ATOP Chapter Sixty-One

June, 1947

Dear Mama,

Something strange and wonderful has happened. You remember Jakob, of course, the boy I talked so much to you about... the boy who shared his rations with Shonie when she was so sick back in the camp. The boy who... kissed me. 

He is alive, Mama. Actually alive. It is like a miracle. He survived the camp somehow... and he is here in America. He wants to see me. He will be coming to visit... and he will be here only the week before we leave for our camping trip. The big camping trip, the one that everyone is going on, and they are all so excited for it... but for me... right now... my heart is so full it could burst. It is all coming back, stronger than ever, fear, pain, sorrow, doubt, joy, anxiety... and I am afraid to see Jakob. He is a piece of my past. And yet... maybe bringing the past into the present will be good somehow. 

I do not know. I do not know what will happen when I see him again. I am afraid to think. And yet I am glad... so glad... dear Jakob... I have missed him so much... 

♡♡♡

"So... this Jakob of yours... what is he like?" Mickey leaned back against the front wall as he lounged on the porch floor, linking his arms behind his head. Rebekah pushed the swing slowly back and forth, reaching out to brush her fingers over the rose petals that climbed over the railing. Shonie and Benjie were playing in the yard with the puppy that Benjie had named Wiggly. It made Rebekah smile to see them so happy as they ran back and forth, laughing in delight.

"He was fifteen the last time I saw him," Rebekah said slowly. "He was tall. Black eyes, black hair... it was curly when it grew out... but they never let us keep our hair for long..."

"Hmm... tall, check, black hair and eyes, I fail there," Mickey sighed. 

"What are you talking about?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, just seeing how I measure up. Never mind. Please, do continue." 

"He would be sixteen now, I guess... almost seventeen..." Rebekah added with a shrug. "I wonder if he has changed much..."

"To my disadvantage, of course," Mickey muttered. Rebekah didn't seem to hear.

"He is kind," she said softly. "Thinks of others. He kept me going during some of the hardest times of my life. Especially when Shonie was sick. Had it not been for him, I do not know what I would have done."

"Sounds like a great guy."

"Why do you say it sounding like that?" Rebekah grinned sideways at him. "You sound... sarcastic."

"What? Sarcastic? Me?" Mickey shook his head emphatically. "Nope, I mean it, and with all my heart. He really does sound like a great guy and... and I'm glad he was there when you needed him, Bekah."

"Jah..." Rebekah sat back in the swing and looked off into the distance. "Above all... he is Jewish... and he believes in our people. He and I used to always talk of Israel together. He would say "Our people will rise again". He said it until I believed it... and I still do. I hear his voice in my head saying those words and I remember and believe with all my heart. And someday I will go to Israel... and if he is still alive... maybe we can go together..."

"Bekah..." Mickey sounded pained.

"Jah?"

"I would go to Israel for you."

"Ach, but Mickey..." Rebekah laughed softly. "You are not a Jew. Why would you go to Israel?"

"Yeah, not a Jew," he snapped under his breath. "Phooey on me."

"It is three already... he should be here soon," Rebekah stood, shaking out the folds of her skirt. "How do I look, Mickey? Is this dress alright?"

Mickey stared up at her dolefully.

"What do I know about dresses?" he muttered, moving to fold his arms across his chest.

"Well... you do not have to know anything," Rebekah grinned. "Just... do I look alright?"

"Sure, you look swell," Mickey sighed. You're beautiful, he wished he could say. The most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life. 

"Swell..." Rebekah wrinkled her nose. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Oh, it's a good thing," Mickey grinned crookedly. "Very good." But his grin changed quickly to a glare as he caught sight of a tall figure coming down the lane. Rebekah moved forward, gripping the porch railing, and her eyes were alight. Mickey knew more than ever that he was not going to like this Jakob Klein.

They met in the middle as Rebekah ran to meet him, Shonie on her heels. He moved towards her eagerly, clasping her hands in both of his, black eyes wide and earnest. And they simply stood there in silence for a long, long moment, just holding each other's hands. 

"It... it is really you... is it?" Rebekah whispered, blinking back the threatening tears. Not even in front of Jakob would she cry.

"And you..." he whispered back, lifting one hand to touch her cheek. "You... are alive..."

Mickey, watching from the porch, decided he could watch no longer. By the time Rebekah made it back to the house, Jakob in tow, he had vanished.