Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 18 of a new online serial novel, If Anyone Is Listening, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters.
Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications.
“You are not supposed to announce on the recording that we only got a response from one person!” Rubinson sounded furious. “People might think our hotline is not popular! The fact that you got only one response to your private initiative means nothing. Please, don’t mention any numbers from now on, okay?”
“I won’t. And what do you say, should I continue with the music?”
“I think so.”
In his home, Yaakov Shlomo took his suit jacket off the hook on the wall. “I need to go, Abe,” he said. “It’s almost shkiyah, and I haven’t davened Minchah yet.”
“You? It’s not like you to wait for the last minute.”
“There are some things that are not dependent on me,” the other man said quietly. “Hatzlachah, be well.”
“You, too, Yaakov Shlomo,” Rubinson said. He suddenly coughed. “And by the way, you should know that I happened to have had a chance to listen to that specific shiur, and I actually enjoyed hearing you sing and play. So yes, I think you should continue to do it. Maybe it will draw more listeners.”
*
First Shimmy thought it was the alarm clock on his phone, and he shut it with a quick press, irritated. He’d hardly slept at night, maybe because of the unsuccessful visit to Yang Yang. Now couldn’t he make up some of that sleep this morning? As if he had where to run, anyway. He didn’t even need the loan from Gedalya anymore.
Maybe it was a shame that during that first meeting with Yang Yang, he’d insisted on denying the delusional idea that he had a way of influencing the robots. Maybe if he hadn’t denied that, Yang Yang would have included him in the investments.
Okay, that made no sense. First of all, he wasn’t allowed to lie, and secondly, Yang Yang would have realized very quickly that he, Shimmy, had no such abilities, and that it was all one big mistake.
By the third time the phone rang, Shimmy was already awake enough to realize that it was an incoming call and not the alarm clock. His interpreter’s name lit up the small screen, flashing demandingly. What time was it? Ten fifteen in the morning? What did Shio Ching want?
“Shimmy?” The interpreter sounded alarmed, or confused.
“Yes, what?” Shimmy yawned.
“Did you hear what happened to your banks?”
“My banks?” Shimmy laughed. “If I’d have a bank, things would look very different. Why, what happened?”
“Your computers were hacked, and there’s a big mess.”
“But they took care of that already!”
“Not that story! Now it’s happening again.”
“What, at CentraBank?”
“Not only there. In two more banks too!”
Shimmy’s first thought was about the thirty thousand dollars that Gedalya had promised to lend him; now that promise would become an impossibility. His second thought was that in any case, the deal with Yang Yang wasn’t relevant. Only his third thought focused on what Shio Ching was actually saying.
“Alright,” he said, after a pause. “Last time the fix took almost two days. Let’s hope this time they learned a few things and it will take them faster.”
“But now it’s not only CentraBank,” Shio Ching repeated. “It’s two other banks too—do you want me to check which ones? The Chinese government announced that it was freezing some contracts with the United States until things are sorted out.”
“What?”
“Not only that,” Shio Ching said. “The Chinese tech giant, Sunkix, also announced a state of emergency; the Chinese banks announced that all branches would be closed for three days; and the shares of cellular chip makers, Pierce, have crashed, because most of their investors are American.”
“Stories about shares are Chinese to me—oh, excuse me, I mean Turkish,” Shimmy muttered. “The main thing is that I paid for the hotel ahead of time, thank G-d, so I’m taken care of for the next two days. And within two days, I hope that everything will be restored to order. As for my return ticket, I need to check that, because I left it open… Wait a minute, Shio.”
Mommy was clicking into his call! This was a first, at least during his visit to China.
“Hi, Mommy,” he said. “How are you?”
“Okay, baruch Hashem. Tell me, Shimmy, did Tatty get you that loan you wanted?”
“No,” Shimmy said quietly. “I realized afterward that it was a really huge sum of money.”
“But Chumi and Tzippy’s savings accounts are empty! Who emptied them?”
“Their savings accounts?”
“Yes! I called the bank to check something, and I wanted to see if the monthly savings were deposited into their accounts this month. There’s nothing there! I don’t understand it!”
“And what’s doing with your account?”
His mother paused for a moment. “There’s actually no negative there, even though there should be… I guess Tatty got ahold of something to deposit, because he doesn’t like being in overdraft, you know, with the interest and everything.”
“So you’re saying that everything says zero,” Shimmy said. He sighed. “Mommy, I heard that what happened a few weeks ago is happening again now. Three American banks are in total reset.”
“What? That craziness again?”
“It seems so.”
“Actually, closing the negative in my account isn’t bad,” she said slowly. “There was an overdraft of almost five thousand shekel. But the girls’ savings—wiped clean! It can’t be! We don’t have anything else to marry them off with!”
“Mommy, remember how it ended last time? Within two days, everything went back to the way it was. So I don’t think you have to worry.”
“And you’re sure you didn’t persuade Tatty to give you everything in their savings accounts?”
Shimmy was offended. “No, Mommy, I didn’t. You could have asked Tatty that, too.”
“He’s fast asleep—he took a strong painkiller.”
He took a deep breath. “Besides, it would have taken at least a few days for the money to be released. And I only asked him for the loan yesterday.”
“Right, that loan for half a million dollars. Tell me, what does such a young man need so much money for?”
“I was thinking about investing in something, but I decided that it’s too big for me.” Shimmy was quiet for a minute, his gaze fixed on the window. “And Gedalya wasn’t ready to join me.”
“Well, at least he has a head on his shoulders,” his mother said aloud, and he wondered if the girls were next to her now, listening. “Tell him I say thank you for holding you back. Really, the time has come for you to grow up, Shimmy. Otherwise, I’ll hear tomorrow that you mortgaged the house you haven’t yet bought! Well, I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight, Shimmy.”
*
“CentraBank, Trust, and Bank of the States,” Yudi lists, his voice trembling. “There’s a huge mess in all of them. All our money’s gone, Ima!”
“Your account is in Bank of the States, right?” I ask, trying to grasp onto dry, technical details.
“Yes, and there’s nothing there now! And Ruchi’s parents don’t have anything in their accounts either! They had a small account in CentraBank, and another big account in Bank of the States. All the people have no money anymore, Ima—they all became poor!”
“They have money,” I say calmly. “Their money is there. The mess is only in the computers.”
“Right, but there’s no way to know how much each account had. So all the branches of the banks are closed, and stores are only taking cash.” He is breathing heavily. “I went to buy Similac for Isamar. Ruchi’s mother said that it would be good for me to get out of the house a little.”
“Why?”
“Because I was pacing up and down nervously, she said. So I went to the regular supermarket, and it was closed. Only a different one was open, and it refused to take a credit card. I barely had any money in my wallet, Ima, so I could only buy a small container.” He bursts into tears. “I feel so poor, Ima! I want to come back!”
“Come back?” I know that these words are only being said because of the financial chaos, but they make my emotions go haywire.
“Yes. Maybe Ruchi and I can come and live with you?” He takes a deep breath, trying to stop his sobs. “Will you and Abba agree?”
“We are always happy to see you, Yudi’le,” I whisper. “But you know that now it’s not possible. How will you buy a ticket? I mean, tickets?”
“Ruchi’s parents have a huge safe,” he replies right away. “Behind the—well, it doesn’t matter, but they have a lot of money in there. So they’re pretty calm, and they said that we also shouldn’t worry, because b’ezras Hashem it will all be sorted out, and in the meantime we can use the money that is there. So for sure they will give us money for tickets, if it will make me calmer.” He was breathing in and out very rapidly. “They try to make sure all the time that Ruchi should be calm. So if I’m like their son, like they say all the time, then they’ll want me to be calm too, right? That’s why I’m sure they will give us money for tickets. So are you going to prepare the guest room, Ima?”
“If you come, of course I’ll prepare it, happily,” I say. “But first, ask them. Maybe they don’t want Ruchi to travel with such a young baby, especially when we’re not sure what’s with him and his foot…”
I wonder if he’ll say, “So for now, only I’ll come.”
But he’s quiet.
*
I’m sure that all of you, my dear listeners, are also up in arms about the hack on the American banks. Let’s talk a bit about it, about the fake security that money and assets give a person, and what happens when his stable financial world suddenly becomes shaky.
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