Michael quietly stood up to go with the men. “Tell Suri I love her,” he whispered to Abe.
Abe stared at his partner. “Why’d you do it, Michael?” he asked.
“I have weddings to plan — a life to pay for, Abe. That’s all,” he said, and stubbed out his cigarette.
• • •
When Jacob arrived at the yeshiva in the morning, he was surprised to find it closed, with police officers guarding the entrances.
A crowd of gawkers buzzed with anxious chatter as reporters from
The Post, The News,
and
The Times
circled about like vultures to the dead.
“What’s going on?” he asked an onlooker who was craning his neck to grab a view of the sidewalk nearest the front doors.
“Haven’t you heard?” the man said. “They’ve arrested Rabbi Kaplinsky!”
• • •
Suri got the late edition of
The Jewish Press
, and it was all there in black and white for the whole world to see:
The Monevitcher Kaplinsky Yeshiva is under investigation by the FBI for its role in the laundering of Colombian drug money.
“I know nothing about this,” stated Rabbi Solomon Kaplinsky, spiritual director of the yeshiva. The rabbi claims his role in the yeshiva is teaching and advising, and that he is not directly involved in the finances of the school and religious center.
Mr. Shalom Israel and Theodore Weiss, both financial officers on the Board of Directors for the yeshiva, have also been indicted, pending investigation.
Evidence points to a key player in the scandal: Mr. Harold Green of Green’s Imports and Exports, a coffee company located in Manhattan that does a heavy volume of trading in Colombia. Mr. Green has been placed under arrest. At press time, he had no comments. Unnamed sources report that Green laundered the drug money through the yeshiva in the form of false donations. A number of his aides have also been implicated as accomplices in the crime.
Also under arrest is Michael Kaufman, Esquire, who served as legal counsel both to Mr. Green and the yeshiva. While his exact role in the scheme is as yet unclear, sources say it may have been Kaufman who facilitated the arrangement between Green and the yeshiva.
Suri threw the paper down. She had survived post-Hitler Hungary; she’d survived immigrating to a new country. She’d survived raising three boys who no longer wanted to obey her. She was tired of surviving hardships and difficulties. She didn’t know how much more she had left in her.
“Michael!” she cried, “how could you have done this to me? How could you have gotten caught?”
• • •
Macy bounded into the house, his mind racing with his elopement plans. He needed to find a rabbi who would marry him and Ilana that very night.
“Hey, Ma, what’s up?” he said, uninterested in her answer. He had phone calls to make.
Suri didn’t move from the couch. “Macy, come look at this,” she said, handing him the newspaper.
Macy grabbed the paper and read the news. Then he read it again.
“Where is Tatty now?” he asked, sobering instantly.
“They are holding him in jail for questioning. Yossie is on his way there.” She had no expression left in her voice. “Take me to that place, to see your father.”
“All right. I just have to call Ilana,” Macy said.
“Now? You need to call that Israeli girl at a time like this? I can’t believe you are even seeing that girl! What will it take to make you understand that she is not good enough for our family?”
“
Her
father isn’t in jail.”
Suri stood and slapped him across his face.
Without a word, Macy grabbed the car keys and drove his mother to see his father in jail.
• • •
Ilana jumped out of the shower, quickly towel-dried her hair, and donned a cream cotton sweater and skirt.
My wedding gown,
she thought, checking her appearance in her mirror. She would have liked to put on some makeup for this occasion, but she’d be going to the mikveh, where she would have to dunk in the warm pool
au natural.
She went to her closet to find her robe and also chose a pink beret that she would wear once the rabbi married them.
I can’t believe I’m doing this!
she thought. It was the craziest thing she had ever done. But then again, everything about being with Macy was exciting! Left to her own devices, she’d be happy baking, singing, or hanging out with friends. Macy was so active all the time — she’d need a special Macy calendar just to keep up with him!
She stuffed her toiletries into her small green knapsack.
I love him,
she thought,
and that’s all that matters.
She ran down the stairs and outside, nearly forgetting to lock the door. Tonight Macy would be coming for her, and after the rabbi married them, they would spend the night together in their new apartment.
Leave it to Macy to figure it all out!
she thought. Her husband-to-be had managed to secure one of the few rent-controlled apartments left in Manhattan. True, the apartment could use some work — actually a
lot
of work — but Ilana was sure she would get it in shape once they settled in.
She walked briskly to the landmark, an old wooden house surrounded by grass that harkened back to the times when Brooklyn was farmland and a Hessian soldier had scratched his initials into a window during the Revolutionary War.
Everything changes,
Ilana thought, checking her watch. It was eight o’clock; Macy would be arriving any moment.
She felt all giddy, conspiring to get married. It was so out of character for her to do something so impulsive — but it was so adventurous!
And then, at the landmark, she waited.
It started raining and Ilana got wet, but still she waited for her Macy to come.
She saw city buses drive by, packed with harried commuters. Others walked tiredly back from the subway, dressed in business attire and sneakers, carrying briefcases that held the remnants of their lunches and their work shoes.
But she didn’t see Macy.
“Hey, what are you doing in the rain?” A woman called out from her passing car. She recognized her; it was Hindy’s younger sister.
“I’m waiting for someone.” Ilana tried to appear nonchalant, but the rain had already matted her hair and now was pelting her hard all over.
“You’re Ilana, right? Come on, don’t be stupid — get in the car. You shouldn’t wait outside in weather like this.” Shayna parked the car and opened the door to the passenger seat. “I have to pick my husband up from the train station. I have a few minutes.”
Ilana hesitated and then looked around the corner for Macy. Seeing nobody, she sidled into the front seat of Shayna’s pre-owned Lexus.
Shayna turned off the radio, which had been blaring. “So
who
is worth waiting for in the rain?” she asked in a breathless voice.
Ilana debated whether to share with Shayna that she had a relationship with Macy. He had sworn her to secrecy — but then their marriage would be common knowledge tomorrow morning. “You know Macy Kaufman?”
Shayna let out a high-pitched laugh. “Do I know Macy Kaufman? I dated him — once. You’re going out with Macy Kaufman? Oh, that’s a good one!”
“Why?”
Shayna sucked in her lips. “Never
mind. It’s just that — ”
“Yes?”
“I just don’t see the two of you together. You are so different!”
“True. He’s so spirited and exciting — ”
“Sure — if you mean irresponsible and immature.”
Ilana continued. “He’s so talented and has so many interests — ”
“You seem smart. Is he smart like you?”
Ilana immediately regretted telling Shayna her news. “They say opposites attract.”
Shayna shrugged. “Whatever that means.”
Ilana decided to change the subject. “So how is marriage treating you, Shayna?”
“My husband is yum, but my mother-in-law makes me sick.”
“I guess we all have to sacrifice for love,” Ilana said.
“All of our fights are instigated by his mother. All of them. We are thinking that when it’s time to buy a home, we’re leaving.”
“Leaving Brooklyn? Where would you go?”
“Shim wants Monsey, I want the Five Towns. So we’re looking at houses on Long Island every Sunday.”
“You’re planning on buying a house already?”
“No. We don’t have the money yet — but I have to work on my parents starting right away if I ever want them to help with a down payment.”
“That’s nice they would help you like that.”
“Oh please!” Shayna rolled her eyes. “Our families are so annoying — I can’t stand living near any of them.”
“At least they are there for you, right?” Ilana looked out the car window at the schoolyard across the avenue. When it wasn’t raining, she’d often see teens playing basketball there. Tonight, though, it was empty.
Where on earth was Macy?
Laughing, Shayna jabbed Ilana in the ribs. “As much as I hate my mother-in-law, I’d take her over Suri Kaufman any day!”
Ilana checked her watch. “Thanks for stopping for me, Shayna. I think I’d better get going now.”
Shayna’s laugh morphed into a cackle. “That Suri is one tough opponent. Good luck with nabbing Macy — I wouldn’t wish Suri Kaufman on anyone!”
Ilana got out and slammed the door as Shayna drove off, leaving her on the street corner. She glanced again at her watch. It was nearly nine o’clock.
Where is he?
She paced the sidewalk. It was warm outside, but she was shivering.
Is he okay? Did he change his mind?
People hurried by and furtively glanced at her, probably wondering if she was lost — or crazy. Who else just stands on a street corner in Brooklyn? In the rain?
A nearby car took the corner quickly, utterly drenching Ilana in an arcing muddy splash.
Why hasn’t he come? This is supposed to be our wedding day!
Along with the rain, tears started to pelt Ilana’s face, melding in with the rest of her cold and wet body, but still she waited.
Did Suri find out? Did she insist he not come?
Ilana held her head up high and waited.
She caught a chill and sneezed. Yet still, she waited.
And waited.
Fool
, she thought at last.
He’s scared of any real responsibility. He isn’t coming for you. But it’s for the best. Because you would never, ever, fit into his family. Shayna is right. It would have been a difficult issue for the rest of your life. It would destroy you, and destroy your marriage.
At ten o’clock, sopping wet and feeling humiliated, Ilana went home.
Jacob was sitting at his computer when he saw her come in and asked what she had been doing outside in the rain. Ilana didn’t reply and was about to go to her room when Jacob briefly mentioned what had happened at the yeshiva.
“It was awful, Ilana,” Jacob said. “The yeshiva had closed down due to a money-laundering sting.”
Ilana stood on the stairs, taking in what her cousin said. “Money laundering? Did anyone get arrested?”
Jacob nodded. “It was horrible seeing those rabbis being led away … ”
Ilana blanched. “Rabbis got arrested? Anyone else?”
Jacob shrugged. “Anyone suspected of being involved — Macy’s father among them … ” Jacob motioned for her to look at the screen. “It’s all here.”
She read the article and understood why Macy hadn’t come for her, as well as a dark side of Macy’s family and community. Still, perhaps this reprieve was for the best. For she knew that despite Macy’s father’s disgrace, she didn’t fit in, and would never be accepted into his family. Ilana began to cry. With all the tomes of laws for the Jewish people, it seemed the most important law in Brooklyn was one that was unwritten: “It’s more important to conform culturally than to uphold the values of the Torah.” Her tears turned to sobs as Ilana realized that she could never be a part of this community.
I love him so much
, she thought as she sat in her kitchen holding the telephone.
I love him so much that it hurts
. She took off the golden necklace with the diamond heart pendant that Macy had given her and put it in an envelope.
I love him with all my heart — but it’s not enough.
Ilana took a deep breath. “I’m going back to Israel.”
“What? Are you sure?” Jacob asked, painfully aware of the conviction in Ilana’s voice.
“I’m sure.” Ilana sniffled, fingering the envelope she held for Macy.
“Why Ilana? What about Macy?” Jacob nudged, coming toward her.
Ilana laughed as she cried, backing away. “Don’t you know? Because I love Macy Kaufman with all my heart and soul, but it could never work. And I’ve had enough of Brooklyn Love.”
• • •
Leah sat next to her fiancé Eli on his couch; neither of them had any idea what to do.
“What was your uncle thinking?” Eli held his head in his hands.
Leah slowly exhaled. “Who knows. What are we going to do?”
Eli shrugged. “I can’t believe this happened to the yeshiva.”
Leah tried not to cry, but couldn’t help herself. “I guess you’ll have to find a different yeshiva. See where your study partners go.”
“How could they have all done that?” Eli looked crushed.
Leah shrugged. “People have free choice. They don’t always choose well.”
“Should we consider California now?” Eli asked.
Leah watched the living room fan whir round and round, giving off a modicum of relief from the heat. The turning blades reminded her of the propellers of a jet plane. She sadly shook her head. “It’s too late for that, Eli.”
On a crisp fall day, Suri and her family sat in the austere courtroom and watched as Michael Kaufman, Esquire, received his verdict: guilty.
Implicated as a key player in a felony, he was sentenced to ten years in jail.
“We can appeal,” Yossie told his mother. “Plus he’ll get years off for good behavior.”
But Michael’s shoulders slumped when he heard the verdict, and he somberly glanced at his family as he was led away.
Suri stood there, frozen.