Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 43 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.
This time, Ruchi’s mother answers the phone when I call. “Hi,” she says pleasantly. “How are you?”
“Fine, baruch Hashem. And you?”
“Baruch Hashem, fine.” She sighs lightly, and I wonder how to begin. The notes I wrote myself to help me get through this conversation are in front of me, but suddenly, not a single sentence of what I wrote seems appropriate to start with. I don’t want her to feel attacked, or like I’m accusing her.
But what if such a sentiment is simmering inside me?
“How is Ruchi? How is she feeling?” I ask slowly.
“Baruch Hashem. A day like this, a day like that.”
“It’s not easy.”
“True.”
“And how is your back?”
“The situation isn’t making it easier,” she answers. “Things are really…complicated. The couple is here again, and I need to go up and down the stairs a lot.” Something in her answer is less routine than I expected. Not that I wasn’t able to hear during our phone calls until now that things were hard for her. But now she sounds rather determined not to hide anything.
“What about the aide?”
“She comes, but not a lot. You could say we….um…reduced her hours after the story with the robbery. And honestly, the payment for so many hours has also become a bit difficult for us right now.”
Is she expecting me to offer to share the expense with them? It’s hard for me to believe that, and not only because before the engagement, they did not convey, in any way, that the future kallah would need an aide. I wonder how to respond, but before I can utter any words of solidarity and empathy, she continues.
“We have an offer of someone else, a woman who worked with Ruchi in high school. Ruchi really likes her. She might come here this evening to speak to us and see what…what’s happening. Her method is different, less hours of actually being here, and more guidance and direction.”
“Sounds…good.” I’m not sure that’s the right word. How am I supposed to suggest that the couple come to me for a break if they are about to start a new arrangement? I’m not even sure Ruchi is able to fly in this condition.
“Yes, b’ezras Hashem.” Why does it sound like she is hesitating no less than I am? “The problem is that she has a family wedding in about two weeks in Eretz Yisrael, so she’s not actually going to be starting just yet.”
“So the burden is still on you, for the time being.”
“Yes. But I had an idea…” She’s quiet again for a moment. “If…if it’s possible, I would send Yudi and Ruchi with her to Israel, to you. First of all, I’m sure it will do a lot of good for Yudi. Secondly, it’s possible that it will be good for Ruchi too. In general, she loves flights and trips. And the third reason is…” She’s quiet again. I’m also silent, stunned.
“There’s a…professional who lives in Israel, who might be able to help Yudi and Ruchi accept Isamar’s minor problem, and give them chizuk.”
“A professional? Who is it?” I’m hardly able to get a word out. Is she really suggesting what I called to suggest?! Will I not have to start offering all kinds of excuses while trying not to offend her? And truthfully, I’m also curious to know who she’s talking about, because before Yudi began shidduchim, I combed all of Israel to find information about special couples who had married. I received lots of information about all kinds of wonderful support systems. Maybe I had heard this person’s name already?
But right now, I’m completely focused on the main thing I called for—and which I got an answer to before I even asked. That Yudi and Ruchi should come to us in Israel! So I should finally be able to see, firsthand, how they are doing!
“Uh, I don’t know his name exactly. We heard about him, and my husband is seriously looking into it. By the way, we thought that maybe once they’re in Israel, they could visit a pediatric orthopedist there. The cost of surgery here right now is astronomical, so if you hear about a top orthopedist who is an expert on babies and children, maybe you can take Isamar to him for a consultation. Who knows—maybe he’ll say that Isamar doesn’t even need surgery at all!”
She’s talking a lot, my mechuteiniste, which is very unusual for her. I have a feeling that this story about the professional is more of an excuse than a real reason. Was it not possible to find a professional in the entire America who could guide Yudi and Ruchi on how to deal with their situation? And if my hunch is right, then what is the real reason for her wanting them to come to Israel?
The last time Yudi had tossed out the idea of coming to Israel, his mother-in-law really hadn’t liked it, and the subsequent phone call between us had been decidedly unpleasant.
Something has changed.
Maybe she has been thinking about this conversation for a long time, just like I’ve been? And maybe she’s also leafing through a notebook or reading off a paper, reciting the list of reasons for her idea?
“No problem at all,” I say, when I suddenly realize that there’s quiet on the line. “It doesn’t matter right now who the professional is. We’ll be very happy to have the couple, and to host them a little. I really miss them.”
“Yes,” she says, and her voice drops a bit. “And it won’t hurt me to miss them a bit.”
***
“We didn’t do a lot,” Yang Yang says as he stands Tanchum up on the rug. “If it was one of our robots, we would have also been able to control his facial expressions, and of course, his grasping ability. But we were limited to the doll’s uniform plastic structure and the techniques that you created for it in the toy factory. So he will move himself a bit according to the content of what he is saying, but mainly what we did was take apart that little toy he had inside, and we programmed him with some of our best programs, with a connection to his extremities and his eyes.”
“Which means?” Shimmy asked, a bit suspiciously.
“Start talking to him, and you’ll see. You can also insert any information that you want, but be careful—he won’t forget anything you tell him. Also, he will try to detect if you’re saying the truth or you’re lying.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.” Yang Yang sat down on the chair in the room and leaned back, as if he owned the place. “Start talking to him.”
Shimmy wasn’t interested in talking to the doll in the presence of the Chinaman, but he did it anyway. “Good evening, Tanchum,” he greeted the doll politely.
“Good evening,” Tanchum replied in English, with a horrid Chinese accent.
It was a foolish question, but it was the first thing that came to Shimmy’s mind: “Do you remember me?”
“I’m inserting your information for the first time, and confirming it with what I know. And so…you are not familiar to me.”
“Not familiar? I created you!” Shimmy walked closer to the doll. Its beady eyes looked exactly the same, but they moved to the right, to Yang Yang, who was sitting there and enjoying every minute of this, or so it seemed.
“That is not the information I have.”
“So who created you?”
“Aristo Advanced Technology, Intelligence, and Research Services,” the doll informed him in a metallic tone.
“What?” Shimmy vaguely remembered that he’d seen the words “Advanced Technology” on the small, unassuming sign at the entrance to Yang Yang’s office. “Who owns the company?”
Tanchum’s right hand rose for a moment and then flopped down again. “Professor Tohi Van Dan Hould.”
“What? That name sounds Dutch.”
“He’s from a mixed background. His mother is Chinese and his father is Dutch.”
“And he’s the owner of the company?”
“Yes.”
“So, who is this?” Shimmy turned and pointed to the Chinaman sitting and smiling on the side of the room.
“Confidential information.” Tanchum’s round doll eyes closed.
“Confidential?!” Shimmy took a deep breath. “Isn’t his name Yang Yang?”
“Confidential information.” The eyes opened and closed again.
“He’s also one of the main project managers of this place, right?”
“Confidential information.”
Yang Yang’s smile broadened. “So? Did we do something? What do you say?”
“Why is the information about you confidential, Mr. Yang Yang?” Shimmy asked quietly. “And yet, whatever I tell him, he’ll remember forever?”
“It all depends on his programming.”
“Which you built.”
“For sure. It’s an amazing program, isn’t it? Do you still think you created him?”
Shimmy turned again to the blond-haired doll whose velvet yarmulke had fallen to one side. “Tell me, Tanchum. Have you ever heard of the ‘Motorized Toy Factory’ here in Beijing?”
“It’s a factory with a small annual revenue, and it works primarily with children’s toys and gadgets. Sun Jang, the manager, was convicted of minor tax violations in the past and sat in a Chinese prison for a year and a half. But after he was released, he went back to manufacturing and selling. According to some of his colleagues, he is not fit—”
“So you know him.” Shimmy cut off the stream of words. “Well, do you know that he’s your official manufacturer?”
“That does not match the information that I have,” Tanchum squeaked out, without moving. “I was manufactured by Aristo Advanced Technol—”
“Okay, enjoy your conversation,” Yang Yang said with a big smile, getting up and turning to the door. “And he knows everything about everything. By the way, this is the less impressive part of him, since now he contains an especially sophisticated artificial intelligence program. I’m sure you will agree with me on one thing—bored you will not be here, huh?”
Shimmy smiled bitterly and raised a hand in farewell. He waited for the man to move off and then turned back to the doll’s frozen expression. “Aristo whatever-their-name-is put the whole fancy program into you—definitely a sophisticated business. But do you want to tell me that you don’t have any idea who made your plastic parts? Who stuck in those beady eyes, who designed your hair, who…” He took a deep breath. “And that’s even before I ask who programmed you in the first place, you little ingrate!”
***
Thanks to the Creator, and to all who have taken an interest in my welfare. Each day I am feeling a bit better than the day before. Less limited, less imprisoned within myself. And although I am not able right now to use the regular room from where I usually record, I will try to give a lecture from where I am.
