Chapter 12

Eli was very excited the next morning when he discovered Lev sleeping in the guestroom.

"Where's Bill?" he asked.

Lev was quiet for a moment. Jon gave him a sympathetic look. "He'll be here when you get back from synagogue," Lev said, wondering if that would be true or if he even wanted it to be.

"Come on, Eli. We have to go," said Jon.

"Isn't Lev going to synagogue too?" Eli asked.

"No, he has to wait for Bill," said Jon.

"L'hitraot, Lev," said Eli.

"Good Shabbos," replied Lev, and he watched the two of them walked out. He closed the door behind them.

Lev wondered what he was going to do for the next couple of hours. He looked through Jon's bookshelf to see if there was anything he might like to read. He found a book of poems by the Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems. He read a few and cried a little, thinking about Bill and about his own personal relationship with Jerusalem. Then put the book back. He decided to read Crime and Punishment instead.

"Less depressing," he said aloud and read for a few hours. At about eleven o'clock he heard a knock on the door. He knew who it was before he answered it, and sure enough he opened the door for Bill.

"Hi," said Bill.

"Hey," replied Lev, "Come on in."

"No, I don't think I should," said Bill, "I just brought you a change of clothes and the keys. I'm going back to Cairo."

Lev pulled him in. "I promised Eli you'd be here. You can go back to Cairo later, but I'm not breaking a promise to him."

Bill walked over to the couch. "I read one of your books last night," he said.

Lev shut his eyes. He knew which one. "Giovanni's Room, right?"

"Yeah," said Bill. He paused for a moment. "Is that how it's going to end for us?"

"I don't know," said Lev. "Is either one of us getting executed?"

"Funny," deadpanned Bill, "I'm being serious."

"I'm sorry," said Lev, "I don't know, Bill. I'd like us to be friends, but maybe we need a little space. Or a lot of space. I'll be in England until August. Maybe after enough time has passed, if you come in to visit your family, we can go for coffee or something. If not, I understand. If you're ever in America, look me up."

"Sure," said Bill. His voice had no tone in it.

Lev took the clothes Bill brought him and changed in the guestroom.

When Jon and Eli came back, they discovered Lev and Bill sitting at opposite ends of the couch, neither able to look at the other.