Having
None
Of your
Own,
You
Made
Friends
With the
New kid.
No,
He made
Friends
With you,
Sitting
Beside you
At lunch:
"Hey, my
Name's
Moshe,
What's
Yours?"
(…Tate…)
"Do you like
Nintendo?"
(…uh-huh…)
"You don't
Talk much,
My dad
Says I
Talk too
Much!"
(…ok…?)
"Mom says
I can have
A friend
Sleep over
This
Saturday-
I live on
Your
Street-
I've got
A new
Nintendo –
Can't wait
To play!
(Nintendo? Cool!)
Soooo…
Twitching
And
Fidgeting
On Moshe's
Front
Doorstep
Clutching
Your grubby
Michaelangelo
Pillow,
And
Mom
Somewhere
Off
With her
Latest
Boyfriend,
You rang
The doorbell,
He let you in.
Their house
Was
Spotless,
No reeking
Of dogshit,
And mom's
Latest
Boyfriend's
Cheap
Cologne-
And no
Ghosts
Watching
You
From the
Shadows.
"Sorry 'bout
The wait-
Mom takes
For-ever
Setting out
Seudah Shlishit
On the patio-
Hope you
Like Gefelte
For dinner!"
Their food
Was strange:
Salad and
Fish,
Fruit, and
Beautiful bread
Like braided
Hair
In the soft
Candlelight,
The blessing
You didn't
Understand
With Moshe
And his dad
Wearing
Weird little hats
Laughing
Between
Bites
Before,
You all
Stood
Hand-holding,
Reciting,
"A-donai melech,
A-donai malach,
A-donai yimloch
L'olam va'ed!"
After
Dessert.
Later that
Evening
Moshe's dad
Sat on the
Floor
With you
And your
New
Best friend,
T.V.
Blue
In the dark-
The
Three of you
Playing
Video games,
Pretending
You'd always
Lived
In this
Strange,
Peaceful
House
Of weird
Food
And
Weird
Songs.
A bang at
The door,
Hair in her
Eyes,
One broken
Heel,
Mom barged
In,
Reeking
Of cigarettes
And worse:
"Filthy Jews,
You've stolen
My son!
Tate, get
Over here,
Now!"
In silent
Rage,
Mom
Dragged
You home,
Passing out
On the
Lawn-
Latest
Boyfriend,
Nowhere in
Sight.
Business
As usual,
You
Dragged her
In
Laying
Her out
By the
Couch,
Addy locked
In her
Room,
Beau in
His
Attic,
Ghosts in
The shadows,
You curled
Up
Beside
Her,
And
Moshe
Walked
Past
You
On
Monday.