Page 74 of The Dreidl Disaster

He nodded. “Brace yourself either way,” he said. “I’m with you every step of the way.”

“Which is why I’m still sitting here and not running to find and strangle my sister.”

He smiled, her hand on top of his for a brief moment as it came off the gear shift. “We’re going to be fine,” he said. “I promise.”

And no matter what happened, he’d do his best to make sure that what he told her was true.

*

Of course Liv’sphone buzzed with a message from Naomi just after they’d greeted her parents.

She squeezed Artur’s shoulder.

“Drank too much water before getting in the car,” she said as she made her quick escape, jamming a button on her phone to call her sister as she closed the bathroom door.

“Hello?”

“I very much…hate you,” Liv said as she walked into the bathroom. Which was the best place for privacy.

“Why?” Naomi asked.

Of course she wasn’t there. She’d expected it, felt the telltale signs of her sister’s attempt to avoid her, her parents and whatever drama she might have been expecting.

But telling Naomi she knew what was up her bag of tricks was not something Liv felt like disclosing, or something that would make her yell. Instead, she kept it simple. “Because you’re not here for dinner tonight.”

“You miss Shabbats all the time,” Naomi said. “Life was nuts. I’m home; you’re there.”

“But this is different, Naomi,” Liv said. “Which you would have known if you, you know, made an attempt to call me?”

Her sister’s dramatic sigh reminded her of a wind gust. “What exactly is so different about this night as opposed to the…however many other non-holiday Shabbats?”

“Right,” she said. “Okay.” But she needed to be calm, cool, collected and ready. “So this time, tonight, Artur’s here.”

She heard what could have been the sound of the phone dropping or a glass breaking or something.; she wasn’t sure which one it was or why…

And yet.

When Naomi came back to the phone, she was breathing heavily. “He’s at Shabbat dinner for why?”

“Because Mom called me and was asking about him, like they were the gossip treasurers of Briarwood synagogue or something.”

“I don’t get it,” Naomi said. “This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Like… You’re…just getting to know this guy and she’s ASKING you about him.”

“Well,” she said. “I know. But I felt like it made sense for me to ask him. And he wanted to come, because it means something to me. He actually is prepared to swing a proverbial sword on my behalf tonight because you’re not here.”

“We’re not…this is ridiculous,” Naomi said, clearly unable to find words that made sense. “You don’t deserve that, just because two people saw you two in public.”

The bathroom was smothering, if not sweltering, and Naomi clearly didn’t understand their parents’ actions. Of course she didn’t; her sister was somewhere, doing something that kept her away. Not here.

When Liv needed her, not just for company or help but to understand.

Clearly that wasn’t happening, which meant Liv had to get through to her sister using the only…weapon she had. Her words.

“You,” Liv managed, “if you spend time with a guy, people can say it’s casual and be okay with it. But me? I spend time with someone, everybody watches me. Everybody thinks it’s suddenly a big deal. So he came. And I owe him for this…”

“You don’t owe him. If a guy really likes you, if he’s special,” her sister said, “he’d do something for you. He’d help you. He’d offer his sword.”

“Okay,” Liv said. Desperately trying not to read into what Naomi said regarding Jason, who seemed to be noticeably absent from Naomi’s discourse and existence. “But anyway, none of it matters,” she said, “because he’s here. And you’re not.”

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