ANGELA HIMSEL
681
him, his shoulders pulled inward and up and he drew his body within
himself, as if he were hugging and cherishing the Biblical concepts against
his chest.
At the end of the class, Victoria slowly put her books and pencil into
the daypack and slung it onto her shoulder. When all the other students
had filed out, she approached him.
"Excuse me," she said politely, and he looked up from where he was
gathering his notes and books. "I wanted to ask you -"
"What's your name?"
"Victoria," she said.
"Hi, Victoria," he smiled. "What did you want to ask me?"
"I wanted to ask you, um, if you could explain a little how the
Biblical and Mesopotamian attitudes toward, um, the value of a human
life differ?"
"We'll be discussing that in my next lecture," he said, taking the pin
out of his yarmulkah and stuffing it in his pocket.
"Victoria, right?" he quirked an eyebrow in a charming way.
"Mlnmhmm."
"See you next week."
"See you," she said and she knew that they had made a date.
They are looking at amulets without seeing them and Marvin says,
"Will I see you again before you leave?"
"Sure," Victoria says casually. Her intestines flip over her stomach
when he says, "before you leave." Yes, she must leave, go back, face ev–
erything she left behind.
"I've missed you," Marvin says softly, leaning in close. Victoria places
her hand against his chest, holding him away from her. "Me too," she
says, but she is being polite, saying what is expected like, "How are you?"
and "Fine, thanks" even though she is not fine, she has not rrUssed him,
she is lying. But she is grateful for his attention and admiration, and being
alone with him and the seals and scarabs has filled her with such ancient
peace that she has forgotten, almost, her need to weep and wail and gnash
teeth.
They make a date for that evening at a restaurant outside Damascus
Gate.
Victoria arrives early. She had been to the Wall, stuck a note
to
God
in one of the cracks, prayed a little, then walked through the Old City to
the restaurant. The walls of the city glow golden against the Jerusalem
dusk. In the morning, the streets will be crowded with Arab merchants,
religious Jews going to the Wall to pray, nuns walking to the Via
Dolorosa, tourists and lovers rendezvousing. All enter at the gate before
going their separate ways.
