In the Game

She and the boy sitting opposite her had successfully covered the rudimentary basics of each other’s lives. The boy had finished describing how the gas stovetop in his dirah spontaneously burst into flames one night; she’d learned that all of his roommates had been sleeping and was informed of the various innovative methods he and his neighbor had used to extinguish the fire.

Time to move on to the next topic. “So, what’s your family like?” he asked.

One large bubble burst at the surface of her Coke. Devorah looked up. Was he asking what her family is like or what her family was like? Did this boy want to know about her family before Ephraim got sick or after his petirah?

“My family is a lot of fun,” Devorah found herself responding. “Everyone’s really busy. I have a married sister — Elana, in Lakewood — who’s an accountant, but she comes with her husband and kids for Shabbos in the summer. And my younger sister was head of choir in her school’s play this year. I also have a younger brother who’s learning in Eretz Yisrael. And the youngest are twins, girls, in seventh grade.” Her head was spinning. “What about you? What’s your family like?”