“There is no rachmanus in my heart for girls who try to change the subject and evade the issue”

"First, you have to tell Ima.”

“No, I dote.” Chaya sniffles and wipes her nose. She groans. “I just can’t, Nechami. I’m feeling awful.”

Nechami holds the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder and keeps one hand on the mouse, hovering mindlessly over the list of files. She’d planned to get some work done this morning, but so much for her plans. With her mind pulled every which way, she selects “polygons.” She pulls the mouse along, aimlessly sketching pyramids, cylinders, and cones on the black background.

“Chaya, that is a precondition for any help or advice from me on this subject.”

“What is this precondition, exactly?”

“That you get out of bed and say to Ima, ‘It’s true that I caught the flu because I ran out in the rain last night, and then I stood on the corner of Rechov Baharan for 20 minutes arguing with my sister instead of taking her wise advice, but the real truth is—’ ”

“My sister’s advice wasn’t wise!” Chaya interrupts hoarsely. “And you should have some rachmanus on a girl lying sick in bed when she promised to have a job ready for a client next week, and she can barely even fall asleep because she’s so tense about when she’ll get it all done.”

“There is no rachmanus in my heart for girls who try to change the subject and evade the issue,” Nechami says sternly. She stares vacantly at the strange structure she’s created on the screen, then erases it. She goes into the Maya 3-D program and opens up the file saved as “Uranium Atom.” Something to play with.

“And what is the issue, exactly?” Chaya says.

“We were discussing the fact that you have to let Abba and Ima know what’s on your mind.”

“And what if I don’t know my own mind?” Chaya coughs. “Not that anyone can know their own mind when they’re in bed with fever. I feel like my head is stuffed with wet cotton.”

“You poor thing.”

“You cynical woman.”

“You’re the one who called me to ask what you should do,” Nechami says. “I’m just trying somehow to put everyone’s dimensions together into one model.”