B'nai B'rith Foundation of the United States
1994 Guardian of the Menorah Award Luncheon
honoring
Lucille c2 Harvey Weisberg
Elvira was a practicing
Catholic, and one Sunday she
sneaked me into the cathedral
across from the park.
"You must pray to our Lord,"
she whispered, pointing to the
pale naked statue, with blood-
ied ribs and thorns on his head,
that hung with arms out-
stretched from the front wall,
in the same place where the
Ark would stand in our syna-
gogue.
When I balked at reciting the
Pater Noster she had taught
me, Elvira rebuked me, "You
must pray to our Lord to be for-
given for your ancestors' sins
against him. That way you can
go to Heaven, even if you're not
Catholic."
Choking back tears, I mum-
bled the Pater Noster, not for
myself so much but for Chata,
who Elvira said had been pun-
ished for her sins.
During recess one noon, Ar-
turo again brought up the Jews
and Christ. This time Gunter
was with him, and there was
something in his face I had not
seen there before.
"My mother says all Jews
have tails and horns," Arturo
said, with an accusing look.
"They do not," I said.
ald-hea ded -pi=
"Jew-rs
geons," Gunter said.
I flushed, because this was
true — at least I did, Father did
and Uncle Mair, and Mr. Hale-
vi at the Turkish baths, but not
Senor Gonzales and the others
there that day — their pigeons
weren't bald...
"Ifs none of your business," I
said. My face was hot.
"My mother says Jews are
the devil," Arturo said, and gave
me a shove.
Gunter called the other boys
over and said, "Look at the Jew
who killed Christ." They all
gathered behind him and Ar-
turo and stared at me.
"Leave him alone," called a
thin, furry voice from the back.
"He's not the devil." It was Coco.
"You keep still, dirty
Frenchy," Gunter said.
"Dirty Frenchy, dirty
Frenchy," chorused the other
boys. Someone snatched the
beret from Coco's head and they
all stomped on it, one by one.
"Let's look at his bald-head-
ed pigeon," Gunter said, turn-
ing toward me, without looking
in my eyes.
I was growing frightened
now, but not of Gunter, whom
I suspected to be the instigator
of all this. I feared the mob.
"He killed Christ," Gunter
said, in a rising voice, and the
group behind him grew tighter.
Arturo shoved me again, hard-
er. Torn between fear and
anger, I wanted to punch
Gunter in the face. But Gunter
was a head taller than I, and
out of reach.
I stretched to my full height.
"At least I don't make in my
pants," I said, and looked
Gunter straight in the eye.
He made a grab for my sus-
penders and I swung at his face.
But Arturo held me fast and
then all the other boys fell on
top of me. I kicked and
scratched and defended myself,
but they were too many. When
they had stripped off all my
clothes — except my shoes and
socks — they stepped back to
look at me.
"He lost his tail," Arturo said.
"He has a bald-headed pi-
geon," Gunter said. A giggle
came out of his face that was
unlike any sound I had ever
heard from anyone.
My chest ached from the ef-
fort to hold back tears. Sever-
al boys had drifted away, as if
they wished to distance them-
selves from the two leaders.
Silence, except for the trick-
le of the fountain and the heav-
ing of my chest. Coco came
forward and offered me his
crushed beret so I could cover
myself
More boys moved away and
I saw that the girls had all gath-
ered at the far end of the patio,
behind the fountain — all ex-
cept Grace Samayoa. She sat on
the rim of the fountain, and
stared at me.
"Don't look," I said to Grace
Samayoa, and turned to one
side. But she kept on looking.
Then Grace Samayoa said, "I
hate you," and walked toward
the girls at the far end of the pa-
tio.
I covered myself with Coco's
cap, and I cried. I cried at the
top of my lungs until Miss Hale
came. She cleared everyone
from the patio and told me to
get dressed.
The following year, I was left
back in kindergarten. Miss
Hale and my parents agreed I
was underage for the first
grade. El
From Rites © 1985 by Victor
Perera. Paperback to be published
in October by Mercury House,
San Francisco, CA. Also pub-
lished in Tropical Synagogues:
Short Stories by Jewish-Latin
American Writers, edited by Ilan
Stavans, published by Holmes &
Meier, New York. Reprinted by
permission of Mercury House.
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