Page 4 of Caleb
Thankfully, he changes the subject.
“We could use you on perimeter watch,” Levi says, his voice softening even more. “You know there was some sort of unrest at the Syrian border a few days ago, and we’re so close that we wouldn’t want something to escape us. But only if you feel ready and—”
“Of course,” I reply quickly. “I’ll report back with Idan.” Idan’s head of security here. I was surprised it took them so long to ask me to join them. They were probably trying to give me some “space.”
“You would still have to fulfill your fishing duties, but I’m sure it won’t be a problem for you to handle both.”
As I’m about to reply, Noa comes barging out the kitchen’s back door, wiping tears from her face angrily with the back of her hands.
“Noa!” I shout, but she’s rushing away, ignoring me. Levi shouts out her name too but doesn’t get a reply from her either.
Miryam, who’s around Noa’s age and waits tables at the restaurant with her, comes out next and goes after her.
“Miryam!” Levi shouts, making her stop in her tracks. “What happened?” Miryam approaches us with a wide panicked gaze.
“This man, he—” She shakes her head as if trying to concentrate on what she wants to say. She then looks at me with doe eyes and says, “Noa brought them the check, and when she turned around after leaving it on the table, this man, he—” She cuts herself off mid-sentence.
“He what, Miryam?” I urge, feeling my neck blushing with tension because my instincts know where this conversation is headed. Know what Miryam is about to say.
“He spanked her and pulled her by the waist, but—”
I don’t even need to hear the rest because I’m already flying inside the restaurant. Miryam and Levi are shouting my name, but it’s like a distant blur that hovers behind me and fades away.
“Who was it?” I step into the dining area and scan the room. Another girl, Arya, who works at the restaurant as a hostess, quickly informs me the man in question and his party have just stepped out and are headed toward the parking lot.
“What does he look like?”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Levi says in my ear. People are staring, but I don’t have time to care. “Letmehandle this.”
Lowering my voice, I ask Arya again, “Whatdoes he look like?”
“Sandy blond hair, jeans, black shirt, glasses—”
I start moving toward the parking lot before she finishes describing the man to me. I’ve got enough information to locate the target. But Levi grabs my arm and says, “Isaid, let me handle it.”
After shaking Levi’s hand from my arm with ease, I proceed with the operation. This assignment has my name written all over it. What is Levi going to do? Kindly ask them to leave and never return? I can’t risk that. I can’t risk them being let off so easily.
The man and his lame entourage of two scrawny men are about to step inside a small white van with an orange logo. Tourists. I quickly approach them, and without thinking twice, I grab the man by his shirt’s collar and connect my fist to his face with a clean jab. The man falls to his knees, and his nose starts bleeding. The two twenty-something men accompanying him, almost a head shorter than me, are gaping at their groaning friend.
Another one launches at me, somehow forgetting what country he’s in and how virtually every citizen over eighteen is trained in hand-to-hand combat. I shove him, his back bumping against the van, and that’s when I feel myself being immobilized. The driver starts the engine, and the two men quickly help their bruised friend inside the vehicle.
Cursing in Hebrew, I try to free myself from my captors’ grasp. The van’s door slides shut, and the driver pulls back and drives away with haste.
Finally, I’m released. Ezra and Ari were doing a damn good job at restraining me.
“Caleb,” Levi says in a grave tone. “My office.Now.”
Room Six
LEVI “PUNISHED” MEby making me work with the special events committee for next Thursday’s Purim celebration. He also notified me that I would oversee the beach kiosk once the bathing season starts in a few weeks after claiming I needed to work on my social skills. It’s the most tedious job at Ein Gev. At least for me. It means that I’lltalkto people. Customers, tourists, and guests. And I didn’t used to be this way. I’m hoping this is a temporary fluke in my personality and that with time, I’ll be able to go back to being the person I was before December 8th. Less apathetic. Less … angry.
That’s what this temporary leave is all about—taking a break to process what happened so I can go back and carry on with my duties.
It’s like I can’t tap into my emotions, and when I do feel any, I find myself not being in control of them, like a few hours ago when I punched that ass-grabbing prick.
My knuckles are killing me from the blow.
Should I have allowed Levi to take care of it? Probably. Do I regret what I did? Not one bit.
