A Great Cry in Egypt
Published in Issue #10(Excerpt from a Novel)
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For there was not a house where there was not one dead (Exodus 12:30)
‘I can’t hire you,’ Mrs. Pimentel said. ‘I’m sorry, Pamela, we’re all Jewish here.’ When Pam laughed, she looked surprised, even a little offended, and she pushed the identity card Pam had shown her back across her desk.
‘Oh, I’m sorry!’ Pam said, ‘It’s just funny because,’ taking the card, she dropped it onto her knees out of sight. ‘I thought you wouldn’t have me.’
‘Then why did you come?’ When Pam didn’t answer, she said, ‘If you knew I couldn’t take you?’
‘I didn’t know! I just thought perhaps! It’s just, I heard the nursery needed help, and I want so much to…’
‘Help?’ Mrs. Pimentel was giving her a chance to explain herself, not smiling, still surprised, but listening.
‘Yes, please. The thing is, I laughed because I thought you wouldn’t take me because I’m Jewish, and I thought my name would make you think I’m not.’
‘Wait, wait!’ Mrs. Pimentel had started to smile, her plump cheeks lifting to narrow her blue eyes. ‘Start over, slowly, and tell me who you are.’
‘My name really is Chambers. It doesn’t sound Jewish, I know, but I am, and I thought that’s why you wouldn’t want me. That’s why I laughed.’
Mrs. Pimentel put up her hands to smooth the waves of gray hair above her ears, then ran them down her cheeks and folded them under her chin. Pam waited, her eyes fixed on the older woman, her mouth half-open. ‘It’s nice to hear somebody laughing,’...
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