The Golem of Hollywood Read Free Page A

much.”
    â€œThere isn’t much to remember. You were absolutely coherent and then you put your head down and it was lights-out.”
    â€œSounds about right,” he said.
    He slid past her to fetch down a pair of handmade mugs, along with a lidded jar.
    â€œThose’re pretty,” she said.
    â€œThanks. Milk? Sugar?”
    â€œNothing for me, thanks. You go on ahead.”
    He put the jar and one mug back, pouring himself a half cup, sipping it black. “Let’s try this again. I’m Jacob.”
    â€œI know,” she said. The
tallis
slipped a few inches, exposing smooth shoulder, delicate collarbone, a side swell of breast. She didn’t put it back. “You can call me Mai. With an
i
.”
    â€œTop of the morning to you, Mai.”
    â€œLikewise, Jacob Lev.”
    Jacob eyed the prayer shawl. He hadn’t taken it out in years, let alone put it on. At one point in his life, the idea of covering a nude body with it would have smacked of sacrilege. Now it was just a sheet of wool.
    All the same, he found her choice of covering profoundly weird. He kept the
tallis
in the bottom drawer of his bureau, along with his disused
tefillin
and a retired corps of sweaters, acquired in Boston and never shown the light of an L.A. day. If she’d wanted to borrow clothes, she would’ve had to dig through a host of better options first.
    He said, “Remind me how we got here?”
    â€œIn your car.” She pointed to his wallet and keys on the counter. “I drove.”
    â€œWise,” he said. He finished his coffee, poured another half cup. “Are you a cop?”
    â€œMe? No. Why?”
    â€œTwo types of people at 187. Cops and cop groupies.”
    â€œJacob Lev, your manners.” Her eyes brightened: an iridescent brown, shot through with green. “I’m just a nice young lady who came down for some fun.”
    â€œDown from?”
    â€œUp,” she said. “That’s where you come down from.”
    He sat opposite her, careful not to get too close. No telling what this one was about.
    â€œHow’d you get me into the car?” he asked.
    â€œInterestingly, you were able to walk on your own and follow my instructions. It was strange. Like having my own personal robot, or an automaton. Is that how you always are?”
    â€œHow’s that?”
    â€œObedient.”
    â€œNot the word that springs to mind.”
    â€œI thought not. I enjoyed it while it lasted, though. A nice change for me. Actually, I had a selfish motivation. I was stranded. My friend—she
is
a cop groupie—she left with some meathead. In
her
car. So now I’ve spent three hours chatting you up, I’ve got no ride, the place is closing, and I don’t want to give anyone any ideas. Nor do I relish forking over money for a cab.” Her smile brought her into brilliant focus. “Abracadabra, here I am.”
    She’d chatted him up? “Here we are.”
    Long languid fingers stroked the soft white wool of the
tallis
. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I got cold in the middle of the night.”
    â€œYou could’ve put on some clothes,” he said, and then he thought:
moron
, because that was the last thing he wanted her to do.
    She rubbed the braided fringes against her cheek. “It feels old,” she said.
    â€œIt belonged to my grandfather. His grandfather, if you believe family stories.”
    â€œI do,” she said. “Of course I do. What else do we have, besides our stories?”
    She stood up and removed the
tallis
, exposing her body, a masterwork, shining and limber as satin.
    Jacob instinctively averted his eyes. He wished like hell he could remember what had happened—any part of it. It would provide fuel forfantasies for months on end. The ease with which she stripped bare felt somehow less seductive than childlike. She sure enough didn’t appear ashamed to show herself; why