The People in Rossford

“So are we still on for tonight?”

“We’re still on,” Will said. “But I have to be back home early to get dressed.”

“For?” Layla said.

He looked at her awkwardly.

“The Sleekot Service?”

“The who?”

“Spelled S-E-L-I-C-H-O-T, pronounced Sleekot. It’s a Jewish thing.”

“When did you turn Jewish?”

“I was always Jewish,” Will said. “I mean, my mom is Jewish, so that makes me Jewish.”

“Is that how it works?” Layla sat back in her seat. “Sort of like being Black.”

“I guess. Only this year mom is making me go to Temple with her.”

“Will, you never told me about that.”

“I don’t really think about it. But her family’s in town, and my grandmother’s hooked up to an oxygen tank and everything, so she’s trying to get right with God.”

“I wish I knew more about other peoples’ religions,” Layla said.

“So this Selichot thing, it’s at night?”

“The first one is after midnight, but it’s everyday up until Rosh Hoshanah, and then after Rosh Hoshanah, it’s up until Yom Kippur. You really don’t want to hear all about it.”

“I really do,” Layla said.

Will frowned.

“No, come on, you have to tell me.”

“I can’t talk about being Jewish and drive at the same time. It’s too much.”

“Well, here’s a red light. Explain.”

Will sighed again and then said, “First off, if your mom is a Jew then you’re a Jew, so you might not know anything about Judaism. And that’s pretty much me. But this month is called Elul, and it’s like Lent. You repent and you repent, and then on the last few days of it you say Selichot, and that’s like, extra repentance, and that goes on until the first day of… Tishrei—which is Rosh Hoshanah. The New Year. We’re Orthodox, so we have Rosh Hoshanah for two days, and then a few days later you have the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. And you fast.”

“Like on Ash Wednesday?”

“No, Ash Wednesday is bullshit. This is a real fast. Sundown to sunup. No eating, no drinking. No drinking anything. Just praying all day.”

“And you do this every year?”

“Well, I’ve never done it. Mom does it every year though. It’s like the only time she’s Jewish. She’s all hungry the night before, because Jewish days start at night. Then, in the morning, she gets up and goes to Temple, or synagogue.” He shrugged. “I really don’t know the difference. She comes back all peaceful and happy. But this year I have to do it, because she asked me to. And she doesn’t really ask a lot.”

“So like, you didn’t get your bar mitzvah or anything?”

“No, I got confirmed. You were there. We were all there. Heck, Mom was there.”

Layla considered this as the light turned green.

“And she was okay with that?”

“Yeah. She thought, it’s all God. But, I think she’s getting more Jewish, and now she really wants me to go with her, So I will. Dad can’t say anything against it. He’s had his own way with all of us, and he doesn’t even go to church that much anymore. Used to do it all the time, but now I think he’s sort of… disaffected. I think he wants me to get some religion, and he doesn’t really like his anymore.”

“Could I go?” Layla said quickly.

Will snatched his eyes from the road long enough to look at her.

“You want to go to a Selichot service at an Orthodox synagogue?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re crazy.”

“Yes, maybe. But if it’s part of your life it should be part of mine too?”

“What? And then we can have a Jewish wedding and crush a cup and everything?”

“Will, let’s get past tonight before we get to the wedding.”

Fenn and Todd stood up when Adele and Simon came into the living room.

“Listen to the two of you,” Fenn said, “just laughing and kissing and carrying on.”

Simon planted a kiss on Adele and said, “We like to carry on. Old folks can do that too.”

“Speak for yourself,” Adele told him. “I’m still a little girl.

“Speaking of little girls, where’s mine?”

“She and Will came in long enough for it to matter that we were pretending to be babysitters,” Todd said. “And then she went upstairs while Will sat with us, put on something real nice, came downstairs, and the two of them left together.”

“You mean just now?”

“About twenty minutes ago?” Todd looked to Fenn for confirmation. He nodded.

“Are you nuts!”

“They weren’t doing anything bad,” Fenn said. “They were going to synagogue.”

“Synagogue! She told you she was going to a synagogue at midnight and you believed her. Who goes to… church or anything at midnight?”

“Jews,” Simon Davis told her. “For Selichot at this time of year.”

She looked at him.

“I used to live across the street from this huge synagogue, and everyone would come at around midnight to pray, and I m guessing it’s around that time of year.”

“See,” said Fenn.

“If you broadened your horizons,” Todd chimed in, “you’d know that.”

Adele frowned and said, “But Will’s not Jewish.”

“But he is,” Simon Davis said. “I met his mother the other day and she told me.”

“See,” Fenn told his sisters, “if you broadened your horizons, you’d know that too.”

The doorbell rang,and when Paul answered it his sister was standing there with a dark haired Indian girl.

“You look like a slut!” he exclaimed.

“Thank you,” Claire said. “Now do you want to come to a party?”

Noah, who was on the sofa flipping through a magazine, put it down and said, “Party?”

“In Rylan Hall,” Radha filled in, pulling her skimpy top closer to her navel.

“Oh, I can’t go to that,” Paul waved the idea away.

“Why not?” Claire said as she entered the apartment. “You are a student now. And besides, I’m sure this party will be lame compared to some of the things you’ve been to.”

“That’s for sure,” Noah snorted, and then at the look on Paul’s face, shut up.

“Well, we came all this way,” Radha said. “One of you better come. And I’ll just let you know, Claire doesn’t really want to go.”

“Then why does she look like that?” Paul said.

“Look like what?” Claire demanded, defensively.

“A floosy,” Noah said simply. She glared at him.

“I don’t think you look like a floosy,” Noah said. “I’m just saying that’s what Paul thinks.”

“You’re my baby sister, how can you run around…. All naked like that?”

“I don’t even know how to spell floosy,” Noah continued.

“Well, I’ve got a gingham dress and a bonnet,” Claire said. “I guess I could change into that instead.”

“You know what?” Radha said, pointing to Noah. “You’re coming to the party.”

“Cool,” Noah shrugged and stood up. “Do I need a jacket?”

Radha shook her head and said, “You’d just lose it anyway.”

Just then, Kirk entered the apartment and, fiddling with his lapels said, “Hey, guys! What’s going on here?”

“We’re going to a party,” Claire said.

“We?”

“We,” Paul told him, “are staying in.”

“I’m going to the party,” Noah said. “So you all can shag ass loud as you want.”

Kirk choked and Paul said, “Thank you, Noah.”

“You can be my date,” Radha told him. “You’ll make everyone jealous.”

“You mean he’ll make Roddy jealous,” Claire said.

“Who’s Roddy?”

As they left the apartment, Radha said, “A bastard. Formerly known as Boyfriend.”

“You guys got a rocking campus,” Noah said as they entered Rylan Hall. “If I’d known schools looked like this, I would have fuckin’ went.”

“You know,” Radha said, “they were thinking about making a commercial for Loretto. That could be the motto.”

“Okay, so Julian’s waiting in your room?” Claire said.

“Julian’s waiting in your room, with Layla and Dena and those boyfriends of theirs.”

Noah leaned in and whispered, “They’re in high school!”

“Yes,” Radha said, looking at him, “we know. But tonight they’re at Loretto.”

When they arrived at Claire’s room, Julian came out with Jesse.

“What are you doing here?” Radha demanded.

“I got a favor for you?” Jesse and Julian dragged them away from the door.

“Hello?” Jesse said to Noah in a tone that implied he didn’t know and hadn’t expected him.

“I’m Noah Riley.”

“He’s my date,” Radha said.

“Date?” Jesse mouthed.

“What?” Radha frowned at him.

“It’s just…. I brought Chad?”

“Okay?”

“He… I thought he could be your date.”

“Clearly not,” Radha said.

“It’s just… if you were his date… See, he’s concerned everyone thinks he’s gay.”

“Isn’t he?” Radha and Claire said together.

“No!” Jesse sounded shocked, but Julian, behind him, only gave an eloquent shrug.

“So I was supposed to be his beard for the night?” Radha said.

“Which is ironic,” Noah grinned, “because I’m you’re beard for the night.”

“That’s right,” Radha said, clutching Noah’s arm. “Why should the gay guys get the beards all the time? No one would ever believe I was with Chad. He’s kind of a drip,” she whispered. “No, tonight, I’m with Noah.”

“And the sex,” Noah growled into her ear, “is great.”

“You bet your ass it is,” Radha said.

Jesse looked visibly disappointed, and then Claire said, “Never mind. I’ve got an idea that will take care of everything.”

Julian looked at her.

“Just trust me,” she said.

“What’s going on?” Layla finally came out of the room. “What are we missing?”

“You look hot,” Noah said.

“Yeah,” she agreed.

Dena came out with Milo, who said, “Are we getting this show on the road?”

“Where’s Bren?”

“Down at Saint Anne’s,” Dena said casually, “banging his boyfriend.”

“Well, then,” Claire said. “I guess we can get this show on the road.”

And you ain't nothin' but a hooker

Sellin' your fuckin' soul

The girls screamed together, and Dena and Layla clinked glasses before doing a shot.

Back up! They want you, I swear

You got no worries, you got no cares

All you got is motherfuckers who will jock you

Yeah, you got money in your pocket

And you shoot up the ground like a rocket

You move so fast, lord you can't stop it

There you are in the club swingin'

And I'm just standin' there, standin' there laughin'

All the things people have you believin'

I feel sorry for your ass is out of season….

“How’s your granddad?” Will said.

“I don’t really know,” Milo told him. “What is this?” He swirled the glass around.

Will ventured: “I think, it’s trying to be sangria.”

Milo raised his eyebrow and said, “Next time it should try a little harder.

“But… I dunno. I guess he’ll be alright. Grandma’s been lighting a lot of candles, though, lately. I never knew how religious she was.

Will nodded.

“Speaking of,” Milo said, “Is it true that Layla’s gone to the synagogue with you every night?”

In the middle of the party, beer in hand, Layla was bellowing:

“YOU AIN’T NOTHIN’ BUT A HOOKER! SELLIN’ YOUR FUCKIN’ SOUL!”

Yeah,” said Will, “As you can tell, she’s a really spiritual girl.”

“Chad!” Claire bellowed. “Chad North!”

Chad, who was standing in the corner, talking to Jesse, was suddenly the center of attention while, in the strobe lights, the red headed new girl crossed the room, and caught his hands.

“Chad!” Claire shouted. “Now!”

“What’s this?” Milo murmured, and with Will, he turned to watch.

“You’re gonna love it,” Layla said, coming behind him.

Claire marched off with Chad and they left the room.

And you ain't nothin' but a hooker

Sellin' your fuckin' soul!

Then, in the space of silence before the next CD was changed, from a closet they heard a scuffling and a crashing, and then, when Ralph Bagley, a large football player was getting up to check it, suddenly Claire wailed out, “Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Ohhhh damn, Chad! Oh, yes, Oh, yeah. That’s it! That’s it! Fuck it! Fuck it real good! GODDDDDAMMN!” she screamed, the closet door banging harder and harder, “Fuck me! Fuck me right now. Don’t ever stop! Your dick is so…HUUUUGE!”

“Now I see where Paul got it from,” Noah murmured. “It must be a family talent.”

“OH—MY—GOD—YOU—ARE—GREATTTTT!”

And then there was a great deal of panting and, a few seconds later, Claire flung open the door and came out of the room, dragging a white faced, tousle haired Chad with her.

She stood in the center of the silent party.

“What’s going on?” she said. “Why won’t someone put on some music?”

Dick Riley, another football player, walked up to Julian and said, “Uh… isn’t that your girlfriend?”

Layla looked at her brother and Julian, shrugging, said, “Yeah. She’s real friendly like that.”