The World of the End (29 page)

Kobi flung a pillow right at her head. It hit its mark and bounced back onto the couch. Tom laughed and was about to pounce on top of his father and tickle him all over, when the phone rang and his mother called him. “It’s for you, honey.”

Tom took the phone from his mother’s hand, an amused expression still spread across his face. “Hello?”

His face got serious instantly. “Why?”

The response didn’t appease him and he asked again, louder this time, “But why?”

Kobi watched his son intently. He’d never seen him go so pale.

“Then when?” Tom asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot, “Tomorrow? The day after? In three days? When?”

Kobi looked on as his son stared at the receiver. “Who was that?”

“Tommy, is everything alright?” his mother asked, approaching him, about to stroke his cheek.

The child squirmed away from her touch, smiled, and mumbled, “Sorry I yelled. That was the instructor from the computer course. He called to say the class was canceled today.” Without waiting for any follow-up questions, he turned on his heel and headed upstairs, slamming the door to his room behind him. Tali considered following him but decided to accept her husband’s advice and leave the kid alone. “He needs to learn that the world doesn’t run like a Swiss watch,” Kobi said.

“But did you see his reaction?” she asked.

“You know how much he likes that group. He hasn’t missed it once in fifteen months. I’m surprised it didn’t happen beforehand.”

“What didn’t?”

“A cancellation. It’s not that strange.”

“I don’t know,” Tali said, looking at the phone, “his reaction was a bit overboard.”

“He’s a kid, that’s how kids react.”

“God,” she said, sitting on the love seat, “if that’s how he reacts when one of his extracurricular classes is canceled, what’s he going to do when we tell him about the old couple?”

Kobi got down on his knees and took her hands in his. “Tali, not yet. We need to wait for the right time. I don’t want to confuse him too much. Your pregnancy, their death. It’s too much for him.”

“We’re not going to tell him the whole truth,” she said, a tear sliding toward her mouth.

“Sweetheart,” he mopped a trail of tears with his finger, “as far as the kid is concerned, they died in their sleep.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around him tight, smiling at their reflection on the face of the dark television screen.

*   *   *

They were both startled by the bell. Ronny, Tom’s good friend and classmate, stood at the entryway. He asked if Tom was around.

“Yeah, he’s up in his room” Tali smiled, asking him if he’d like to eat or drink anything.

“Coke,” said the hefty kid, “and maybe some of those chocolate and raisin cookies you make.”

“How did you know that I just baked a few trays of them yesterday?”

“The smell,” Ronny said, touching his nose and rubbing circles around his protruding belly.

Kobi, drawn to the kid’s sense of self parody, said, “Pretty lucky the instructor canceled the class today, otherwise you would’ve missed out on Tali’s cookies.”

Ronny looked at Tali as she poured some of the cookies into a bowl. “The instructor?”

“From the computer course.”

The light in the kid’s eyes went out as soon as Tali stopped pouring and snapped the lid back on the cookie jar. Watching her put it back on the shelf, he reissued Kobi’s words. “From the computer course?”

“Are you even listening to me?” Kobi asked, still smiling.

“Yeah, yeah…” He turned toward Kobi but still kept an eye on Tali’s movements. “You were asking about the instructor…”

“Did he call you, too, to let you know the class was canceled today?”

Tali opened a drawer and pulled out a bag that crinkled. Ronny turned back toward her and stared at her back, trying to guess what else she was adding to the bowl. Softly, he said, “No one called me.”

“Then how did you know that Tom is home? And how did you know there was no class today? I mean, don’t you guys always meet at the class?” Kobi pried.

It took about thirty seconds, but the kid’s face finally registered some kind of understanding. “Oh sure … the class … Tom told me … he called me and told me the instructor called today to cancel…”

Tali pounced. “Ronny … Tom didn’t call you … he just got the message a few minutes ago … we would have seen him use the phone.”

“He used his cell,” the kid beamed.

This time Kobi answered. “Ronny, his cell’s broken.”

“I’m sorry, Ronny,” Tali said, approaching him with an outstretched bowl. “We don’t mean to cross-examine you. It’s just that I’ve never seen Tom react the way he did to that call.” She handed him the bowl. “Go ahead, sweetie.”

The sudden calm he felt at the first taste of the cookies subsided when Tali asked whether he had “any idea why Tom acting so strangely?”

“No. He must have been very disappointed. He just really likes … going over there … really likes it…,” Ronny said, wiping a sweaty bead off his forehead.

“Oh, sure, we know,” Tali said, stirring the contents of the bowl, reminding him to partake. Ronny, huffing, turned around and said, “I just remembered … I … have to go … I’ve got things to do…”

“You don’t want to see Tom?” they asked in unison.

“I’ll catch him in school tomorrow,” he said, mumbling a good-bye and storming out.

“What a funny kid,” Kobi said.

Tali went back into the kitchen, put the cookies back in the jar, and said, “No, Kobi, he’s not funny at all; he’s just a kid who doesn’t know how to lie.”

“Whatever, so Tom lied about the phone, no need to make a big deal out of it,” Kobi said, sinking back into the couch.

“Sure,” she said, “but still something’s going on here. Something’s off between those two kids and I’m going to find out what it is.”

“Good luck then, Miss Marple,” Kobi said, clicking the television to life.

*   *   *

Tali knew that, to her husband, her behavior served as further proof that women love to pick and pry at the placid surface of things, fishing for drama and then panfrying fiction into reality. But when she woke from her afternoon nap, ready to discard her plan, she couldn’t help but notice the rumbling silence emanating from Tom’s room. Most of the time he spent the early evening hours in front of his computer, yelling at the screen, maneuvering the joystick with his whole body, trying to kill his enemies while some of the most awful strains of teen pop streamed out of the stereo he’d gotten for his tenth birthday. She knocked on the door and heard nothing. Opening it quietly, she saw Tom in his bed, face buried in the pillow, faking sleep.

Two hours later, while she was making dinner, the phone rang. Tom bolted out of his room and raced down the stairs. Chopping and stirring, she noted happily that Kobi had fallen asleep on the couch. Her son, she hoped, would be equally unattuned to her heightened state of alertness. Once he answered, she moved to a more deliberate, less riotous pace of chopping. He was speaking with Ronny, chewing him out in a harsh whisper. The gravity of the situation was readily apparent. Tom’s voice shook with rage.

“You fat idiot. You couldn’t think of something that made more sense? Now they’re going to be suspicious. How could you forget, you fool? Look, I can’t talk now. No, they can’t hear me, but I’ll talk to you in school tomorrow.” And then, just before the conversation ended, he added, “He said he wants to keep a low profile, so I can’t see him again till he says so.”

Just before setting the table, she woke Kobi and asked him not to bother Tom about what had happened earlier. He yawned, sighed, and said, “You’re still thinking about that?”

After they’d had dinner and Tom had left the table, she peeked at her watch.

Kobi chuckled. “What, your period’s a little late?”

Tali pointed to the dishes. “Be a good husband and try not to make any noise while you clear the table.”

Kobi laughed and wrapped his arms around her middle. “God, you’re sexy when you’re scheming.”

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“She’s dying to know what the two kids are up to,” he whispered. “Perhaps they’ve killed a helpless old woman and hid the body, perhaps they’ve gotten their hands on the math test, even though there are only three days left till summer vacation, or perhaps they’re just hiding their love for one another from us, even though I don’t think Tom-Tom is into the big boys…”

“Let go of me, you maniac,” she giggled, swimming out of his arms, “I’ve got something important to do.”

“Tali’s scheme,” he said, rubbing his hands together and kissing her ear. “Good luck.”

“What are you talking about? I’m just going to pee.”

“And this is how you forsake your loving husband, instead of being the perfect wife and asking him to come along?”

“Not today.” She kissed his lips and started up the stairs. In her bedroom, with the door closed, she rummaged through her drawers till she found the folded piece of paper. She flattened it out with her hand and scrolled down her son’s class list till she found Ronny Ma-or’s name. A thin, congested voice answered on the third ring. “Ma-ors’ residence, good evening.”

“Good evening,” she said, thinking how strange it was that she’d never met her son’s best friend’s parents. Ronny’s mother seemed eager to be liked and went out of her way to compliment Tom, hardly allowing the concerned mom a second to get a word in edgewise, pausing only to sneeze. Tali seized the opportunity. “I just wanted to ask you a quick question. Do you know if Ronny’s computer course instructor called today to cancel his class?”

Ronny’s mother sneezed again and asked, “Which course?”

“Ronny and Tom’s computer course; you know, the one at four on Wednesdays.”

Mrs. Ma-or blew her nose. “Huh? Ronny watches his brother on Wednesday afternoons.”

“But he was at our house today at four.”

“Yeah, he was lucky, his mother has a cold and didn’t go to work today. I’ve explained to him a thousand times…”

“Excuse me,” Tali said, cutting her short, “but what about the computer course?”

“I’m sorry, but I think you have Ronny confused with another kid. He’s never said a thing about a computer course.”

“I see,” Tali said, hastening to bring the conversation to a close.

*   *   *

The next day she called the travel agency and said she wouldn’t be able to make it into work due to a loss in the family. For most of the day, she busied herself trying to find a less devious plan; for naught. Tom’s words a few hours after the instructor had canceled the course lingered. When the door opened in the early afternoon, she beamed at Tom, and the boy, as was his habit, tossed his knapsack in the middle of the living room and poured himself a glass of Coke. She asked about his day. He said it had been good and avoided her eyes as he turned toward the stairs. She watched him disappear up the staircase and, just as he was near the top, she called up to him and said, “Oh, sweetie, your instructor called today.”

The kid stopped in his tracks, turned, and asked, “My instructor?”

“Yeah sweetie, from the computer course. He said to tell you that the class would be meeting at four o‘clock today.”

For a moment the child’s face remained perfectly still, and only when his mother smiled at him did he enthusiastically return the favor. “Thanks, Mom!”

An hour later, he came down the stairs and, his face alight, said he’d be back in the evening. Tali nodded, kissed his face lightly, and wished him a good time. A minute later, she donned dark sunglasses, put on a wide-brimmed hat, and left the house. Feeling ridiculous as she recalled similar scenes from detective movies, she made sure to stay a safe distance behind her son as he picked up his pace, crossing familiar streets turned ominous. Twenty minutes later, slipping into a speed walk, she was certain he was trotting toward the park, but before entering he turned into a quiet street nearby, slowed to a walk, and knocked on the tall door of a stately home. Tali’s heart thumped in her chest as she ducked behind a parked car.

She tried to see who opened the door but couldn’t make out anything beyond her son, who took a step backwards and gesticulated angrily with his hand. For a short while he was quiet, listening to the person who had opened the door, but then he started to scream, his long hair flailing all over the place, “You can’t do this. You’re my friend!”

At that moment, Tali’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the tall skinny man with the black glasses who, like a rat, poked his head out of his hole for a brief, brave moment, bowed and gently shook the boy’s shoulders, raising his voice plaintively. “Don’t you see this has nothing to do with you? There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me and my brother. It’s too complicated to explain. But for now I can’t be in touch with you. Try and understand, Tom. You know how much I like playing with you, but this time I have no choice. I’m sorry.”

Tom burst out crying and the man embraced him for a long while, stroking his hair and calming him. Tali’s body started to tremble as she watched this strange man with his hands around her son, but she stayed put until the man had gone back inside the house and her son had turned away from the door with an expression that was hard to mistake. Only when she was sure the coast was clear did she straighten up, stretch, cross the street, take off her shoes, and tiptoe to the front door of the house. She wrote down the resident’s name on the palm of her hand and left at a run, slowing down as she spotted her son’s back farther down the sidewalk. For a second or two, she considered keeping up her undercover routine, but then came to her senses, striding toward her stooped son and placing a hand on his back.

Tom swung around and looked at her in a disbelief that, in an instant, melted into understanding. In a crushed voice he asked, “Mom, what are you doing here?”

Before she could find the right words, his full lips formed a crater of shock. “You followed me, right? You lied to me when you said that…”

“Adam called,” she said, putting a steadying hand on his shaking shoulders.

Tom took a step back. “Did you talk to him?” he asked in a threatening tone.

“No, Tom, I didn’t talk to him. I preferred to ask you.”