Yosef was listening, Ephraim could see. He took his own words seriously, but he’d also learned how to listen to other people
E
phraim Milner had a pretty easy schedule, he had to admit. It was work he enjoyed, and he liked the atmosphere in yeshivah. Besides being the driver and learning with some of the weaker boys during seder, he was a bit of a celebrity.
Dating, to them, was shiny and exciting — is it true that your parents let you spend however much money you wanted? Like, you could go buy a Zegna tie for shidduchim and they wouldn’t say a word? How do you decide what kind of car to rent? Are you an Emerald Club member after all these years?
Most nights, he didn’t mind the questions. The boys were young and innocent, and anything was better than the Lakewood dorm, five years of new roommates zeman after zeman, feeling silly to admit they were busy and sillier still to admit they were getting engaged. Instead of giving him the wedding invitation, they would leave it on the table — Ephraim Milner! — and when he thanked them, they would say, “Of course, and I’ll totally get it if you can’t come, no pressure.”
On nights when Ephraim wasn’t in yeshivah, the Modena boys made a scene. If they saw him leaving or coming back, there was hooting and cheering, “Ooooh, Ephraim is busy… pssshhhh…” and sometimes there was singing, even dancing. They were young, these boys, so young.
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