I’d returned to
working at Lashonda’s House
And had the shift on
Thursday evenings
One night after I
left the house at 10:45
I went to the grocery
to pick up a few things
As I was looking over
the romaine lettuce
A shiver shot through
me
I looked up and a
drop-dead gorgeous young woman
Was staring at me and
walking toward me
“You’re the professor
who wrote Stature and Terror”
I prepared myself for
the imminent vitriol
“Where did you hear
of such a thing?”
“You’re the author,
right?”
“One and the same”
“Hi, I’m Jessica
Balaban, and I want to thank you for what you wrote”
“You actually read
it?”
She shifted her
weight to her left leg, arms crossed: “Seriously?
I read every word
Got in a fight with
my parents about it”
“You’re very kind…”
“Really, I want to
thank you
Are you busy right
now?”
I looked around
saying
“I’m just here with
the produce”
“Would you have time
for a drink?
I don’t live far from
here
We could talk more
about your book”
Something in her tone
triggered a memory
Of when Carla told me
How she’d been
walking around East Jerusalem
And passed Mordechai
Vanunu near St. George’s
He was talking
excitedly to a young Japanese woman
About favorite operas
So I took a deep
breath
And said to the
über-model in front of me
“It’s been very nice
to meet you
Thank you for reading
my book
But I have to be
going
Call your mother
tomorrow
Tell her you met me
And say ‘his book
Is much more
interesting
Than he is’”
< Dear Layla/A Novel Collage
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