Nani Haim Tibi

In the Army
1957
    Uncle Rone gave me a big toy gun for my second birthday. The next day he took me with him to the army camp. It was his last day in the army, so he and his friend, Uncle Simon, decided to take me with them to Tel Aviv to celebrate their discharge and my birthday.
    We drove in Uncle Simon's used new car, a secondhand Studebaker. I know because Uncle Simon let me drive it. I sat on his lap and held the wheel all the way from Beer Sheva to Tel Aviv. (I was a good driver. I could drive and eat at the same time. Sometimes I let go of the wheel and the car drives straight without my help.) Uncle Rone bought me for the road a “Choco” drink and “Yoffy-Yoffy” - a delicious fried dough dipped in sugar, and I love it.

    On the way, (which was a long way, because we left when the small hand was on 9 and the big hand was on 12, and we got to Tel Aviv when the small hand was at 11 and the big hand was at 9) we saw the new “Moshavim”, new farm settlements with small white houses and big backyards. They were scattered all along the dry land. I saw the tall sprinklers spraying water, chick, chick, chick, chick, thrrrrr, to wet the land. I saw the farmers planting fruit trees that will give fruit in five years. (I don't know if I could wait so long.)

 "Look!” I said “Ducks!"
 "You look at the road when you drive!" Uncle Rone said smiling.
They were so cute, a mother duck and many baby duckies walking behind her in a long line, all waddling from side to side. (I wish we had ducks. All we had were chickens, but Uncle Robert had ducks, and sometimes, he let me play with them when I went to visit Meme (grandma) Julie.)

    Then we saw the Bedouins. Now, these are interesting people. They live in big tents which they move with them anywhere they go. They fold the tents and load them on their tall camels and go to a new grazing ground for their goats and sheep. You can tell a Bedouin by his clothing. The men wear “Galabia” - a long robe and a “Kaffia” on their head with a black rope around it to hold it down. They call it “Aaggal”. The women wear black dresses covering them from head to toe. I don't know how they see anything through that.

    When we arrived in Tel Aviv, we stopped for “falafel,” fried crushed chickpea balls in a pita with salad. I was a good boy and ate the whole half pita. From there we went to the army camp.

    At the camp I saw the big army trucks, a cannon, and a very big tank.
"They're only for display" explained Uncle Rone. "This is not a fighting camp. We come here to register or to be dismissed."
We entered a big room where I saw many solders waiting in lines, very long lines.

 "Uncle Rone," I said in French.
 "What?"
 "When are we going home?"
 "Soon, after those three people, then it'll be our turn and we can go."
 "But I have to go to the bathroom."
 "You're a big boy now. You can go by yourself. It's right at the end of the hall."
 "O.K."

    I went, like a big boy, by myself. But when I entered the bathroom, I didn't know what to do. The toilet seat was not there. Instead, there was an odd - looking porcelain plate with a hole in the back and two raised ovals, one on each side. It was all dirty and scary. I couldn't go there, and I just remembered that I didn't exactly know how to wipe. It was always Mom who helped me with that.  I returned to my uncle and said in French, "I can't go there. It's dirty, and I'm afraid I'll fall in the hole."

    Now Uncle Rone was next in line, and he didn't want to lose the spot, so he said, "Why don't you ask Uncle Simon to go with you? He's done now and he can do it."
Uncle Simon didn't speak French, so I had to tell him in Hebrew. "Uncle Simon," I said. By now my stomach really hurt and I felt that if I didn't hurry, I'd go in my pants. "You have to come with me now to the bathroom to clean it and help me out because I have to go right now. Come on, let's go, please, I can't hold it anymore." I guess I said it loud because I saw everybody turning to look at us.
    Uncle Simon was very embarrassed and said, "Shush, not so loud. Everybody is listening. “Well, if you think that Uncle Simon was embarrassed, you have no idea what being embarrassed really is! I couldn't hold it anymore and I had that terrible accident.
Uncle Simon not only had to clean the bathroom, but he also had to help me get cleaned, and Uncle Rone had to buy me a new pair of underwear.

***

Mom's
    Let me please introduce you to Mom's family.
  First, there is Nono - Grandpa. His name is Victor Haim Krihef, but we all call him Nono. You know, my middle name is after him, my first name is after my other grandfather who died many years ago. Anyway, then there is Meme July - Grandma. Her oldest son is Uncle Albert. He is married to Aunt Dolly, a tall blond, she is even taller than Uncle Albert. They have two children, pretty Yehudit who is two years older than me, and disagreeable Haim who is one year younger than me.

  The next in line is Aunt Marie. She is the one that calls me “Young Boy” all the time. She is married to Uncle Mirro. They always fight and they have two children, three years older than me, Vivi – short for Victor and pretty Ines. Then comes Uncle Robert. I like Uncle Robert. He is tall and handsome, with red hair.
   Uncle Robert is about to join the army. He has a motorcycle and all kind of animals: chickens, pigeons, ducks, a goat, and a big black dog, Jimbo.

  Mom comes next in line. Somehow, she became the sister who takes care of everyone. She helped cleaning the house and cooked for everyone. I am not sure how are they doing without her now – her being my mom and not at Meme's house.
  Uncle David is one year younger than Mom. He is her favorite brother. In fact, I think he is everyone’s favorite. Now he is just finishing high school at the agricultural school in “Bait Shemesh”. He is a shepherd, and he plays the recorder just like King David.
  Beautiful Aunt Rachael comes after Uncle David, she is always in a good mood. She likes to dance and sing. I remember her dancing with Dad, and we were having a lot of fun watching them.

  The last one is Uncle Morris, or Uncle Moshe. That's what he wants to be called. He's got lots of nice things, but I'm not allowed to touch them. Nobody is allowed to touch his things.

***

Avi
1957
   Meme Milli, Grandma on Dad's side, and Tata Beya, Meme’s older sister, took me to the hospital. No, I was not sick. Mom was there to bring the new baby. It was hot and dry, and the wind was blowing strong. (I didn't like the wind. It picks up the light sand and swirls it around like a small tornado. Sometimes I saw it coming toward me, and I was afraid that it will pick me up, too.) The last night I didn't sleep well. The doctor said that I shouldn't live in Be’er-Sheva because of the dust and the dry weather.
"He is allergic to dust," the doctor said," you should move up north, near the sea."
Dad was in Netanya learning a new job polishing diamonds so we could move there soon. Meme Milli said that he will come this afternoon. Both Meme Milli and Tata Beya spoke only Arabic; they had lived in Israel only six years. Their Hebrew was very poor, so I had to speak Arabic with them, but mostly listen.

    The hospital was a long, one floor high, wooden building with a green waiting bench placed in front of it where we were all sitting.
"Look who's coming," Tata Beya said. "It's Meme Julie. "Meme, Meme," I jumped off the bench and ran toward her.
"Don't run," she said in French. "You might fall and hurt yourself."
I stopped running and walked saying, in French,
"Mom is getting me a baby. Mom is getting me a baby."
"Yes, I know," she answered. "What do you think it will be, a boy or a girl?"
"I don't know," I said when the door in front of us opened, and the nurse came out announcing,
"It's a boy. Come dear, your mom wants to see you."
Mom was in bed holding my new brother. He was light skinned like Mom, not dark like dad and me.
"You see," she said to the doctor. "This is my first boy. He looks like his father, and this one looks like me. Come Nanou, kiss your new brother."
    He was so cute, a chubby little baby. He didn't even cry, and his cheeks were puffy and round. I have a new brother! They named him Beber after an uncle who died long ago, and his middle name is Avraham in Hebrew or Avi in short.
***

"White Bottom"
    Despite the unfortunate incident at the army camp, Uncle Rone, Dad's younger brother, always liked taking me places.
    "You're the only one that is fun to be with," he used to say. I had other cousins on my father's side, you see. Most of them were older than me. Aunt Rosette had three kids, Yvette, Avraham, and Judah. Aunt Fortune had two kids, Haim and Moshe, and one on the way. She was eating a lot to make another one. It really looked that way. She was very big like Mom when she was eating a lot to bring Avi. My cousins spoke Hebrew and very little Arabic. I was the only one who could speak all three languages well.
"You're so smart!" Everyone used to say. I know that, they don't have to rub it in all the time.
    Anyway, Uncle Rone took me to the beach in Ashkelon. Dad was in the navy for his military service, and he told me a lot about the sea. He loved the sea, and so did Uncle Rone. I will love the sea, too, I promised myself. You know what? I did love it, and I still do, even after what happened to me that first time.
    It was a long way to the sea, from Be’er-Sheva to Ashkelon. Be’er-Sheva doesn't have a coast, the town is in the north side of the desert. The seacoast was beautiful. I'd never seen anything like it before. There was the sand, the white sand that spread for miles like a huge sand box that lasted for ever. Then there was the water, so much water you couldn't see the end of it. Or maybe it was the end of it when you looked at the edge of the horizon.

"Is there a waterfall at the end there?" I asked. "Can we go see it? I've never seen a waterfall."
"No," Uncle Rone said, "It's the horizon.” (That's when I heard the word horizon.) “The world is round, and that's how far we can see. O.K. now take your shirt off. We are going to play in the water." And so, we did. We built a sandcastle right where the water touched the sand. Uncle Rone showed me how to decorate the castle with mud drops, and he helped me make a moat around the castle. Uncle Rone is a very good swimmer. He took me in his arms and laid me on top of the water and showed me how to swim. Occasionally he took his arms off, and sometimes I would sink and swallow water. It didn't taste good, and I coughed a little, but I didn't cry, I'm a big boy now, I have a little brother, he cries.

    The sun was hot and strong, I loved it. The water was warm, and I wanted to stay there forever.

    This was the first time that I was exposed to the sun for such a long time. We both had so much fun that we didn't realize what was happening. I was getting red, very red, too red. By the time I got home my skin was bubbling and it hurt to touch. Mom put lots of creams, yogurt, and water on me. I couldn't wear a shirt. For two days I had a very hard time sleeping. I don't know how I did it. It was very difficult lying down.
After three days, when all the pain was gone, I realized that I looked differently. I was brown. I looked like chocolate all over my body, my face, my back, my belly, my legs, even my feet. Butt, wait a minute, "Look at your tushy," Dad said to me in the shower,
"It's white!" From that day on I acquired a new name, "White Butt," or as they called it in Arabic “Treima Baida.”

***

 

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