OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE

“That’s where I’m interested in going now.”

“I hear. The problem is that we haven’t seen on any rosters that you’ve booked a ticket. When do you plan to do that?”

“Soon,” Martin said, glowering into the window on his right side.

“Good. Don’t forget to do it, because by the weekend, your name has to appear on one of the lists of people leaving the country. And remember, no games this time, okay?” Martin was silent.

“Okay?” Kornblit repeated softly.

“Okay!” the youth snapped impatiently.

“I hope you are serious this time. I have no intention of playing cat and mouse with you. All I wanted to tell you, Martin, is that you are a boy after your own heart. It would just be wise for you to direct your energy and ambitions to more serous things, because your time has come to grow up.”

“Is this a free lecture?”

Yaron chuckled. “No, no, just a recommendation. Good luck, and have a safe trip!” And before Martin could react, he had hung up. ***

“Exactly like that.” Dov was pleased, as he examined the straps on Martin’s arm. “You’ve learned quickly, I must say.”

“I watched how you put yours onto me. Do I need to pay for them? From what I understand, tefillin are expensive.” “It’s fine.” Dov glanced over his shoulder. “I bought them for you in memory of my first wife. And the more you will use them, the happier you will make me, even if I don’t know about it.”

Martin lowered his gaze to the straps, and then walked over to the china closet, studying his reflection in the glass door. “So it should be like this, in the center?”

“Our Yosef keeps a small mirror in his tefillin bag, but you should learn to identify the exact place by touch, because in the paperwork they sent, it says that you shouldn’t bring mirrors of any type along with you.”

Martin carefully took off the tefillin. “Let’s hope I manage with it,” he said finally.

“Somehow, I don’t get the impression that the staff there exactly understands the laws of putting on tefillin, but Michoel will help you if you have a hard time.” He grew pensive. “You know, Martin, you’re becoming a frum bachur now.”

“Yes, but like you said, they don’t really know the halachos there.” Martin paused for a moment. “I’m going to try my best. After all, I’ve learned quite a lot about Judaism, both here and in Michoel’s house, and I want to retain all of it.”

“But aside from being frum, you have to remember to play something else.”

“What?”

“Someone who suffers from schizophrenia.”

“Ah, yes,” Martin said. He rubbed his left hand back and forth, similar to what he’d seen Yosef do. “I’m learning a lot about that now, and I also read Yosef’s hospital reports about his symptoms, so that I should know what kind of behavior they're expecting from me there.”

“We have no idea if they're going to try finding out more about him.” Dov sat down. “If they call the hospital, for example, to confirm the authenticity of his documents, and they hear that he is hospitalized there now, that might— how should I put it?—create some problems… That's why my wife recommends that we release Yosef tomorrow from the ward, and we’ll take him on a short vacation to the north. And even if we decide that it’s wise to hospitalize him again, we’ll send him to Bnei Brak instead; those people from South Carolina won’t call them.” He was quiet for a few moments. “I don’t know what your acting abilities are, but we want you to take care of yourself.”

“Yes, for sure.” Martin nodded. “I mean, b’ezras Hashem.”

“Our relative, Weisskopf, will wait for you in Newark. You’re supposed to spend the night in his house, and the next morning, call the number they faxed us, and they’ll give you instructions from there. They didn’t want to give us any information about the location, ostensibly for the sake of Michoel’s mental health.” He grimaced.

“I wonder if they will take me to that center in South Carolina, where there is a center run by a group of strange people who object to mirrors and to a few other things. I told you about them. They are rather well-known.”

“Yes, we looked into it. But that cult is not known by the name of Skulholt.” He glanced at the faxed documents. “And that's the name of the facility where Michoel is at. So it’s possible that it is them, just under a different name, or it can be a different place that uses a similar method. Shimon Weisskopf is an on-the-ball guy. Once you get to his house, the two of you can try to figure out together who these people are, and come up with a way to get both you and Michoel out of there as fast as possible.” TO BE CONTINUED 718.400.9988