city. For two hours we rode the bus, talking and talking. She told me about her family, about the books she read. I told her about my family, about my military service, about Israel. We just talked. Finally, the bus made a full