“Bravo,” Nathan approved.
Even as he joked, Shayndel could see he was taking the measure of his class, frowning at the men who quit, smiling at those who kept up. He looked at Shayndel and quickly saluted.
Tedi joined her, panting. “I thought I was fit.”
“He’s just showing off,” Shayndel said. “He was certainly giving you the eye.”
“He’s flirting with everyone,” Tedi said.
But Nathan was, in fact, running his eyes up and down Tedi’s impressive legs. She stuck out her tongue, which only made him lick his lips with such slow, erotic effect that everyone turned to see whom he was teasing.
“Back to work, children,” he ordered, and led them through another twenty minutes of jokes and exercise. When he dismissed his sweating students Nathan made a beeline not for Tedi but for Shayndel.
Short and powerful, he was clearly a fighter, with a broken nose, tobacco-stained teeth, and big, meaty hands. “You’re the one who works with Tirzah in the kitchen?”
“Yes. I’m going back there now.”
“I’ll come with you then. I see that you’re friends with the tall blonde and I hear you’re also close to that pretty little French girl. Oh-la-la. Can you put in a good word for me there? Which isn’t to say that I don’t find you totally adorable, as indeed I do. You’re not married, are you?”
Nathan was older and much rougher than most of the volunteers who appeared and disappeared in Atlit. As they walked, she saw him sizing up buildings and distances like a commando, even as he talked nonstop nonsense until they reached the kitchen. Once inside, he dropped his cheery manner like a jacket and turned his back on her. “It is good to meet you,” he said to Tirzah, and led her to the far corner of the room.
Shayndel tried to eavesdrop on their conversation as she ran back and forth between the dining hall and the kitchen preparing for lunch. She was sure they were plotting something. At one point, she heard them mention her name.
“What about me?” Shayndel demanded. “What is going on?”
“You’ll know when you need to know,” Tirzah snapped.
“Ach,” said Shayndel, and banged the door hard as she went to join her friends.
“What’s going on?” Leonie asked.
“Don’t ask me.” Shayndel sulked as she tore a piece of bread into little pieces.
Just then Francek, a dour Hungarian, sat down across from them. He put his hands down flat on the table and announced, “They’re moving everyone out of G barrack. They put some of the men in D, the rest in F.”
He looked at Shayndel and demanded, “What does this mean?
“They must be bringing in a new group,” she said.
“Hello, children,” Nathan interrupted noisily, as he forced his way between Leonie and Shayndel.
“You, pretty girl of all,” he said to Leonie in mangled French, as he reached his arm around her.
“You are a stupid monkey,” Leonie replied. “You have fur all the way down to your knuckles, and I think that monkeys smell worse than even pigs.” She picked up her plate and walked away.
“What did she say?” he asked Shayndel eagerly. “Does she like me?”
Francek interjected, “What can you tell us about the new group of prisoners?”
“Don’t get too excited,” said Nathan. “Better to think about pretty girls and let the Yishuv take care of things. Your job is to get ready for life in Palestine, to grow strong and to learn Hebrew. And lucky for you, I am not only the best physical education teacher in all of Palestine, but also the best Hebrew teacher. I’ll bet you haven’t learned the most important words in your official classes, have you? Do you know how to say ‘cock’? ‘Titties’? One lesson with me, and you won’t need any review.”
A crowd of men and boys gathered around Nathan as Shayndel picked up the dishes and headed back to the kitchen, where she found Leonie at the sink.
“They are all monkeys,” she said, as Shayndel reached for her apron.
“If only he knew what you said to him.”
“He would have found it charming,” Leonie scoffed. “Believe me, that sort of man hears nothing but the sound of his own voice. I think the men here are all as arrogant as baboons, and proud of it.”