Long Bridge Runner

Chapter 70-The Kentucky Derby

Copyright 1995
By David Rojay

THE LONG BRIDGE RUNNER
Book One/THE MIDWEST

When Gurion asked to take Daniel to the Kentucky Derby, Dorothy, having repented of her past feelings, readily agreed. There was a day of frenzied shopping to be sure Daniel was properly dressed and although Glenn fretted about the cost, Dorothy knew they could afford it.

Gurion knew this outing with Daniel was foolish. He would spend the trip suspended in reality. Each time he looked at Daniel, he would see Abe. Abe in a new land on a trip with his father. If he tried hard enough, he could even imagine Anna waiting for their return. The festive table set beneath candlelight and her voice saying, "mien menchen, my men".

But Daniel would not cooperate with Gurion's dreams. He talked and asked questions that interrupted Gurion's fantasy and at a roadside cafe he insisted on eating a cheeseburger, a repugnant juxtaposition of cheese and cooked flesh.

"Should I tell him I've thought about going to Israel?" Gurion wondered. "Perhaps he doesn't even know of such a place."

When Gurion knew that Kimberly was unfaithful, he had contacted Eugene Zinov, a Ukrainian from Odessa. Eugene had gone to Palestine in 1935 and now lived in Haifa where he ran a dress factory.

"I live near the B'Hai Temple," he wrote, "with a view of the sea. My diet is a healthy mixture of vegetables, fruits and nuts and pita, humus and falafel. The sun shines every day and the women are beautiful and athletic."

When Daniel fell asleep on the back seat, Gurion began to think about his reasons for thinking of Israel. Was it because of the letter from Werner Fiedler? A letter so full of the Zionist zeal, describing a life so different from Gurion's double existence, an existence that held not only his own world but also the charade world, the one he must exist in-among the ignorant Christians, but also the ignorant Jews of Fairhaven. He was a man out of place and time, lost with only his memories and letters that promised reconnection.

But something had triggered this state of mind. Every Wednesday afternoon since Kimberly's affair, he had driven to Evansville to escape the small town ennui. Evansville was the right size city, not as large and difficult as St. Louis. There, he could relax and be anonymous. He often drank on Wednesday night to a degree which would have created a scandal in Fairhaven; and even more "ver botten," he had visited the prostitutes on High Street. These visits invariably filled him with melancholy and guilt, not only because they reminded him of Kimberly's affair, but also of his loveless life.

Still, the real reason for his journeys to Evansville was to see a psychologist recommended to him by Andrew Klein, a doctor at Evansville Hospital. This young woman, with the German name, Holstein, seemed unsure of herself yet readily proffered advice, which Gurion recognized as being from text books rather than experience. Still, he liked her and looked forward to their sessions which alleviated his depression. She would never have guessed she was more a diversion to him than a doctor; and yet one day after a rather sophomoric remark about suffering, Gurion blurted, "What do you really know about suffering?"

Miss Holstein's throat began to blotch; she coughed nervously. "I know I can't really relate to your trauma, Dr. Gurion, I can only do what I've been trained to do; but sometimes when I'm at a loss about something as you are now, I simply drop to my knees and call on the Lord."

After that, Gurion knew why he could not stay in America.
But today would be different. Since his early days spent at Hoppegarten,* he had loved horses, racing horses. He knew how they had evolved from Arabian steeds and he knew how the Arabs loved their horses and in Bedouin encampments even slept with them.

The favorite in today's derby was Middleground. "When you get to the Derby bet on Middleground; he'll win hands down."

Gurion knew nothing more that this. He would put every other thought out of his mind. He would decide later on whether to go to Cape Cod with Kimberly or not but today, he would find an island of peace in his life, he hoped.

In the late afternoon of that day, when shadows grew noticeably and the first thoughts of coming night were felt, the trumpeter sounded "Post Call". This most difficult and beautiful of fanfares seemed to hold back the shadows but only temporarily as sentiment fell upon the crowd.

One by one the horses left the paddocks slowly prancing toward the gate, the light and the distance turned their motion into a southern dream.

A hush fell as the crowd began to sing, "My Old Kentucky Home". Every heart was dealt a challenge to forget the beauty of that moment.

As Daniel joined in the anthem, he looked up at Gurion whose eyes had filled with tears. He looked afar off into the distance and said, remembering Hoppegarten, "I wonder, I wonder what time it is in Berlin?"

After the race, in the car driving back to Fairhaven, Daniel wanted to inquire about Gurion's words but he did not. They spoke little; Gurion realized the distance between the American child and himself. This would be their last trip together.

*Berlin Racetrack
____________________________________________________________________
Chapters change on Tuesdays and Friday Evenings:
Be sure to watch David Rojay on The Dan and Dad Show each Saturday night at 9:30 on Channel 17. Read A RED STATE HERO by David Rojay on capecodtoday.com. Read Sea Street-David Rojay's blog on capecodtoday.com and finally check out David Rojay on YOUTUBE. For more information, Google "David Rojay".
Check out my Sea Street Blog: "All Gab and No Jab.