The Chosen

'I couldn't help it, abba.'

'You hate him so much you could say those things to him?'

'I'm sorry,' I said, feeling miserable.

He looked at me and I saw his eyes were suddenly sad. 'I did not intend to scold you,' he said.

'You weren't scolding,' I defended him.

'What I tried to tell you, Reuven, is that when a person comes to talk to you, you should be patient and listen. Especially if he has hurt you in any way. Now, we will not talk anymore tonight about Reb Saunders' son. This is an important day in the history of the world. It is the begi

We talked for a while about the invasion. Finally, my father left, and I lay back in my bed, feeling depressed and angry with myself over what I had said to Da

Billy's father had come to see him again, and they were talking quietly. He glanced at me and smiled warmly. He was a fine looking person, and I noticed he had a long white scar on his forehead ru

'Billy tells me you've been very nice to him,' he said to me.

I sort of nodded my head on the pillow and tried to smile back.

'I appreciate that very much,' he said. 'Billy wonders if you would call us when he gets out of the hospital: 'Sure,' I said.

'We're in the phone book. Roger Merrit. Billy says that after his operation, when he can see again, he would like to see what you look like: 'Sure, I'll give you a call,' I said.

'Did you hear that, Billy?'

'Yes,' Billy said happily. 'Didn't I tell you he was nice, Daddy?' The man smiled at me, then turned back to Billy. They went on talking quietly.

I lay in the bed and thought about all the things that had happened during the day, and felt sad and depressed.

The next morning, Mrs Carpenter told me I could get out of bed and walk around a bit. After breakfast, I went out into the hall for a while. I looked out a window and saw people outside on the street. I stood there, staring out the window a long time. Then I went back to my bed and lay down.

I saw Mr Savo sitting up in his bed, playing cards and gri

'Hows it feel to be on your feet, Bobby boy?' he asked me.

'It feels wonderful. I'm a little tired, though.'

'Take it real slow, kid. Takes a while to get the old strength back.

One of the patients near the radio at the other end of the ward let out a shout. I leaned over and turned on my radio. The a

I wondered what that beach must look like now, and I could see it filled with broken vehicles and dead soldiers.

I spent the morning listening to the radio. When Mrs Carpenter came over, I asked her how long I would be in the hospital, and she smiled and said Dr Snydman would have to decide that. 'Dr Snydman will see you Friday morning,' she added.

I was begi

'Do you want to hear any more of this?' I asked Billy. He didn't answer, and I saw he was sleeping.

'Turn it off, kid: Mr Savo said. 'How much of that junk can a guy take?'

I turned off the radio and lay back on my pillow.

'Never knew people could get clopped so hard the way they clop them on those soap operas,' Mr Savo said. 'Wen. well, look who's here.'

'Who?' I sat up.

'Your real religious clopper.'

I saw it was Da

'Are you going to get angry at me again?' he asked hesitantly.

'No,' I said.

'Can I sit down?'

'Yes.'

'Thanks,' he said, and sat down on the edge of the bed to my right. I saw Mr Savo stare at him for a moment, then go back to his cards.

'You were pretty rotten yesterday, you know,' Da

'I'm sorry about that.' I was surprised at how happy I was to see him.

'I didn't so much mind you being angry,' he said. 'What I thought was rotten was the way you wouldn't let me talk.'

'That was rotten, all right. I'm really sorry.'

'I came up to talk to you now. Do you want to listen?'

'Sure.' I said.

'I've been thinking about that ball game. I haven't stopped thinking about it since you got hit.'

'I've been thinking about it, too,' I said.

'Whenever I do or see something I don't understand, I like to think about it until I understand it.' He talked very rapidly, and I could see he was tense. 'I've thought about it a lot, but I still don't understand it. I want to talk to you about it. Okay?'

'Sure,' I said.

'Do you know what I don't understand about that ball game?

I don't understand why I wanted to kill you.' I stared at him.

'It's really bothering me.'

'Well, I should hope so,' I said.

'Don't be so cute, Malter. I'm not being melodramatic. I really wanted to kill you.'

'Well, it was a pretty hot ball game,' I said" 'I didn't exactly love you myself there for a while.'

'I don't think you even know what I'm talking about,' he said. 'Now, wait a minute -'

'No, listen. Just listen to what I'm saying, will you? Do you remember that second curve you threw me?'

'Sure.'

'Do you remember I stood in front of the plate afterwards and looked at you?'

'Sure.' I remembered the idiot grin vividly.

'Well, that's when I wanted to walk over to you and open your head with my bat: I didn't know what to say.

'I don't know why I didn't. I wanted to.'

'That was some ball game,' I said, a little awed by what he was telling me.

'It had nothing to do with the ball game,' he said. 'At least I don't think it did. You weren't the first tough team we played. And we've lost before, too. But you really had me going, Malter. I can't figure it out. Anyway, I feel better telling you about it.'

'Please stop calling me Malter,' I said.

He looked at me. Then he smiled faintly. 'What do you want me to call you?'

'If you're going to call me anything, call me Reuven,' I said. 'Malter sounds as if you're a schoolteacher or something.'

'Okay,' he said, smiling again. 'Then you call me Da

'Fine,' I said.

'It was the wildest feeling,' he said. 'I've never felt that way before.'

I looked at him, and suddenly I had the feeling that everything around me was out of focus. There was Da

'You're a pretty rough fielder and pitcher,' he said, smiling at me a little.

'You're pretty rough yourself,' I told him. 'Where did you learn to hit a ball like that?'

'I practised,' he said. 'You don't know how many hours I spent learning how to field and hit a baseball: 'Where do you get the time? I thought you people always studied Talmud: He gri