Malka’s First Crush
For Malka and Aiden, Great Godfrey Daniels was the only restaurant in Skokie. Ma was very pleased with her flounder. “It tastes like cake,” she said. I raised my eyebrows, nodded once and said, “Hm.” Although I’ve never eaten fish that tasted anything like cake, I took her word for it. Nearly every five minutes Carolyn offered Ma a lemon wedge—that is, to squeeze over her “cake” flavored flounder. Ma repeatedly declined. Hearing isn’t exactly Carolyn’s forte. More and more, neither is remembering. Aiden’s seemingly inexhaustible obsession with the word, if not the concept of, “butt-cheeks,” as a tongue-in-cheek insult, but also, presumably, as an anatomical curiosity, i.e. for an eight year old, is very nearly disturbing. As a rule, kids won’t easily let go of any curiosity that adults find very nearly, or even outright, disturbing. Malka—Aiden’s sister, older by three years—was sulky. Malka is frequently sulky fol...