Too Many Men (76 page)

“Yes,” said Edek. “Of course.”

“Why not?” Ruth said. “When I go back to New York I’ll probably have Mercedes withdrawal.”

Edek laughed. “You could buy a Mercedes for yourself,” he said.

“I don’t need a car,” said Ruth.

“You can afford a car,” Edek said.

“The parking in New York is exorbitant,” Ruth said.

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“What is the good of earning big money,” Edek said, “if you worry about parking?”

“I’ve told you before,” Ruth said. “I don’t need a car in New York.”

She wished she had never mentioned the subject of Mercedes withdrawal. It was meant to be a joke. A throwaway line. And Edek had laughed. “I thought we weren’t buying German, anyway,” she said to Edek.

“Ach,” he said. “I do not care anymore. It is not such a big deal. Who cares if we buy some German things or we don’t buy German things? The Germans do not care. And I do not care, anymore.”

“Neither do I,” said Ruth. “I’m too tired to boycott anything German.”

“Maybe we will look together at a Mercedes, in New York,” Edek said.

“Dad,” she said. “Drop it.”

“Maybe I will come to live in New York,” Edek said. “With Garth.”

“You’re going to move to New York and live with Garth?” Ruth said.

“Are you crazy?” Edek said. “I am thinking of moving to New York to live next to you. You will be the one what lives with Garth.”

“Oh,” she said. “Thanks for letting me in on the decision.”

“A car would be good for me, in New York,” Edek said.

Ruth was speechless. What was this new plan Edek was hatching? At least it didn’t seem to involve Zofia, she thought. They were almost at the entrance of the terminal.

“The Mercedes cars are cheaper in America,” Edek said. “In Australia they cost a fortune.”

“They’re not that cheap in America,” Ruth said.

“I did not say they were cheap,” Edek said. “I did say they was cheaper than the Mercedes cars in Australia. A Mercedes is a very expensive car.

Everybody knows that.” He paused. “Why should I not have a Mercedes if I live in New York?” he said. “I cannot walk so much like I used to. I am getting old.”

“You can walk faster than I can,” Ruth said. “I’m not buying you a Mercedes until you’re much older.” Edek started to laugh. His laughter almost unbalanced him. He put his suitcase down for a moment.

“Sometimes, Ruthie, you are a very funny girl.”

“You mean sometimes I am very funny,” she said. “I’m not really a girl anymore.”

“I mean sometimes you are a very funny girl,” he said.

T O O M A N Y M E N

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They had reached the front entrance of the airport. Ruth could see the Mercedes waiting outside. It was a large Mercedes. The driver, when he saw Edek, leaped out of the car to help them with their luggage. He opened the trunk of the car. Ruth lifted her suitcase up and put it in the trunk. The driver looked appalled. “Please, madam,” he said. “I am here to help you.”

“I’m fine,” she said to the driver. She liked showing Poles, particularly the men, that she had muscles and strength. Edek was annoyed. “Why not to let him put in the suitcase in the car?” he said to Ruth.

“I like lifting suitcases,” Ruth said.

“You are crazy,” said Edek.

Ruth got into the backseat. “I will sit in front with the driver,” Edek said. “Sit in the back with me, for a change,” Ruth said. Edek looked at her.

“It is not such a bad feeling,” he said, “to have a daughter what still wants to sit next to her father.” Ruth moved over in the seat. Edek got in. “I’ll always want to sit next to you,” she said to him. The remark took Edek by surprise. Tears came into his eyes. “We’ll soon be out of here, Dad,” she said. “We’ll soon be in my apartment, in New York.”

Ruth looked around at the interior of the car. Everything was a subdued shade of brown. A tasteful, elegant yet comfortable color.

“By the time we leave Poland,” Ruth said to Edek, “we will have seen every model of Mercedes on the market.” Edek laughed.

“Can I escort you anywhere in the coming days?” the driver said. Ruth wondered where he had learned his English. It was almost Etonian. Ruth was about to say no, when Edek said, “Yes, as a matter of fact.”

“Where would you like to go, sir?” the driver said.

“Tomorrow morning, is it possible for you to take us to Kamedulska Street,” Edek said. “And then to wait there for us maybe a half an hour, maybe a bit more?”

“Certainly sir,” the driver said. “What time would you like me to pick you up?”

Edek looked at Ruth. “What do you think?” she said to Edek. “Ten o’clock? It will be Sunday morning and it’s probably not a good idea to wake the old couple up by arriving too early.”

“What for do we need to see this couple at all?” Edek said.

“Because we can’t just turn up with a spade and start digging in somebody’s yard,” Ruth said.

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“It is not somebody’s yard,” Edek said. “It is my yard.”

“The old couple could call the police,” Ruth said, “and it would be hard to explain, then and there on the spot, that this is really your yard.”

“Maybe,” Edek said. “But why should they call the police?”

“How do I know?” said Ruth. “In the old couple’s eyes we’re trespassers. Trespassing on their property.”

“We are very profitable trespassers,” Edek said.

Ruth laughed. “I think it’s a good idea to tell the old couple what we plan to do,” she said. “I think I’ll pay them, too.”

“Pay them, so I can dig in my own yard?” Edek said. “What for?”

“So things will go as smoothly as possible,” Ruth said.

“You did already pay them a lot of money,” Edek said.

“It’s not a lot for what I got,” Ruth said.

“I would like to say something to this old couple,” Edek said.

“There’s no point,” said Ruth. “Anyway, they have to live with their own miserable selves. I can’t think of a worse punishment.”

“This old couple is not so old,” Edek said. “I think this old couple is much younger than what I am.”

“You’re probably right,” Ruth said.

“Let us go at nine o’clock and get it over with,” Edek said.

“Okay,” she said.

“Could you pick us up, please, at nine o’clock?” Edek said to the driver.

“Certainly, sir,” he said.

“Nine o’clock is a good idea,” Ruth said to Edek. “That way we’ll catch them before they go to church.”

“You think these people do go to church?” Edek said.

“Probably,” said Ruth. “Most Poles seem to.”

“I will pick you up at nine o’clock sharp,” the driver said.

At least this driver hadn’t offered to drive them to a death camp disguised as a museum, Ruth thought. There wasn’t one close by, she realized.

They passed some graffiti painted, in white, on a large brown wall.
Juden
Raus!
the graffiti screamed. Whoever had painted it knew enough German to paint in an exclamation mark. Ruth pointed out the graffiti to Edek. The driver looked at what they were looking at. “It is just children,” Edek said, quickly to the driver. Edek looked at Ruth and raised his eyebrows. Ruth understood that Edek had wanted to preempt the driver’s response. “It’s T O O M A N Y M E N

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just children,” Ruth said. Edek laughed. “It is just children,” Edek repeated. “Just children,” said the driver.

Edek looked at Ruth, again. “You do look much better,” he said to her.

“Better?” she said. “Better than what?”

“Better than you did look since you did come to Poland,” Edek said.

“You was not looking so good. Now, you do look much better.”

“I think it’s because we’re on our way home,” Ruth said. “I’ve had enough of Poland.”

“More than enough,” I think,” said Edek.

“More than enough,” she said.

She was glad she was looking better. She felt better. More alert, more optimistic. She couldn’t wait to be in her own apartment.

“So it is not such a bad thing I did what I did arrange with Garth?”

Edek said.

“Next to a lot of other bad things, inviting Garth to New York doesn’t seem so bad,” Ruth said.

“You will try?” Edek said.

“Try what?” said Ruth.

“Try to get together with Garth,” Edek said.

“Dad,” Ruth said, “I’ve only just agreed that inviting Garth to New York without asking me was not an evil act. Can’t we leave it at that?”

“My daughter is very stubborn,” Edek said to Ruth, and shook his head.

Lódz didn’t look any better. It was still grim. Still smoke-ridden. What had she expected, Ruth thought, a transformation? It was exactly a week since she and Edek had last arrived in the city. A week since they had arrived in the city of Edek’s birth and youth together. The taxi turned into Piotrkowska Street. This Saturday night in Piotrkowska was no different from the previous Saturday night. There was the same sparse crowd out for the evening. Ruth looked out of the car window. Surely there had to be more people who went out on a Saturday night? There had to be lots of people in Lódz who were relaxing and celebrating. Or maybe there weren’t? Maybe there was not much to celebrate in Lódz, Ruth thought.

“This is a far cry from the old Saturday nights in Piotrkowska Street, isn’t it?” she said to Edek.

Edek shook his head. “It is not the same place,” he said.

“You can say that, again,” Ruth said. She looked at the few people who

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were walking along the street. “They got what they wanted,” she said to Edek. “They got rid of the Jews. You would think they would look happier.”

“Shsh, shsh,” Edek said. “Do not speak like this, Ruthie. Why do you have to speak like this? It upsets people,” he said, nodding in the direction of the driver.

“Okay,” Ruth said. “I’ll try not to upset anyone in the very short time we’ve got left.”

“Thank you very much,” Edek said, in an exaggerated tone of gracious-ness, at her agreement to try to be more civilized.

Ruth looked away. She felt Edek’s gaze still on her. “You do not look so bad,” Edek said. “For the first time since we did come to Poland you look like you did used to look.”

“I look like I used to look?” said Ruth.

“Like you was normally,” Edek said. “Not always tired with such black near your eyes.”

“I feel less tired,” she said.

“You do look like your old self,” Edek said.

“Oh, good,” Ruth said. She was pleased that Edek thought she looked like her old self. Her old self, she thought. Which self was that? The self that ran a business? The self that updated files at night, after everyone had left the office? Would she ever be that old self again? Or was she someone else? Someone who knew that no amount of order could clear or clarify certain uncertainties?

“I’m glad I look better,” Ruth said. She looked at Edek. He looked tired. “You look tired, Dad,” she said.

“I am a bit tired to tell you the truth,” he said. Ruth knew that if Edek was admitting to tiredness, he must be very tired. It must have been quite a night he had had with Zofia.

“You’ll be able to have an early night tonight,” Ruth said to him. “And you’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“Of course I will,” Edek said.

They had arrived at the Grand Victoria. Ruth watched the doorman and the porter and the driver rush to open the car doors. The taxi driver and the doorman almost collided. It was almost comic. And almost predictable.

This is how she and Edek had arrived at the hotel last week. At the center T O O M A N Y M E N

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of several collisions. Taxi drivers, doormen, and porters in Lódz must be covered in bruises, Ruth thought. These jobs were obviously more dangerous than they seemed.

The doorman beamed at Ruth. Ruth smiled at him. He beamed even more broadly. “Please welcome back,” he announced loudly. “I have plenty of strong boxes if you need boxes,” he said.

“No thank you,” Ruth said to the doorman. “But thank you for offering.” She tipped the doorman lavishly. “I do need to speak to you later,” she said to him. “I have a business request.” She stressed the word “business.”

“I will be here till ten P.M.,” the doorman said in a businesslike manner.

Maybe he wasn’t quite as revolting as she had originally thought, Ruth thought. Maybe she had been a bit harsh in her judgment.

Edek greeted the doorman with gusto. You would have thought they were old friends. Ruth looked away. Edek’s ease with Poles still made her uncomfortable. She noticed that Edek had slipped the doorman what she was sure was a large tip.

The next time Ruth looked, the porter was embracing Edek. The two men were embracing and conversing rapidly in Polish. It looked like a jovial conversation. Ruth shook her head. She knew she would never understand a fraction of the complexity that existed between Edek and all the Polish men he got on so well with. What history were they sharing?

What understanding? What strange bonds gave them their ease with each other? She couldn’t even begin to understand.

Ruth put her own and Edek’s passports down on the front desk. The clerk looked up and recognized her. “I will give you the very best rooms,”

he said to Ruth. “Thank you,” she said, “I really appreciate that.” Edek was waiting for her in the lobby. He looked a bit lost. As though he had run out of people to embrace and tip and was feeling mildly bereft. She would be so glad to be leaving Poland, she thought, as she walked over to her father.

“They said they’ve given us the best rooms in the hotel,” she said to Edek.

“Very good,” he said.

“Shall we unpack and meet downstairs in ten minutes?” Ruth said.

“Where is your room?” Edek said.

“Two doors from yours,” Ruth said.

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Edek looked relieved. “Good,” he said. They walked to the elevator.

“Are we going to have a dinner?” Edek said.

“Of course,” Ruth said.

Edek looked more cheerful. “See you in ten minutes,” he said.

Ruth looked around her room. This room looked as unprepossessing as her last room. So much for being given the best rooms in the hotel. She hoped that this bed was not as lumpy as the last bed. She pulled back the bedding. Three overlapping single sheets had been used as a substitute for a double sheet. She knew that her arms and legs were going to get twisted and tangled tonight in all the edges. She turned on the shower. It dripped and spurted. She had really wanted to have a shower. She would have to stand under this one for hours to wash herself. She would shower tomorrow when she got to Warsaw, she decided.