104
PARTISAN REVIEW
Bainbridge or I ran down Perry . There were a number ofJewbaiters on Perry,
boys whose older brothers or uncles might have run with the Bund when it
organized a small group of superpatriots on Webster Avenue . It didn't bother
me too much , except in the winter, when the snowballs would be packed
around stones .Jewbaiting was a group activity . On Bainbridge, I could walk.
The only place on Bainbridge I learned to expect trouble was outside the
five-and-ten near the corner ofHull. A group ofIrish boys, between seven and
twelve in age and five to eight in number , used to hang out on that corner.
The first time I walked past them, carrying my blue Hebrew writing book, a
sudden silence descended.
Sometimes, I would see them waiting for me on the corner and I would
turn into the Five-and-Ten and browse through the aisles. The Five-and-Ten
didn 't hireJews , but I liked the loose chunks ofchocolate that were kept in the
front stalls and I would take special pleasure in stealing as much of it as I
could. I was never caught, even though I would sometimes steal the candy
under the salesgirl's nose . I stole other things, roo-airplane glue, lead
soldiers, combs , shoelaces . Sometimes, I would simply throw whatever I had
stolen in the trash can outside the bowling alley on
Hull
Avenue. The store
was
theirs
and I felt no guilt about taking from
them.
It was the first time I had
ever thought of people as a single combatant. Christians rather than Italians or
Irish or Germans.
"Hey, Jewboy ." The opening usually came from the skinny boy with
stringy arms. He was the youngest. "You going to the matza srore,Jewboy?, ,
Silence. At the heart ofa man's courage, a degree ofcaution; at the heart
of a child's daring , a degree of measurement. An older brother leaning
against the car. Even ifI held my own, I would ultimately pay double for a
minor triumph.
"Let's see where they cutcha, Jewboy ." A different voice .
"What's in the books , Jewboy?"
"Matzas, matzas, two for five, that's what keeps the Jews alive ."
Sing-song voice of the skinny one. But the threat was distant .
"Move your ass , Jewboy ," said the one leaning against the car. "Move
it .' ,
I moved. Degrees of danger. Measurements to discover new boundaries.
I tried to keep to a purposeful, disdainful gait. But not so disdainful that they
would come after me . A greater knowledge coming home, questions of the
blood disrupting an innocence that must have been deliberate, even at the age
of eight .
And yet, on 206th Street, I grew to like the Irish. I managed to survive
that first winter in our new home, the drawn light in the New York sky
testifying to my endurance . Run the gauntlet and come through . Friendships
