Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel by Phyllis Zimbler Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

and
went to church with my parents,” Jim says. “We had a visit from
another church, and Kim was singing in the visiting choir. At the
church social afterwards I asked her out right away."
    "You didn't waste any time, did you?" Robert
says.
    Kim glances at her hands, then smiles. "We
dated steadily from then on. As soon as I finished high school, we
got married."
    Jim puts his arm around Kim. "I wanted her at
college with me. I didn't want to wait until I finished."
    Sharon smiles back. "Robert and I met at a
..." – Robert's eyes signal her – "... college event. We disagreed
with each other."
    "And that's what attracted me to her," Robert
says.
    Sharon turns to Kim. "Robert and I went to a
grocery store on Dixie Highway. I couldn't believe how few kinds of
meat there were. I was trying to find lamb or even beef. I couldn't
even find any brisket."
    "What's brisket?"
    "You've never heard of brisket?"
    Kim shakes her head.
    "It's a beef cut, sort of like shoulder
roast, that you cook for a long time with potatoes."
    "It's a popular Jewish dish," Robert
adds.
    "You're Jewish?" Jim asks.
    As Robert nods his head, Sharon watches Kim
look around the small living room, then her eyes return to her
hands. "We've never been to the home of any Jews before," Kim says.
"We didn't really know any back home."
    Sharon’s hands prickle. Are they staring at
her and Robert to check for horns, the erroneous and pervasive myth
dating back to Michelangelo? When Michelangelo carved his famous
statue of Moses, he relied on the Vulgate Latin Bible
mistranslation of the Hebrew word that could mean "ray of light" or
"horn." Michelangelo erred by portraying Moses with horns
protruding from his forehead rather than his face aglow with rays
of light – the actual Hebrew Bible description. Michelangelo’s
mistaken portrayal of Moses with horns started the myth about Jews,
causing ignorant people even today to sometimes ask Jews "Do you
have horns?"
    "There aren't any Jews in your town?" Robert
asks.
    "There may be, we just don't know any," Jim
says. "I'm sure if we did, we'd like them."
    Sharon sits immobilized, experiencing deja vu
from her freshman lit course. A similar sentiment was said to her
by a student of Lebanese descent from Detroit: "Now that I know
you're Jewish I like Jews."
    Robert cuts into the silence. "Listen, Sharon
and Kim, I had an idea today when I realized how close we live to
each other. I already discussed it with Jim. Suppose we carpooled?
That way, Jim and I would drive together each day and you two would
have a car. What do you think?"
    Oh no! Sharon would be sharing a car for the
nine weeks of AOB class with a stranger – a Christian Southerner!
Kim seems nice, but will they have anything in common?
    The alternatives – being without a car all
day or driving back and forth twice a day to drop off and pick up
Robert from the post – are also unappealing. Maybe she can try out
the carpooling arrangement. If it doesn't work, she'll think of
something to get out of it. "Sounds okay to me," she says.
    Kim turns to her husband. "I already told
Robert I thought it was a good idea," Jim tells her. "There's
safety in numbers." Kim nods her head. "Just don't go to the ice
cream parlor. It's in the troop area."
    What ice cream parlor? And why can't they go
there?
    Before Sharon can ask, Robert says, "Let's
start tomorrow. Jim can drive the two of us in the morning. After
lunch Sharon can pick Kim up and the two of you can go to the PX
together."
    Sharon nods her agreement; she isn't going to
disagree with him publicly. Has being on active duty for one day
gone to Robert's head? He's already giving orders, dictating where
she should go.
    Jim says, "Remember Kim and Sharon will have
to make plans the day before since we don't have a phone."
    No phone? Robert gives Sharon a look that
clearly says: Don't ask.
    Robert claps his hands together. "And now
that we've got that settled, do you guys play bridge?"
    Kim and Jim shake their