Intentions by Deborah Heiligman Read Free Book Online

expensive. But I decide to woo her instead of getting mad.
    “What, the people-watching wasn’t any good?” I say. “Girl in the corner, purple shirt.”
    She looks at me, smiles. Our old game.
    “Thirty seconds, go!” I say.
    She studies the girl, turns back to me, grins. “Eighth grade. Cheerleading reject, joined Pep Squad instead. Will be a pom-pom girl in high school.”
    “Excellent,” I say.
    “OK. Yours,” Alexis says. “Boy in checked shirt two tables over. Thirty seconds, go!”
    He looks a lot like Kenny, the genius in my math class, but a few years older. I got this. “OK, this guy is … a freshman at the college. Lives at home, saving money to get out as soon as possible. Chemistry major. Parents want him to be a research scientist. He wants to be a—hmmm—psychologist. Never been laid.” I look at him more closely; he is built . “Plays tennis.”
    Alexis looks him over. “Good one! I wouldn’t have guessed psychologist, but I think you’re right! Name?”
    Hmmm. He’s Asian, but born here, I’m sure. “Daniel—no, Brandon. No. Branden with an e .”
    “Yes!”
    “And what’s your girl’s name?”
    Alexis looks long and hard. “Could be Jenna, or Madison. No. I’ve got it!” she says, the old Alexis smile lighting up her face. “Tiffany. Definitely Tiffany.”
    “Definitely!”
    And then we both say, at exactly the same time, “Tiffany Dawn!”
    We smile at each other. Maybe even beam.
    Alexis.
    She takes a gulp of her latte; I sip my tea.
    “Thanks so much for coming,” I say.
    “So what’s up?” she says with a small yawn.
    “Rough night?” I say, smiling. “I had a rough morning. Too much cake!”
    She shrugs. Uh-oh. I’m losing her. Is she pissed off I got stoned with her and Adam? Does she want him all to herself?
    “I don’t like Adam, you know,” I tell her.
    “What?” she says. “Oh, neither do I. I’m still hung up on my boyfriend in California.” She runs her fingers through her short hair. I’m getting used to it. I think. But how weird is it that I don’t even know her boyfriend’s name?
    “Alexis, tell me his name, for God’s sake! What is it?”
    “Mitch.”
    I nod.
    “I nicknamed him Mustache, because he grew one for a couple of days, but it looked dorky so he shaved it. I still call him that just to annoy him.”
    “Funny,” I say, not with a lot of conviction.
    “Look,” she says, “I think Branden with an e is checking out Tiffany Dawn!”
    We both look at him.
    “Go for it, Branden,” I say loudly. He turns and looks at me. Do I know you? his look says.
    “Oh my God!” Alexis says. “Brilliant! You are so brilliant!” and we break into peals of laughter.
    Branden looks at us, wondering, then goes back to his work. It’s a first. Neither of us has ever guessed a name right—that we know, of course.
    Alexis is smiling at me as she sips her coffee.
    “So listen,” I say, grabbing the moment. “I, uh, have to tell you something.”
    She straightens her back, narrows her eyes, looks away from me. Her guard is up. Why?
    I whisper across the table, “It’s about … the rabbi, the other night. In the sanctuary. I heard noises.”
    “When, last night?”
    I shake my head. “Last week, before confirmation class.”
    She looks at me blankly. I don’t want to say the words I have to say to get it across to her. But what’s the big deal? Why do I care so much? So I just say it. “I heard the rabbi, with a woman, you know, in the sanctuary. Doing it. I think.”
    Alexis smirks.
    “I’m not kidding,” I say. “I’m not making a joke.”
    “So you heard the rabbi fucking someone?”
    I nod my head vigorously. “On the BIMA !” I say. “Can you believe it?”
    “Big whoop,” she says, fiddles with a sugar packet. Yawns again. But I know I see a look in her eyes: shock, disappointment.
    “It wasn’t his wife,” I say. “It was the rabbi . Rabbi Cohn. With some—some girl. A bride, I think.”
    “So?” She