6. Oh How They Laughed

The Obsessive Diary · Aug 28, 2025 · 2m

I rang him from a payphone in the arrivals hall. I hadn’t told him I was coming. I saw him weaving through the crowds of families reunited, suitcases, children, the sunshine of Israel glinting through the glass walls. He wore a yellow T-shirt. Sensible trousers. His tendrils of black hair were gone. For the first time I noticed his eyes were a little too close together. He took me by the arm and took me to his mother’s house where I sat at the table not able to understand the rapid conversation, his mother shelling beans and smiling occasionally but not in welcome, there was pity there…