The Devil's Arithmetic Read Free Page A

ready or not.” Signaling the others to follow her, she left the dining room.
    The men stayed at the table talking, but Aunt Eva and Aunt Rose went into the bedroom in a noisy search.Hannah’s mother was almost as loud looking about the kitchen. They spent minutes calling out to each other about how difficult Aaron was to find this year, until Grandpa Will put his fingers to his mouth and let out a piercing whistle that brought them all back.
    Hannah had been waiting at the bathroom door as if on guard. At the whistle, the door opened and Aaron peeked out.
    â€œHannah, I’m in here,” he whispered.
    â€œBig surprise,” Hannah said, slipping into the room.
    â€œLook where I hid the
afikoman
.” He took the blue cloth out of the dirty clothes basket.
    â€œThat’s disgusting, Aaron, hiding it in someone’s laundry.”
    â€œThey never even looked in here, Hannah. I flushed the toilet and pretended to be going, and no one came in.” He grinned.
    â€œYou’re so smart, Ron-ron.” Hannah had to laugh at his earnestness. “What are you going to ask Poppy for?”
    â€œA baseball glove.”
    She knew how much he wanted one. He’d been saving his Chanukah money and doing extra chores.
    â€œGood choice,” she said. “No matter what Poppy offers you to buy back the
afikoman
, you hold out for that glove.” She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, wondering when the braces would come off. This summer, if she was lucky. “I got a Barbie doll dress collection once.” She didn’t admit that she’d regretted it right after. When she turned to say something else, Aaron was already gone.

    The rest of the Passover meal was tempting, but Hannah had eaten so much at Rosemary’s, she only picked at her food. Besides, her head was beginning to throb.
    Uncle Sam poured another quarter glass of wine into her glass, then filled it the rest of the way with water for the next blessing. Suddenly she was sure she didn’t want any more.
    â€œMy head feels funny,” she said to her mother.
    â€œI told you she was too young for wine,” her mother said with a sigh. “Even watered wine.”
    Uncle Sam handed around the large cut-crystal goblet, Elijah’s cup, and everyone poured a little bit of wine from their own glasses into it. When it was Hannah’s turn, she emptied her entire glass.
    â€œElijah can have it all,” she said grandly.
    Grandpa Will smiled down the long table at her. “What a good girl. For being so unselfish,
you
can open the door for the prophet and welcome him in.”
    â€œI wanted to do that,” Aaron called out. “That’s the most fun.”
    â€œHannah will do it, Aaron,” Grandpa Will said, “because she was so generous with her gift.”
    â€œHe can have my whole cup, too,” Aaron said.
    â€œA sacrifice unasked is so much the greater,” Grandpa Will stated flatly. “Come, Hannah.”
    Hannah stood reluctantly. She felt like a fraud. She hadn’t given the wine out of generosity, but only because she didn’t want it. It was no sacrifice.
    â€œRemember, Hannahleh, we open our door to remind ourselves of the time Jews were forced to keep their doors open to show the Christians we were notpracticing blood rituals. Hah!” His last syllable was a noisy punctuation. “As if
we
were the bloody ones . . .”
    Aunt Eva leaned over and laid her hand quietly on his. It was enough to calm him. He smiled at Hannah. “Open the door to Elijah, child, and invite him in with an open heart.”
    Slowly Hannah moved toward the front door, feeling incredibly dumb. She certainly didn’t believe that the prophet Elijah would come through the apartment door any more than she believed Darth Vader, or Robin Hood, or . . . or the Easter Bunny, would. No one believed those superstitions anymore. No one except babies. Like