Rina met his eyes with her own. “The reasons for covering your hair go beyond physical attractiveness. I have some sweet rolls in the white waxed bag. Help yourself, Mr. Donatti.”
“You can call me Chris.” He moved his eyes up and down her body, slowly and with purpose. “After all, I’ve called you Rina many times in my fantasies.”
“You may call me Rina in real life. I have no problem with that.”
Neither one talked.
Chris ran his tongue in his cheeks, his eyes never leaving her face. “You know, I’ve had lots of girls, Rina. Lots and lots and lots of them. When girls literally fall in your lap, it gets a little old. It gets harder and harder-no pun intended-to get excited about someone. That means forbidden fruit begins to look very attractive.”
Silence.
Rina became aware of the children at play-such sweet, sweet sounds. Before she said anything, she made a point to formulate her thoughts. Then she spoke in a clear, steady voice. “Were you raised with any organized religion, Mr. Donatti?”
“Chris, please.” A slow smile. “We’re all friends here.”
“Certainly. Were you raised with any organized religion, Chris?”
Donatti continued to look her over. “Catholic.”
“So you know a little bit of Bible, maybe?”
Chris smiled. “I wasn’t a very good Catholic, Rina.”
“Do you know about Yaakov and Aesav? Jacob and Esau in English.”
“It’s been a while.” A predatory smirk. “Why don’t you fill me in?”
“Jacob and Esau were brothers… twins by birth, but that’s as far as it went. They were very different. Jacob was a quiet, learned man-ish tam as we say in Hebrew. He studied; he behaved well; he did what his father instructed him to do; he didn’t cause any problems. Esau was very different. He is described as an ish sadde-a man of the field. He was a superb hunter, a fine warrior, masculine, probably handsome, too. He was very charming, and his manners were beyond reproach.
“It has been said by the Jewish sages that Esau was born with a full set of teeth and a beard. It could be taken literally, but I choose to take it metaphorically, Mr. Donatti. Teeth and a beard represent a mature man. What it says to me is that Esau was born as exactly the man he was destined to be. His entire childhood-all the learning experiences and growth that one gets from childhood mistakes-was irrelevant to him. He remained unchanged from infancy until the day he died.
“Now, the parents loved both of their children, but the father, Isaac, loved Esau more because he brought him fresh meat, and because Esau had excellent derech eretz. That means manners; that means he showed his father respect. Also, I believe that Isaac admired Esau’s ability to hunt, so different from Isaac’s own strengths. Sometimes you place a lot of value on tasks that are beyond your abilities. But the mother, Rebecca, who was more worldly, she loved Jacob more. She admired his quiet, pious demeanor.”
“Jacob sounds like a wimp.”
“No, he was not weak. His strengths were less overt.”
Donatti thought a moment. “You know it’s not good to play favorites with your kids.”
Rina smiled. “You’re absolutely right. That was part of the problem.”
He leered at her. “Do you know that you’ve got a beautiful smile, Rina?”
Rina ignored him. “There was lots of sibling rivalry. Eventually, it reached a flash point. There was a confrontation between the two brothers, and Jacob was forced to flee from Esau’s wrath.”
“I told you Jacob was a wimp. What happened?”
“First Jacob tricked his brother out of his birthright. Then Jacob bamboozled his father into giving him the first blessing-the blessing that Isaac had planned for his elder son, Esau. Under the law of primogeniture, the older should have had dominion over the younger. But Rebecca, the mother, felt that the blessing should go to Jacob. Because of her wile and deception, Isaac wound up blessing Jacob first, giving the younger son, Jacob, dominion over Esau, the elder.”
“How’d she trick him?”
“Like any good mystery, it loses something in the translation. Read the book if you’re curious. But there is a point to this story, like there is a point to everything in the Bible. Esau did not deserve the blessing. Not because he was a hunter, a murderer with bloodstains on his hands. Esau didn’t deserve the blessing because Esau was an adulterer-a taker of other men’s wives. Not that I speak for God, Mr. Donatti, but in my religion, taking a married woman is a very odious thing.
“Now, I know how you feel about my husband. And you may want revenge. I hope not, but I can’t stop you if you’re set upon it. And, perhaps, you may succeed. But I will tell you this. If you ever, ever so much as lay a single finger on me in an inappropriate way, I guarantee that you-and everything you hold dear-will be cursed by God, by Satan, and by every living and dead creature in this universe. Not only in this lifetime, but in all lifetimes to come.” She glared at him. “Eternally, Mr. Donatti. In lay language, that means forever!”
The silence hung in the air for several moments. Then Donatti forced out a laugh. “Am I supposed to be nervous now?”
“It’s fair warning. And you’re blushing, by the way.”
Involuntarily, Donatti averted his eyes. As soon as he realized it, he stared at her again. “So what happened to Jacob?”
“Happened to him?”
“You said he had to flee from Esau. If I were Esau and somebody stole something from me, I’d go after the son of a bitch with everything I had.”
“As a matter of fact, Mr. Donatti, the two did meet up again. And Jacob was very afraid of his brother. Terrified that he’d steal not only his property but also his wives and children. Especially his wife, Rachel, because she was very beautiful. As I said before, Esau prided himself on stealing married women. When it was clear that the two men had to cross paths, Jacob made elaborate plans on how to deal with his vengeful brother. But in the end, it is written that Esau wept with emotion, threw his arms around his brother, and kissed him on the neck.”
“So Esau forgave Jacob?”
“Looks that way.”
“So Esau turned out to be a pussy, too!” Donatti sneered with contempt. “Someone should rewrite the ending.”
Rina smiled. “Perhaps then I should tell you this. While outwardly there was some kind of reconciliation, Jewish rabbis and sages have a different perspective on the reunion. They say that when Esau kissed Jacob on the neck, he had actually tried to bite him. Not a little hickey, Mr. Donatti. Esau had meant to kill his brother-cut the jugular vein with his teeth. But God had turned Jacob’s neck to stone and instead Esau broke his teeth. Esau got the hint. Vengeance wasn’t the answer.”
“I like that ending better.”
“I thought you might.”
Donatti sipped his coffee. “Maybe vengeance isn’t the answer as a permanent thing. But it does have a soothing temporary effect.”
“Possibly.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Are you and my husband on opposite sides of the fence again?”
“Interesting question. What did your husband tell you?”
“Absolutely nothing! I had no idea you were even in New York. But by your being here, you must have known that I was in New York. This wasn’t an accident. You had to have been following me. So somewhere along the line you must have met up with the lieutenant. Are you two at odds again?”
“Actually, he came to me for help.”
Rina paused. Her first thoughts were that somewhere during the course of Ephraim’s homicide investigation, Peter must have suspected Donatti of being the hit man. But if that were the case-and Donatti knew that Peter was suspicious of him-why did Donatti approach her so brazenly?