Chapter 5

Despite his initial reticence, Eli turned out to be as personable as his father. To Lev's delight, he was also strongly opinionated about his likes and dislikes. He named off all the guests who were going to be at the lunch and then gave a personal assessment on each one.

There was one person, a man named Gil, whom he seemed to especially dislike. When Lev asked why, Eli emphatically responded, "He's a donkey!"

"Eli, that's not nice," said Jon. But when his son turned his back, Jon rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement.

They reached the apartment. Jon opened the door and Eli led Bill in. Jon held Lev back for a moment.

"Is he yours?" Jon asked with a sly smile.

"Actually he just followed me home," said Lev.

"Very funny," said Jon, "Is he?"

"Was," said Lev, "Just friends now. He's not mine anymore"

"But you came to Israel together?"

"No, actually. We both happened to be here and accidentally bumped into each other in Tel Aviv. I'm showing him around."

"Sure you are," said Jon. Lev shook his head and walked into the apartment.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The meal was a very pleasant affair. In addition to Jon, Eli, Lev, and Bill, there were three couples - Lisa and David Wolfe, Nili and Joshua Berger, and Gil and Tamar Katsav. While everyone else was quite delightful, Gil bothered Lev immediately by turning every conversation into a matter of religion and integrity.

Lev guided Bill through the pre-meal rituals and quietly explained their meanings to preemptively eliminate any discomfort. Eli took Bill's hand, led him to a seat, and motioned for Lev to sit next to him. Eli sat on Lev's other side.

For Lev, there was a strong feeling of familiarity. Years ago the weekly Sabbath meals were a part of his life. He never realized how much he missed them, the simple joy of people just getting together to talk and eat in a semi-communal atmosphere.

Because he was an old friend of Jon's, Lev was an object of curiosity for the other guests.

Lisa Wolfe began the inquisition. "What do you do?"

"I'm sort of a student. Mostly I do research on a, uh, thesis."

"Where are you studying?" Joshua Berger asked.

"At, um, Hogsmeade College. Um... in the United Kingdom."

Out of the corner of his eye, Lev saw Bill grinning, clearly amused at the fabricated answers.

"What are you writing about?" asked David Wolfe.

"My thesis is about two legendary, medieval, British demi-goddesses named Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. They were both considered to be extremely important in that era, judging from the texts I've come across. I'm trying to prove that unlike other medieval figures of the time, say Morgan LeFay or Merlin, that Rowena and Helga are actually based upon real women, possibly queens, who lived at the time as opposed to gods of a Celtic or an earlier indigenous pantheon."

Everyone looked stunned, except for Eli who continued to eat. Bill just looked impressed.

The guests' attention turned to Bill, who, with his long red hair, fang earring, and British accent, was the most exotic person there.

"And what do you do?" asked Tamar Katsav. Lev started to get nervous, afraid of how Bill would disguise his identity. He coughed a little too much.

"I work for an English bank called Gringotts. They have branches all over the world. I'm employed by the one based in Cairo."

At the mention of Cairo, Gil Katsav became very interested by Bill's life. He looked at Bill the way a cat looks at mice.

"I've never heard of Gringotts. What kind of bank is it?"

"It's a multi-national bank, but they handle exclusive clients and prefer to keep a very low profile," said Bill. Lev breathed a sigh of relief. He began to understand how the husband felt on that old American television show, Bewitched.

"And what do you do for that bank?" Gil asked.

"Well, I.... I have a degree in archeology, so I mostly deal with locating pyramids and burial sites and gathering antiquities from them," said Bill. Lev was astounded at how well Bill stretched the truth. Sometimes he forgot exactly how intelligent Bill was. Mrs. Weasley liked to boast that he was Head Boy at Hogwarts.

"Are you a tomb robber?" asked Jon playfully.

Bill smiled. "Something like that."

Gil was not finished. "I hear the tombs are cursed," he said mockingly.

"Nothing I can't handle," said Bill with a smile. Lev knew that was true.

"I prefer not to think about the pyramids," said Gil, "Instead, I prefer to think about our ancestors who were slaves and built those monstrosities. But I'd imagine that doesn't mean much to someone like you, Mr. Weasley, now does it?"

Bill flushed bright red and bit his lip. He bowed his head and stared intently at his empty plate. Lev felt an anger rise in him. Gil was still talking about something, probably preaching a sermon. Lev did not care.

"Bill finds these treasures so that everyone can enjoy them," he interrupted, the poorly restrained fury evident in his voice. "And perhaps he does not have the same lineage as you or I, Mr. Katsav, but he knows the most important things about being a mensch. You'll never see Bill humiliating anyone in public or in private. I wish I was more like him, and I think most people can say the same thing. Wouldn't you agree, Sir?"

Jon immediately changed the conversation to Torah discussion he delivered at synagogue. Everyone else jumped into the conversation.

Under his breath, Lev muttered, Ayzeh Hamor. Only two people heard him: Bill, who looked at him curiously, and Eli, who desperately tried to restrain his giggles. The new respect for Lev was evident in the child's gaze.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After lunch, and after the guests left, Jon walked over to Bill and Lev.

"I'm sorry about that," Jon said, "Gil's wife is my wife's friend. Otherwise..."

Eli bounded into the room, and grabbed Lev by the hand. "Abba," he said, "Can they stay for Havdalah?"

"You'll have to ask them that, Eli," Jon said.

"Please stay," Eli said, "I'll show you my toys."

Lev looked at Bill. "Okay," said Bill.

Eli cheered and ran to his room. Jon walked out after him in order to "see that he doesn't get into any mischief."

"What's Havdalah?" asked Bill.

"It's the ceremony that marks the end of the Sabbath. It's more intimate and quite lovely. "

"So we're staying until tonight?" Bill asked.

"Yup. Until after sunset," said Lev.

"What are we going to do until then?" Bill asked a little desperately.

"A lot more than we'd be doing in the hotel room," Lev replied.

"Lev, what did you say about Gil that made Eli laugh?"

Lev grinned. "I called him a donkey."

Bill chuckled and then went silent. After a few moments, he said, "Thank you. For sticking up for me."

Lev looked at his feet. "You're my Bill. Nobody is allowed to hurt my Bill." He looked up, winked at Bill, and then led him to another room where Eli was calling for them to join him.