After that, she lost all sense of structure. All the boundaries fell away, all the definitions. Inside. Outside. Reality. Imagination. Time. Mind. Body.
Shua was right.
All morning, Nechami wonders if she can find the nerve to speak to Ruti’s mother, or to the wife of the ex-brother-in-law from Shua’s kollel. Her ruminations are interrupted now and then with thoughts about the family fundraising drive, but Tovi’s surgery isn’t really her focus. She does send a polite email to Odelia, and Odelia replies that she’d be happy to donate 500 shekels.
Midday brings a wintry sun out from between the clouds, doing its best to dry the pavements after yesterday’s heavy rain. The children ask to go out and play. They’re not the only ones; the street is teeming with tricycles, bikes, and speeding scooters.
Nechami is still wondering. Should I approach her mother? Would it be indiscreet?
She calls Shua at the tail end of lunch break. “Would it be totally insensitive to speak to the mother, to find out what really happened to Ruti?”
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