Page 17 of The Golem of Mala Lubovnya
“I will.”
“Why?”
“It’s what I was made for. And… he’s my friend. He treats me like a real person.”
She looked back at him. “He treats you like a man.”
“Yes.”
“I love all my sons, as a mother should. But my Jakob, my Yankele, he’s special. He almost died of a fever when he was a baby. And then he grew up so strong, and with a voice to make the heavens envious. But he’s always so sad, my Yankele. So lonely.”
Not knowing what to say, Emet only nodded.
She sighed. “Do you get lonely too? I know you’re a golem, but you might have feelings too.”
“I get lonely,” said Emet.
“Yankele has always been the quiet one. Not like his brothers, always shouting over each other. If it weren’t for his singing, there are times I’d have wondered if he’d lost his voice entirely. But lately… since he’s begun working with you… he speaks more. Tells everyone how wonderful you are.”
“I…. He does?” What was that fluttery feeling in Emet’s belly?
She narrowed her eyes. “How far would you go to protect my son?”
“I’d do anything. I’d… I have nothing but my name and this cloak, but I’d give everything. I will crumble to dust before I allow him to be hurt.”
“Good. This is very good. Yankele may need someone fierce on his side.” She smiled. “Someone almost as fierce as me.”
She reached up and briefly touched his face. She wore soft woolen mittens. She was the third person to touch him, and for a moment he thought he might melt from the tenderness of it. Then she dropped her arm and stepped back. “Tell Jakob to bring back the barrow tonight. And to hurry and finish so I can see his new house.” She turned and marched quickly down the path.
“What didmy mother have to say?” Jakob was just placing the rug near the fireplace. He’d already set the other things from his mother on the shelves. The few personal belongings made the house look like a home.
“She loves you,” said Emet. “And she calls you Yankele.”
“That’s not the worst of it. She used to call me tsigele until I begged her to stop.”
“Baby goat?”
“And my brothers would make meh-meh sounds at me behind her back.”
Emet grinned. “You don’t remind me much of a goat.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” Jakob bent to straighten the rug a little more. When he stood straight again and glanced at Emet, he must have noticed something in Emet’s face. “What?”
“She told me you talk about me.”
Jakob’s face reddened and he looked away. “What else would I talk about? I spend all my time with you.”
“She said you tell them I’m wonderful.”
“I… I never used that word.” Jakob apparently decided his small stack of towels needed refolding. He turned his back to Emet.
Emet came a few steps closer. “Is it true, Jakob? Do you think so well of me?”
After a long silence, Jakob nodded. “I do,” he said without turning around.
“Even though I’m a golem?”
“That’s… that stopped mattering a long time ago, Emet.”
