Chapter Three
There was a note on the kitchen table when Jerry got home letting him know that everyone was at Rose's house. He put most of the groceries away then put the chicken and some salad makings into a bag before picking up the twelve pack of Keith's and walking over to Rose's.
Jan Schwartz was sitting on her porch as he passed. "Afternoon, Mrs. Schwartz."
"Afternoon, Jerry. I met your friend from away this afternoon. She seems very nice."
"She was in Halifax and decided to look me up. It's good to see someone from university."
"Well, you should drop by for tea some time."
"Thanks for the invitation. We will." Jerry continued down the road to Rose and Jack's place.
Mitchie came barrelling down the steps and grabbed him around the legs. "Daddy! Hug?"
"Hey, squirt. Let me rearrange this stuff first." He transferred the beer to the hand with the grocery bag and picked Michelle up with the other, then walked onto the porch to greet Rose and Miriam who were sitting on the old wicker chairs that he’d sat on when he was Michelle’s age.
Miriam rose and said "Let me help you with that," and took the groceries and beer from him.
Rose said, "Just put it on the kitchen table. I'll be in in a minute." Michelle gave Jerry a big squeeze around the neck and then started to squirm, so Jerry put her down.
Michelle spotted the cat in a sunny spot on the porch and ran over to pet him. He got up and quickly ran off with a little blonde girl in hot pursuit.
"She never learns. Percy just isn't going to sit still to be petted. Well, maybe for Jack... How was your day?" asked Jerry.
"Mitchie was delightful. I think she was showing off a bit for Miriam. I don't know how long that's going to last."
"And Miriam?"
"She looked relaxed for most of the day. Sometimes when she looked at Mitchie it was obvious she was thinking of her dad and her sisters, but mostly it was a good day for her."
"You told her about Annabelle?"
"I did. She couldn't understand how Annabelle could abandon her own child. She did say that she thought if you had to do it over you wouldn't change a thing because she couldn't imagine that you could ever do without Mitchie." Rose gathered up the tea mugs and took them into the kitchen.
Miriam looked at Rose and said "I'm not used to being a guest. Can I help with something? Maybe the salad?"
"Sure, that would be great." Rose fished a salad bowl and cutting board out of the cupboard and handed them to Miriam. Miriam laid a knife from the block next to the cutting board and began to wash the tomatoes.
"Jerry, would you put the beer in the fridge, please." As he moved over to the fridge, Rose continued "I got a couple of calls today. Father John called and asked me to remind you that you promised to help set up and that you're reading on Sunday. I know it’s in Acts somewhere, but I couldn't find a pencil so you'll have to call him back. He wanted to know if you were going to bring your friend."
"I'd assumed that Miriam would come with us. Are you coming to church with us on Sunday?"
"That would be wonderful, truly wonderful. I was hoping to go with you.” Miriam looked like she was ready to dance. “I have only been to church twice since I went back to Lebanon, both times in Damascus on a buying trip with Father to Syria, where I have no nosy relatives to report me to the imam. It would give me much comfort. I thought about going in Tel Aviv, but with the bruises I was not in the best shape to attend a church. I very much miss having a Christian community. I often arranged for the Orthodox priest to be visiting a Christian farmer when I was on a buying trip so I could take communion. We would pray together or do a Bible study, but it wasn't the same as being able to worship openly." Miriam's enthusiasm took Jerry off guard. She stopped gushing and looked pensive. "I'll need to get church clothes - a dress and proper shoes."
Jerry grinned. "We can go into Halifax tomorrow. Mitchie loves to go shopping."
"Thank you. Maybe I'll get something properly Canadian to wear, that has short sleeves and shows my ankles. A couple of the smaller girls in IVCF at Mac got me to try on their party dresses when I visited them, but even the ones they thought were modest I thought were pretty revealing."
"We'll be able to find something for you, I'm sure. So who else called, Rose?" Rose had a twinkle in her eye as she was watching the two of them interact.
"Well, your mum called and asked about your new girlfriend." Rose waited until she could see Jerry starting to blush and Miriam start to look shy. "I told her it wasn't like that, that Miriam was just an old friend from university. She wants to meet her to see for herself. She's coming over for Sunday dinner and is expecting both of you to be here."
Jerry sighed. "I guess I have my weekend all planned then. Was there anyone else?"
"Well, the usual. Your Aunt Ethel called and hinted that she'd like to know more about your friend. Gert Boutilier called to fish for some information about why Miriam is here. And I had to hang up on old Mrs. Conrad. She asked if it was true that some foreign tinker girl was in town causing trouble for decent white folks."
Jerry rolled his eyes. "She'd have us back as colonials under the British Empire if she had her way. Fortunately, there aren't many that hold her opinions any more. I thought it was ironic when Professor Subramanian and his family bought the waterfront place next to hers. I'll take them over her any day."
"Me, too. Well, I hung up on her. I told her Miriam was our guest and that she should keep her prejudices to herself. Although, Miriam, she's likely to be at church on Sunday. She'll probably be polite once she sees that you're a Christian." Rose gave an apologetic smile. "Maybe. Everyone else will be okay, though." Rose paused, “Although she does get on very well with old Mrs. Sobers from Barbados. Maybe she’ll be better once she knows you.”
Jerry watched Miriam cutting up the tomatoes and cucumbers with deft, practiced movements. "When we're out tomorrow we can pick up some groceries so that you can cook what you like. I'm afraid that spicy here means putting a pepper shaker on the table."
"It's not so much the spices, it's things like parsley, garlic, olives, lemons and tahine. Different tastes, different combinations. I'd be happy to make supper tomorrow night. Maybe even make a big pan of baklava to take to church if I can find all the ingredients. There's enough room in your kitchen to do it right, Jerry. My aunt in Hamilton had to go to the community centre to make hers, but there was usually a big gang of women who would get together to do that."
"It would be great if you made supper for us. There are a couple of Middle Eastern grocers in Halifax. They should have the pistachios and rose water. They should even have filo pastry in the freezer case."
"You remembered. I forgot that you took me shopping to get the ingredients for my aunt. I got into a lot of trouble for that. Jennifer was supposed to be with us to chaperon. I heard about it for months. 'Who is this Jerry Ernst person?' 'Don't you dare think about dishonouring the family.' The baklava ran out long before the questions did. My father had to talk to my uncle about trusting me more." Miriam looked up at Jerry and smiled. “I think I'll make the pastry from scratch, though. But that means at least four pans worth.”
Rose said "That sounds lovely."
There was silence for a while. Then Jerry realized there was silence. "Where's Mitchie?" Rose and Miriam went quickly out the back door and Jerry went out the front. Jerry found Michelle asleep on one of the wicker chairs with Percy wedged in next to her, purring like mad. He quietly went around the house and beckoned to both Rose and Miriam, cautioning them to keep quiet.
The three adults all looked at Michelle, sleeping angelically with her mouth open, in the boneless way that only young children can. Percy stopped purring and looked suspiciously at them and then decided that he would move before he was moved or, worse, petted. Jerry picked Michelle up gently and brought her inside. He laid her down on the couch and covered her up with a small blanket. Miriam commented, "It seems that going to the beach tired her
out."
"She should sleep until Jack gets home," said Jerry.
Miriam finished preparing the salad and then took a mug of tea to the table. Jerry opened a beer and poured it into a glass then sat next to Miriam. "I was on the Citizenship and Immigration website today. If you want to stay here long term, we should probably look up an immigration lawyer fairly soon. There are a few in Halifax. You seem to have a good case to apply for refugee status."
"I hadn't thought that far ahead. But it's a good idea. I'm sure I want to stay in Canada. I can't go back to Lebanon or any other Muslim country either. I broke a whole lot of Shariah laws when I ran away from my uncle and husband-to-be. But he isn't, not any more." Miriam smiled at that thought. "Rafiq was such a pig. That's probably why his family couldn't find him a wife. He'll probably buy himself a wife from one of the mountain villagers when he finally accepts that I'm not coming back."
"Buy one?" Rose was disturbed. "What kind of family would sell their daughter?"
"Some of the mountain families are very very poor. It is not good to be too pretty if your family is that poor. I was lucky because my father was wealthy enough that he was never tempted that way. He made sure Elena would have a proper husband. I was fine until Uncle Walid ran into financial difficulties and refused to let me help with the stores."
"And the government does nothing?"
"The government only has real control in the big cities and towns, and not all of those. They don't have enough people or the political will to go into the hills to enforce the laws. The Druze militia and Hezbollah are better armed than the government. So the government ignores the areas not under their direct control. Our town was not under government control. Hezbollah rules in Manzieh, enough that I had to leave when they found out I had converted."
Jerry took Miriam's hand. "At least you had somewhere to go."
Miriam put her other hand on Jerry's. "Thank you again. You've been very good to me."
They sat there like that, just looking at each other with fond appreciation, for almost a minute. Then an amused Rose cleared her throat and said, "Jack should be home in a couple of minutes. Why don't you go fire up the barbeque, Jerry?" They let go of each other quickly, looking embarrassed. "Miriam can help me set the table. Oh, Maddy and Alex will be here shortly."
"Who got to them?"
"Nobody got to them. It's been planned for weeks and I told you about it. I just forgot to remind you when we were talking this morning. They decided to stay over tonight and tomorrow so that they could get a full day of shopping done in Halifax. It's a bit of a hike up from West Pubnico, and we haven't visited in a while, so she took today off so they could stop at those antique places Maddy likes so much. Alex's brothers owe him some time off from the farm, too." Rose looked at Miriam. "Don't worry about the room. It was Maddy's when she was a girl, but she wouldn't want to sleep in that single bed with her husband. Well, it's possible that they did, I suppose, but I'm not ever going to ask. They'll have the big guest room. Well, I see I've embarrassed both of you enough. I'll go sit on the porch and wait for everyone to get here."
Jerry and Miriam looked at each other and began to giggle. Miriam reached for Jerry's hand this time and wondered what it would be like to have a husband she could really talk to and who would listen to her.
She studied his face while she absently stroked his hand. It was a big rectangular German face with a strong jaw and reddish stubble. He was smiling at her like he smiled at Michelle, like she was precious. She felt the stirrings of something like desire and began to wonder what it would be like to be kissed by him. He would be gentle, she was sure, not like that pig Rafiq. Her refusal to kiss Rafiq was one of the reasons he beat her.
Supper was good. Jerry limited himself to one beer. Miriam tried a taste and decided that she didn't like it very much. She'd had wine very occasionally, in the company of her Christian friends at Mac, but never indulged enough to make her aunt and uncle suspect anything. Alex was an entertaining story teller and had lots of good ones about the funny things his dogs did or some of the pranks they played on unsuspecting tourists. He was from a dairy farming family and these weekends away were infrequent. Miriam had bought meat and dairy products from many farmers in Lebanon who kept livestock and appreciated that it was a way of life as much as it was a job. Alex and Maddy both seemed very happy with their life and with each other.
Jerry left with a very sleepy looking Michelle around eight thirty. He told Miriam to come over around nine tomorrow morning.
With Mitchie in bed and himself wide awake, Jerry evaluated the day. He had truly enjoyed himself for the first time in years. Miriam was charming and sociable, despite all of the awful things that happened to her recently. She understood about Mitchie, understood enough to know how important Mitchie was to him, despite all of the grief from Annabelle.
What if this goes long term? He thought. What if I fall in love with her? What do I mean if? I was always in love with her, especially in fourth year, but I knew there was no future with her, so I never let myself get serious about her. Now there could be a future with her. Couldn't there?
I need to have a long talk with John. Divorce is rarely an option for Christians, unless they are married to an unbeliever, an abuser or an adulterer. Can I know that Annabelle is not a believer? No, I can't really know the state of her soul and she hasn't become a Buddhist or some such. I know that she's a sinner, but then so am I. That’s not proof of unbelief. But she confessed her adultery to me before she abandoned us and she never said she was sorry about it and she's never tried to get us back together.
Jerry said his prayers, asking God for the gift of discernment so that he could make the right decision. As he fell asleep, a vision of Miriam with her braid over one shoulder exposing the delicate lines of her neck and ear put a smile on his face.
Miriam stayed up as late as she could relating her escape to Maddy while Alex and Jack were talking sports, but she was yawning from jet lag by ten thirty. She made her excuses and went upstairs to change for bed.
It had been such a pleasant day. The sun and wind on the bay, Michelle exploring her world in perfect confidence, helping in the kitchen like she was part of the family, and holding Jerry's hand. That was probably the best part. Except maybe how content he looked with Michelle sitting on his lap falling asleep while he was looking at her and trying not to be obvious about it.
It was strange to think that here in Canada she could decide for herself who she wanted to marry. That she could marry her best friend if things worked out. Until they'd held hands at the table this evening she had not realized how much she had missed Jerry and their friendship.
She said her prayers, thanking God for keeping her safe so far and putting her future into His hands. The cries of the seabirds and the clanking of the yachts serenaded her to sleep.