Queenie! The fey electric unforgettable Queenie, here beside him, her bespectacled face dim and lovely over a snow-flecked
fur collar. That he had gotten in too deep with this alien oddball was a fact of his life. The rest was handling it. The marriage
disclosure was an unquestionable relief. Why then was he taking it as a stab? He cleared his throat. “What was his reaction?”
“Sphinx-like. He just sat there listening, with stone eyes on my blushing face. We were in the Red Fox, actually. He’d driven
out to the school the day after he popped the question, and we were having dinner, and I just came
out
with it. He did nod once. No, twice. I guess sphinxes don’t nod, so let’s say he was like the Commandant’s statue in
Don Giovanni
. Then he talked about other things, as though I hadn’t said a word. I doubt he was all that surprised. Surely he wasn’t expecting
me at my age to be a virgin — though I damn near was, you evil deflowerer, you. Maybe he was relieved that there was no more
to tell. He’s a deep one, Bud.”
“Well, you’re in love, and all set. That’s the main thing, Emily. It’s just great.”
“You can still call me Queenie, chum.”
“That seems outdated.”
Four long years ago, during his first mission to Washington, the bartender in the cheap hotel where he was staying had taken
Emily for a hooker, and had called her Queenie by way of being sociable. She had been tickled to death by this, and as a joke
between them the sobriquet had stuck.
“It isn’t. It won’t ever be, not for me. Is it for you?” In the enormous gloomy empty chapel, his long silence was like a
shout. “Come on, Wolf Lightning.” Her voice trembled, her eyes glistened through her glasses. “Speak up, or forever hold your
peace. Wasn’t it on for years and years with not even a kiss? Just scrawls on paper crossing the ocean? And wasn’t it okay?”
“It was okay, Queenie.”
“Ah! That’s more like it. The one point I made to Bud was that we’d probably go on corresponding. That elicited a nod.”
“And the other nod?”
“When I said I wanted all the kids this rickety frame could still produce. That even brought a faint granite grin and —”
“Hello!” The voice reverberated off the walls and the vaulted ceiling. Benny Luria came striding down the aisle. “Hi there,
Emily,” he said, as though nothing could be more natural than finding these two together in the academy chapel, long after
midnight. Israeli military men seldom showed surprise at pairings, however offbeat. “What a fantastic church! That architect
had imagination, whoever he was.”
Barak said, “So you couldn’t sleep either?”
“I’ll be unwinding for days.” He dropped into the pew. “I’d rather fly five combat sorties than face such an audience again.”
“One would never know,” said Emily. “Your lecture was a wow. My fiancé wants to talk to you about it.”
“I have a seminar with the faculty at ten. Be glad to see him before or after. Zev, how about this academy? All these wide
low plain buildings, like wartime temporaries, and at the heart of it all this stunning church. Makes me think.”
“What about?”
“Well, I’d been at Tel Nof base two years before I even found out we had a synagogue. When my mother died I went looking for
it to say Kaddish. It was in a trailer behind the base kitchen. We’re supposed to be the people of the Bible, aren’t we? These
Americans seem to be more biblically inclined.”
“I’d call it pretty biblical,” said Emily, “to return to Zion after thousands of years, and learn to fly jet fighter-bombers
so you can stay there.”
Luria turned to peer at her. “That’s not bad. I’ll remember it.”
“Our air tickets are confirmed,” said Barak. “You fly to Los Angeles at two P.M ., and I’ll return to D.C.”
They left Luria sitting in the chapel. Outside the wind had sharpened, and fine snow stung their faces.
fur collar. That he had gotten in too deep with this alien oddball was a fact of his life. The rest was handling it. The marriage
disclosure was an unquestionable relief. Why then was he taking it as a stab? He cleared his throat. “What was his reaction?”
“Sphinx-like. He just sat there listening, with stone eyes on my blushing face. We were in the Red Fox, actually. He’d driven
out to the school the day after he popped the question, and we were having dinner, and I just came
out
with it. He did nod once. No, twice. I guess sphinxes don’t nod, so let’s say he was like the Commandant’s statue in
Don Giovanni
. Then he talked about other things, as though I hadn’t said a word. I doubt he was all that surprised. Surely he wasn’t expecting
me at my age to be a virgin — though I damn near was, you evil deflowerer, you. Maybe he was relieved that there was no more
to tell. He’s a deep one, Bud.”
“Well, you’re in love, and all set. That’s the main thing, Emily. It’s just great.”
“You can still call me Queenie, chum.”
“That seems outdated.”
Four long years ago, during his first mission to Washington, the bartender in the cheap hotel where he was staying had taken
Emily for a hooker, and had called her Queenie by way of being sociable. She had been tickled to death by this, and as a joke
between them the sobriquet had stuck.
“It isn’t. It won’t ever be, not for me. Is it for you?” In the enormous gloomy empty chapel, his long silence was like a
shout. “Come on, Wolf Lightning.” Her voice trembled, her eyes glistened through her glasses. “Speak up, or forever hold your
peace. Wasn’t it on for years and years with not even a kiss? Just scrawls on paper crossing the ocean? And wasn’t it okay?”
“It was okay, Queenie.”
“Ah! That’s more like it. The one point I made to Bud was that we’d probably go on corresponding. That elicited a nod.”
“And the other nod?”
“When I said I wanted all the kids this rickety frame could still produce. That even brought a faint granite grin and —”
“Hello!” The voice reverberated off the walls and the vaulted ceiling. Benny Luria came striding down the aisle. “Hi there,
Emily,” he said, as though nothing could be more natural than finding these two together in the academy chapel, long after
midnight. Israeli military men seldom showed surprise at pairings, however offbeat. “What a fantastic church! That architect
had imagination, whoever he was.”
Barak said, “So you couldn’t sleep either?”
“I’ll be unwinding for days.” He dropped into the pew. “I’d rather fly five combat sorties than face such an audience again.”
“One would never know,” said Emily. “Your lecture was a wow. My fiancé wants to talk to you about it.”
“I have a seminar with the faculty at ten. Be glad to see him before or after. Zev, how about this academy? All these wide
low plain buildings, like wartime temporaries, and at the heart of it all this stunning church. Makes me think.”
“What about?”
“Well, I’d been at Tel Nof base two years before I even found out we had a synagogue. When my mother died I went looking for
it to say Kaddish. It was in a trailer behind the base kitchen. We’re supposed to be the people of the Bible, aren’t we? These
Americans seem to be more biblically inclined.”
“I’d call it pretty biblical,” said Emily, “to return to Zion after thousands of years, and learn to fly jet fighter-bombers
so you can stay there.”
Luria turned to peer at her. “That’s not bad. I’ll remember it.”
“Our air tickets are confirmed,” said Barak. “You fly to Los Angeles at two P.M ., and I’ll return to D.C.”
They left Luria sitting in the chapel. Outside the wind had sharpened, and fine snow stung their faces.
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