Genealogy project. That’s one way to refer to what Gabe’s been doing. All of this would be a little easier if Ezra were in the know, but Rivi is still determined to keep him away from the investigation. Instead, Hillel had been the one to call the yeshivah, coaxing an administrator to check old records to prove that Moish Garfinkel hadn’t been a Kohein. And now, Ezra stares at Gabe with frustrated uncertainty.

“I’m not a Kohein,” Gabe says again. “But this… this is just a first date, anyway. To see if we’re still compatible. It’s not like I have to pull out my entire yichus just yet. And in any case, Penina probably knows more about it than I do by now.” Ezra isn’t appeased, but he nods, his jaw tight, and follows Gabe upstairs. As Gabe leaves the house, he sees them both framed in the doorway, as they watch him and avoid each other’s gazes.

He doesn’t know much about people, but he knows enough to tell that Rivi is making a mistake.

Ezra’s car is a little old and temperamental, but Gabe is able to get the feel of it by the time he makes it to Penina’s apartment. This isn’t the old shidduch format that he remembers. There is no knocking at the door, being shown in by widely smiling parents while the girl descends the stairs. Instead, Penina is sitting on the porch, waiting for him, and she climbs into the car before he can think to swing around to open the passenger door.

“Sorry,” he thinks to say when she shuts the door.

She laughs. “Very ungentlemanly. Date’s over.” But she sits back in the seat, at ease, and he feels himself relax. He drives down the block, the car sputtering when he slows at the stop sign, and searches for conversation.

“Where’s Daniel tonight?”

“With his father. They live up in Passaic, so he’s only there one weekend a month. I just asked him to keep Daniel past bedtime this time. I’ll pick him up late tonight.”

“Oh.” Gabe has never thought about Daniel’s father, the man Penina had actually married. It’s beginning to dawn on him that he’s out of his depth. Can he be a stepfather? A husband? Part of a family at all?

He doesn’t feel at home in Lenape Falls — never has, really — and he’s sure that he’ll be grounded here if this shidduch goes somewhere. Ahuva Pretter had demanded it from him, and he had said, I don’t know, if it works out, maybe?

Could he be one of those analytical, removed anthropologists, writing sociology articles in some city office?

He takes a deep breath. One step at a time. Tonight, they’re seeing if this is even still shayach. “Are you two on good terms?”

“Generally. I mean, we couldn’t stand each other when we were married.” Penina shakes her head ruefully. “But I think we just weren’t compatible. Once we finally separated, it was such a relief that we both… mellowed a little. It was a brachah for Daniel. I never wanted to have one of those relationships where it would be toxic for the kids.”

“You’re too sensible for that.” Gabe has always been so amazed at how Penina doesn’t allow herself to be ruled by her emotions or her fears or anything but cool facts.

“You think so?” Penina shoots him a sidelong glance. “I think that if I were a little more sensible, I wouldn’t be on a date with someone who’s already left me once.” She stares straight ahead, and Gabe’s hands grip the steering wheel with renewed anxiety.

Too much is riding on this date, and he doesn’t need Rivi to threaten him to know that he doesn’t want to hurt Penina.

“You think this is a mistake?” He twists the wheel, turns toward the shopping area of Lenape Falls. It’s just a half dozen blocks of shops and restaurants, busy on a Sunday night, but he finds a spot right in front of a quiet coffee shop. Rivi had suggested the place, less popular than many of the others, so they would avoid most curious eyes.

“Whether or not it’s a mistake,” Penina says lightly, “you can’t give up a spot like this one. Guess we’re stuck.”

Gabe still remembers her coffee order, which only adds to how surreal tonight feels. He gets a Coke for himself. “I actually quit coffee a few years back. I was living with Khalkha nomads for a few months. They had some tea — really strong-smelling stuff — but I weaned myself off caffeine so I wouldn’t be dependent on it. Also, that tea was nasty.”

“Khalkha nomads. That was the Gobi Desert?”

“Right. Roughly half of Mongolians live nomadic lifestyles or in rural areas. There’s a lot of traveling from place to place. The people I was with were willing to let me tag along as long as I carried my weight.”

“They didn’t resent being studied?” Penina’s eyes are keen on him, and Gabe considers the question.

“I don’t think so. Not exactly. They kind of thought that my whole… thing was silly. Like, who has time to go around exploring other cultures when there are goats to milk and sheep to herd?” He remembers their skepticism, the way they’d laughed at his laptop and phone. “But they liked the idea of people knowing about them. Of getting a say in their own narrative.”

“I think frum Jews can relate to that.” Penina sips her coffee. “Even in Lenape Falls, you’d be surprised at how many people just don’t know anything about us. We have five or six frum people in the building, and I still have to explain basic concepts to everyone else. I’ve only just gotten Martin to grasp the idea of a hechsher, and he claims that he’s been working with frum Jews for the past forty years.”

“Some of my colleagues wanted me to write a piece on frum culture.” Gabe still remembers the discomfort that had brought.

“You should do it.”

Gabe leans forward, startled. “You don’t think it’s othering?”

“I think that plenty of people other us. It’d be nice to have someone who understands us writing our stories.”

“I still feel like an outsider,” Gabe admits. “Some of the time, I’ll be at shul, and it’ll feel just like it does with the Sateré-Mawé in the Amazon. Like I’m watching someone else’s culture.”

“Except that you’re davening the same tefillos as everyone around you,” Penina points out. “And you’re wearing the same tzitzis and yarmulke. You belong there as much as anyone else.”

It’s calm, reassuring, delivered with that cool confidence that Penina does so well, and Gabe can even believe it when she states it like that.

She smirks. “I think this is the part of the first date where we’re supposed to get to know each other. Right?”

She tosses out questions, rapid-fire, and he answers them with the same speed.

“Siblings?”

“One sister.”

“And she’s perfect, and don’t you forget it. I’ve got three sisters in Eretz Yisrael. One of them called me before this date to tell me I’d lost my mind. Favorite food?”

“Anything with potatoes.”

“Baruch Hashem. I thought it was going to be some kind of Amazonian stew. I’m partial to cheese omelets, myself.”

“Not with spinach?”

“Yes, with spinach! How’d you remember that?” Penina gapes at him, and Gabe feels a foolish grin spreading across his face. It’s so easy with Penina.

“Tell me about your family,” she says.

“You tell me about my family,” Gabe retorts. They finish their drinks and walk from the coffee shop, wandering down the busy street. Gabe feels a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as though he’s being watched, but lately he’s been feeling that all the time. He glances behind them, but there are too many people on the sidewalk and driving through the street, brushing past him as they move.

“Moshe Garfinkel, born 1959. Alumnus of Yeshivas Ner Mordechai. Possibly a criminal mastermind. Definitely not Avigdor Cohen.” It sounds light when Penina says it, without any sting.

“You said that you found one criminal charge, right?” He doesn’t want to think too much about it, about what Abba might have been or done. “Were you able to figure out what it was for?”

“It’s too sensitive. If I did more digging, it might alert the government to it, and they’ll have questions. I don’t know if you want to answer any of those.”

“Right. Probably not. I’m sure the police are doing their own investigation, but they haven’t kept us updated. I think we’re better off on our own.” He takes the medal out of his pocket, flipping it over again. “Do you think it means anything that Avigdor’s name is first? That woman in Bearwood described him as more of a ringleader. Maybe they got into something bad together.”

“Had to be pretty bad to get Avigdor killed,” Penina says darkly.

Gabe looks at her askance. “You think that’s what happened?”

“I don’t know. It’s a theory.” Penina looks sheepish. “I used to dream of being a girl detective when I was a kid, running around and solving crimes. But now, I think I’m better off at a computer.”

“You’re pretty good at the detective stuff, too.” It’s so natural to speak to Penina, so comfortable. Until now, they’ve really stuck with Abba and kept it all business. But tonight, Gabe can speak to her easily, can ask questions and talk about their personal lives. And he’s beginning to remember that surge of energy after they’d go out, that happy certainty that he was where he belonged.

He’d been so stupid to run away the way that he did.

They walk and talk for a while, a little longer than an ordinary first date, and restaurants are beginning to close. The streets are quieter, the sidewalks sparser, and a stillness settles over the area as Gabe turns back toward the car.

Or where he’d thought he’d parked the car.

“It’s one street over,” Penina says, squinting through dim streetlamps at the back of a parking lot. “I think there’s actually a shortcut over there. See?” She gestures, and Gabe catches sight of a narrow alleyway, cutting from the parking lot to the main street.

“Great.” He wouldn’t have minded a longer walk, but it’s getting late, and he knows that Penina still needs to go get Daniel. “Lead the way.”

There’s still that prickling sense of being watched here, in this quiet parking lot. There’s a complex of apartment buildings across the street, so the lot is full, but there are only a few cars idling. Gabe glances back at them from the alleyway toward the main street, his eyes falling on a dark sedan that is still running with its headlights off.

There are a thousand other cars like it in Lenape Falls. There’s no reason to believe that it’s….

He turns away, walking swiftly through the alleyway. A flash of movement behind him, a figure in the shadows, and Gabe spins around—

BAM. BAM. BAM. Penina cries out. Gabe jolts in shock and horror.

Because suddenly, someone is shooting at them.

To be continued… 

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 926)