Recap: Hope reconsiders her decision of not trying out for dance in the production, and when she tries out and her ballet talent shines, the head of dance asked her to take over. She doesn’t want to take over someone’s job, but the dance head insists.
On the night of the production, my stomach was all fluttery. I was excited and nervous. The costume for the main dance part was gorgeous. It was a shimmery skirt that flared out, and though it was longer than the tutu I had from Paris, I thought it was much more beautiful.
The stage lights shone on me, and I sashayed onto the stage. The next thing I knew, I was gliding through the air, twirling and jumping and leaping . The music went through me. I was dancing my heart out and loving every minute.
At the end of the dance, I got a standing ovation.
When the performance was over, I got a shock. “Tikvah, there is someone here who wants to talk with you,” Rivkah said.
“Okay, I just have to change into my street clothes. One minute.”
I hurried off the stage and then I froze.
“Hope!”
“Mommy!” I ran into her arms, sobbing. “You came.”
“I told you we would come. Oh, Hope, the dance was magnificent. You will surely make it into the ballet school.”
“When did you come?”
“Father and I arrived last night. We’re staying at the Best Western and we want to take you back with us tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow…”
Mommy and I kept our arms around each other as we headed back to the Jacobson house. I couldn’t wait to see Father.
And now I had a major dilemma that I didn’t want to think about.
The Jacobsons invited us for supper. “Rebbetzin Jacobson spoke a long time to Mommy about the changes in my life since we were together.
Rabbi Jacobson sat with Father and spoke to him. It was agreed I would leave with them in the morning.
“Tikvah,” Rivkah whispered as we both drifted off to sleep. Actually, maybe Rivkah was going to sleep. I doubted I would sleep at all.
“How can you leave now? It’s the middle of the school year. I will miss you so much.”
“I know. I love Beth Jacob and I love living here with you, but my parents came and they want me to go back with them.”
“Is there a Jewish school in Maine?”
“Not near where they live. I asked Mommy. There’s no Jewish community where they are.”
Rivkah didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. My heart was aching at the thought of giving up all this beautiful Yiddishkeit.
“What will I do about Shabbos?” I asked.
“You’ll have to do it on your own,” she whispered. “Oh, Tikvah, I wish you could stay here and finish the school year.”
…
The next morning, I hugged Rebbetzin Jacobson goodbye. Rivkah refused to say goodbye. “We’ll write and stay in touch. I can’t bear to say goodbye.”
The drive to Maine was a long one. Father asked me about the school and Mommy asked about a hundred other things.
I asked about Maine and Sarah and Steve.
When we pulled up to my parents’ house, I was surprised to see a small tidy house.
“This is what we can afford now,” Father said.
“It looks nice,” I offered.
“Steve and Sarah live next door,” Mommy said.
Mommy showed me to my new bedroom. It was small but very clean and she’d fixed it up with a pretty pink quilt. I saw some of my favorite books lining a small bookshelf. Plenty of sunshine poured in the window. Mommy had sewn pretty pink curtains to go with the decor.
“Do you like it?” she asked anxiously.
“Oh, yes.” I hugged her. It was all so nice and filled with love, so why was I feeling sad and like I’d lost my best friend? I’d been waiting for my parents to come get me and now that they had, I wasn’t happy. What was wrong with me?
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of the newly released historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishers, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishers, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022).
