The Jerusalem Inception

Chapter 35





Late at night, after turning on the recording devices, Tanya went to bed with an Agnon book. The story was titled Agunot – The Forsaken Wives. It dramatized the traditional marriage that kept a woman bound by the strictures of Talmud long after all the other aspects of matrimony had dissolved. Sad, but beautifully written. She was so caught up in the world that Agnon had created that the knocks on the door seemed to belong in the story rather than in reality. But they sounded again, insistent, loud.

She wrapped herself in the blanket and went to the door. “Who is it?”

“Abraham Gerster.”

When she opened the door, only his face, beard, and payos stood out in the darkness, the rest of him as black as the night. He was panting hard.

“You walked here?”

He nodded.

“Why in the middle of the night?”

“I waited until my wife fell asleep.” He coughed. “She’s going out of her mind. I have to do something. You must help me!”

“How did you know where I live?”

“My son.” He gasped for air. “I followed him one Saturday when he—”

“When he came for my books?”

“Was it only books he came for?”

Tanya thought of their Saturday afternoons together, Lemmy’s clothes on the floor, easily visible through the window.

He leaned against the doorpost. “Oh, Tanya, what have I done?”

She reached up and caressed the side of his face. “It’s not your fault.”

“Who else?” He grabbed her hands and pressed them to his chest. “My heart belonged to you! Always! But I agreed to live a lie! I made a terrible mistake marrying her!”

Her heart racing, Tanya spoke with difficulty. “Did you tell your wife to write—”

Noise outside made them turn.

Out of the darkness, in the dim light from the door, a woman appeared. She wore a gray headdress, her face bright with sweat, her body covered in a black coat—a man’s coat, which Tanya realized must be Lemmy’s old coat. Below it, her shins were exposed, very white, and her bare feet.

“Temimah!” He let go of Tanya’s hands.

She stepped closer. Her feet left wet prints of blood. “You stole my son!” She pointed a trembling finger at Tanya. “Now you want to take my husband?”

“No,” Tanya said, “please, you don’t understand—”

“Vixen!” Her voice had a primal pitch, like an animal screeching at the moment of death. “I curse you!”

“Temimah,” Abraham’s pleaded, “enough.”

“God will bring you sorrow! Grief!” Her eyes rolled up and she collapsed.