“Not just some clerk but an of icer, someone with access to files. Do you?”
“I don’t know, I have to think. What’s this al about?”
“My husband. I found out that information about him is available in army files. I need to find someone who can get into those files.”
“Why not just ask them?”
“I’ve asked them a mil ion times, of course! They don’t want to tel me for some reason. I thought they didn’t know, but I just found out
“I’ve asked them a mil ion times, of course! They don’t want to tel me for some reason. I thought they didn’t know, but I just found out that they do know. They know, but they don’t want to tel me. So I need someone who can go into the computers and tel me.”
“If they’re not tel ing you, there’s a good reason,” Coby said.
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea. But there has to be a reason.”
“But what? What could it be? I’ve thought and thought, and I just can’t gure it out. He isn’t in an institution, he’s alive. He’s alive and he lives alone.”
“Maybe he’s left the country?”
“No, the detective checked. He hasn’t left.”
“Maybe he left without anyone knowing.”
“You have to show your passport no mat er how you leave. He doesn’t even have a passport, he never applied for one.”
“Maybe he’s working in espionage.”
“Espionage! That’s a joke. He spent practical y his entire training period in jail—for wearing pajamas under his uniform, for talking back
—once he even peed on a whole bunch of grenades. He and some other guys, but he was the initiator, they were having a contest. He hated the army. He deliberately shot in the air at target practice, he begged to be put in laundry, and nal y he got his way, he got to do laundry. If he were a spy, this country would be in big trouble.”
“You never know. People change. Spying isn’t the same as fighting.”
“I wish you knew him. That’s the last thing he’d do. He doesn’t have any qualifications.”
“Wel , that’s al I can think of. I can’t think of any other reason.”
“Do you know anyone who can find out? Please?”
“Let me think for a minute … Let’s see. I do have a cousin, I’m not sure exactly what he does, but maybe. I’l talk to him. But if the army has a reason, my cousin is going to have the same reason.”
“Just try. Please.”
“Sure, I’l ask him. Do you have your husband’s ID number?”
I wrote down Daniel’s ID on a napkin and Coby slid it into his pocket. “Al my hope is on that napkin,” I said.
Coby smiled. “I won’t lose it, I promise. Where do you know Rafi from?”
“We go to the same activities. We’ve been at the same events lots of times, but we never talked to one another until the demo last Saturday, in Mejwan. Or rather in Ein Mazra’a, they wouldn’t let us into Mejwan.”
Coby shook his head. “You guys are so clued out, it’s hard to fathom.”
“We’re not clued out.”
“Yeah, wel . You only see one side.”
“Rafi said you lynched a Palestinian,” I said.
“I didn’t lynch anyone.”
“Yeah, but he says you were there.”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“And someone’s bal s got shot at.”
“There were lots of incidents. It was so long ago, you can’t possibly expect me to remember. And if they could have, they would have torn us to pieces too. Luckily, we were too strong. What does it mat er, anyhow? It’s water under the bridge now. We tried peace, we tried negotiating, we tried giving them what they wanted, and now we’re under at ack again.”
“Yes, we gave them what they wanted. You can now be owners of your own house. But meanwhile we’re just going to move into another room, and another room, and also we’ve got the keys and also we’re just going to stay in charge of the water, we hope you don’t mind. And oh yes, we stil need to post a few guards in the kitchen, and if we kil someone who walks in the garden without our permission we’l be fined two shekels, is that okay with you?”
“Yeah, wel . Trust takes time. And you see, we were right not to trust them.”
“Maybe they were right not to trust us.”
“Maybe. Maybe we’re both right. Maybe we’re just doomed to go on kil ing each other forever. I personal y am
