Guesthouse for Ganesha Read online

  From there she went north, where she plodded the full length of the cobblestone path that followed the Rhein’s left bank. Her movements were precise, not unlike her stitches. Each step she took landed in the exact center of the unvarying stones. A low, wrought iron fence ran the river’s expanse, providing a demarcation of choice. Her choice. To stay on one side or cross over to the other.

  At the furthermost edge of Rheinpark, the area defined by its thick row of uniform trees, Esther would stop, squeeze her eyes tight, inhale deeply—and consider. A few minutes might pass or just a handful of seconds. Inevitably the mantra “He cannot prevail, he will not prevail” would resound in her thoughts. With a toss of her head, she would then turn around to retrace the course. Some nights she traversed this route twice, sometimes more. She moved steadily. Eyes most often directed downward with fixed attention on the patterned cobblestone. Esther never cared to look around to explore, for there was nothing of significance to see.

  At the close of the day after darkness reigned, her evening unfolded exactly like the one before and the one that would follow.

  Until—

  —the fourth of December, a bitter Friday twilight with the promise of snow four months after Esther’s arrival in this city. It began like the others: Esther treading, once again, the familiar course that bordered the Rhein. However, tonight her pace was limp. As she walked, she stretched, one arm extending long and high above her and then the other. She rounded her shoulders up and down and back and forth and rolled her head from side to side until her neck cracked. She pulled on each finger to extend the ligaments, and when she reached the last digit, she returned to the first. The weariness of her heart had been compounded by what had been a tedious day creating ten flawless buttonholes on each of two dozen long-sleeved white shirts for the members of a youth band. She was lost in thought, eyes focused on her feet and the cobblestones, as she reviewed the deft movements she had taken to ensure every stitch’s identical length, when—

  Esther stopped abruptly.

  —she glanced up to take care she didn’t overstep the sharp curve in the path and saw, juxtaposed against Köln’s muddy landscape, streaks of luminous color burst through the trees barely fifty meters away. Like a beacon.

  “U va! Vos iz dos? What in the world is this?” Esther said out loud, startled. Quickly she looked around to see if anyone had heard her or saw what she saw. She was alone. Focused again on the phenomenon before her, she thought: I’ve not seen this before here, or anything like it—anywhere!

  Just ahead, in the grassy area near the north edge of Rheinpark, stood a small, poorly constructed wooden stand. Its only defense against the open sky was a square canopy of fabric—a cacophony of vibrant, garish colors—supported by four thick poles at each corner. Tiny mirrors and tinted glass were stitched throughout the material, along with fringe, sequins, ribbons, tassels, and beads.

  Utterly incongruous in the surrounding dim setting, this was a vision from a dream gone awry—a sight she could never have possibly conceived. Intoxicating smells—pungent, sweet, musty, sharp, woody, comforting—wafted from within the stand. Esther inhaled deeply. Such a bouquet impelled further exploration.

  She moved closer to peer inside and saw that the interior of the stand’s makeshift plywood walls was covered in a motley array of printed pictures of people—or were they people? Strange characters! Perhaps these are images from a theatrical production taking place somewhere in the city? Esther mused. Or maybe a circus? Certainly nothing like this had ever come through Przeworsk.

  Most of the images were of scantily dressed figures in brightly colored sheer fabrics. Some had far too many hands and arms, one had too many heads, and one face possessed three eyes. There was a picture of a woman who was completely blue and an image that seemed more monkey than man. Larger than the others was a rotund man with the head of an elephant.

  Both women and men were heavily made up, with most covered in strange elaborate jewelry. Many wore outrageous headdresses. Whether seated on one large, stuffed cushion or on an ornamented throne or standing in front of a glowing orange background, all were encircled by a variety of objects, some recognizable, others not—books, shells, musical instruments, candles, bowls, crescent moon, pillows, swords, snakes, fruit, flowers—too extensive and too confusing to register on first look.

  Esther’s eyes widened, and she began to feel lightheaded. The lone man in the back of the booth smiled at her, exposing a stained, cracked front tooth. Thin, dark-skinned with thick black hair and a deeply angular face, he also looked like no one she had seen before.

  In imprecise German with a peculiar accent, he asked, “Würde Sie, einen Samosa mögen? Would you a samosa like?”

  Intrigued, though not knowing what he offered, she nodded, and he began to fry a small, doughy turnover. The strong smells that had originally lured her inside now overpowered the modest space.

  As Esther waited, she once again scanned the gallery of images that filled these crude walls. Truly an archive of the bizarre, they were at once compelling and absurd. Her eyes came to rest on the elephant-headed man. He, alone, captivated her. Esther felt, in the oddest of ways, he was calling out, seeking her notice—demanding attention.

  This man’s—

  Is it even a man? Esther wondered.

  —large animal head and ears, wide mouth, four arms, broken left tusk, and huge protruding belly bordered on the comical. His body, seated with one leg folded inward and the second resting on the ground, was loosely draped in sheer yellow and red fabrics. He held a highly wrought axe in his upper right hand and some type of flower in his upper left. Another hand held a thick rope, while the fourth was outstretched, its palm facing toward her.

  Esther inched closer and squinted. She observed that a mark, similar to a single cross-stitch but turned upright with short lines like flags on each end, was carved on his palm. A mouse staring at a tray that overflowed with what she thought were cookies sat near his left foot. The scene was outlandish but alluring nonetheless.

  Esther took a step backward to grasp this image full on and stared steadily into the elephant-headed man’s eyes. It was only a picture, this she understood; nevertheless, she was struck by a gentleness and profound compassion. She descended into his eyes. Consciousness of time and space evanesced. A forgotten sense of warm, soothing calm wholly embraced her. All feelings of suffering and loss dissipated.

  And … I … looked deeply back into her eyes …

  In that penetrating gaze … I learned what had passed … and saw what was to come. Her life’s path could not be evaded … but I knew from this point onward we would travel together.

  The man handed her the warm pastry, transporting Esther back to the stand. She began to nibble the savory treat filled with new tastes and impressions—she recognized potato and perhaps a pea—when an abrupt shudder coursed through her body, as though a hidden switch had been flipped on at the core of her being. Her eyes began to water, and she let out a quick breath.

  No doubt, she thought, from the heat of these unusual spices.

  It was too soon.

  She would not … no … could not understand …

  I watched her walk away … and toward her future.

  Back in her room at the youth hostel, Esther could not oust the image of the elephant-headed man from her mind, nor could she escape the feeling he had invoked within her.

  She paced back and forth between the bed and the chair. Three equal steps in either direction. She twisted her hair around her index finger and chewed on the inside of her right cheek. Normally after these evening walks to the riverfront, she would simply go to bed, exhausted from the day’s work. But this night sleep would not come. When she attempted to lie down or just sit, her legs would tremble as though they had somewhere to be.

  Oy, gevalt—Good grief, Esther thought. This is crazy—Meshuge! If I can’t sleep, I’ll work. That’s what I’ll do. There is much to get done, and I’m certain sewing will set me right
. It always does.

  So though the light in the room was poor, she began the next day’s assignments and gathered needles, threads, and fabrics. Esther first lined up the necessary materials as she did each morning: measuring tape, shears, pins, seam ripper, and thimble. She matched the cloth with the proper thread, in thickness and color. Threading a blue strand in her milliner’s needle, Esther began to baste a pleated skirt. But the gathers kept bunching, so she put that project aside and turned to another. Then another. And then one more.

  Surprisingly, needle and thread were not able to bring composure. This had never occurred before. But all was not the same, something had shifted—of this Esther was sure. Yet she was not capable of putting into words what that difference implied or what exactly had changed.

  For the first time since Esther had moved to Köln, she felt the need for someone—most especially one of her sisters—to talk to, to share what had happened. To help her understand.

  “Am I going mad?” she asked out loud.

  Questions overflowed—

  Why do I feel so strange? It’s like my head and body are no longer connected! What was that place? Those pictures? Did the stand even exist? Was my imagination playing tricks on me? I was overstrained from the day’s work, after all. Perhaps it was some type of dreaming while being awake?

  All the while knowing she had had no dreams since leaving Przeworsk.

  It’s so very late now, really the middle of the night. Perhaps that’s why I can’t concentrate on any of my assignments, she ruminated. For even the most straightforward task, re-seaming a pair of men’s trousers and adding cuffs, seemed beyond her abilities. She kept making mistakes. Repeatedly she pulled the stitches out and began the process anew. Her slender, normally dexterous hands would not stop shaking; her fingers refused to cooperate.

  “Nit vider—Not again!” Esther cried out after the fifth time she pricked herself. “A chorbn—Disaster!”

  What is wrong with me? she wondered. This is crazy. Silly, silly me!

  After two and a half hours passed without progress, Esther put down her needles and thread. “Enough!”

  I must go back. I don’t know why, this makes no sense at all. I must revisit that place. Perhaps I need to return for no other reason than to assure myself that the stand and the experience were, without a doubt, real.

  For a second time that evening, she put on coat, hat, gloves, shoes, and scarf and, at a swift pace, retraced the nearly three kilometers to the site of the stand. In the middle of the night, the riverfront was devoid of people, serene. Until Esther was close to a hundred meters from the location she sought. From this distance she heard cries—screams—that became increasingly pronounced with each step forward.

  Moving as stealthily as possible, Esther ran to the edge of the nearby park and hid behind a tree.

  “Helfen Sie mir! Help me! Help me!” A male voice shouted, “Bitte! Please, please help me!”

  Esther’s body stiffened. Like stone. She could only watch as two Polizisten ferociously beat and kicked and pounded the same man who had so kindly offered her the doughy treat a few hours earlier. These supposed officers of the law shouted epithets at him:

  “Dreckiger Ausländer! Mistkerl! Arschloch!”

  “Geh’ zurück in deinen Dschungel! Go back to your jungle!”

  And they laughed and joked.

  Each goaded the other on. Esther had never witnessed such violence. While able to acknowledge the horror of what was taking place, she willed herself not to physically react. Honing stoicism served her well here, allowing her to smother compassion and the desire to shout out, to let the man know he was not alone. For to reveal herself would only bring peril to her, and likely, even worse to him. So Esther shut her eyes tightly and tuned out all sounds. Her mind traveled back to the evening’s earlier encounter and the sensations it invoked. This is the place she would like to remain.

  As the man lay on the ground, writhing and bleeding, one of the officers poured gasoline, lit a torch, and set the stand ablaze—intensifying its color and vibrancy for a few moments until it, too, became black and gray and ash like the environment. Like all of Köln. Like Esther herself.

  Charred bits of fabric and pictures flew in the wind.

  All too soon, not a remnant remained—only a vision, a taste, and an enduring longing.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I followed her.

  Not with footsteps or binoculars … camera or recorder … but with consciousness … proffering a depth of understanding known by too few.

  It was a surveillance of souls.

  She as yet could not acknowledge I was with her … but knew on the deepest level within that I shared her path. Draped in a bitter aloneness … defiant of memory and emotions … at times … of course … she would falter. And … every now and again … she would feel my soothing presence … when his face emerged in a crowd … when anguish rose … when her hand trembled …

  We developed a rhythm … an arrangement of notes and scales … actions and thoughts … that united our distinct dispositions and … seemingly … disparate desires.

  I remained at a respectful distance. Always … watching … observing …

  Without reproach or judgment … as I knew her story and her destiny and accepted her choices … but was pleased when she sensed my murmurs extending help and guidance … and compassion …

  I knew her mind and her every thought and continually applauded her fortitude born of that mortally inflicted wound … abandonment.

  But there were no tears … never any tears …

  Just an ever more indurate heart that stiffened her jaw … forming a chronic grimace on her lips.

  Esther endeavored to get by. She subsisted on a meager diet—mostly bread, cheese, and beans—and wore the same three dresses in rotation, always neat and clean and stitched to perfection but without trimming or frill. Her one pair of shoes, sturdy and brown, would carry her far; her russet coat, hat, and gloves were certain to make it through quite a few winters, for the weather in this city was mild.

  She worked tirelessly to build up her tailoring business. Early success with those few tailors had encouraged her, yet the need to secure work remained an ongoing challenge. There was much competition in a city as large as Köln, even for a skilled and gifted seamstress. Relentlessness was central to Esther’s character, and she honed her shrewdness.

  In addition to contacting tailoring businesses and dress shops, she used a portion of the small reserve of money she brought from Przeworsk to print leaflets. These Esther distributed in the neighborhoods with the largest houses and most expansive lawns—the areas of Köln where the air smelled the sweetest, for aromatic linden trees—

  Ah … the tree of truth … of course. Waiting … for its time … to reveal …

  —lined each street, and pots with flowers and herbs bordered windows. The scents were reminiscent of her birthplace, and while Esther’s rigid stance would slacken with each breath, she struggled to maintain her focus on what was before her rather than what had been—with him.

  And she forced herself to resist reflection on that unsettling encounter and bewildering image. There was work to do.

  She knocked on countless doors, and when she had the chance to see someone other than a maid, generally the woman of the house, Esther would hold out samples of her exquisite handiwork and say, “Preiswert. Fair price.” If the person tried to turn away without inspection, Esther would insist, “Billig! Cheap!”

  Not yet possessed of the most persuasive vocabulary, she would turn the garments inside out and with her fingers trace the perfect seams, refined collars, cuffs and pleats, and blind-stitched hems. She would point to the top of the pants sample to show there were neither gaps nor bulky lumps at the center back waist.

  Esther would then give the woman the price sheet the hostel’s caretaker had written out for her—in exchange for the repair of two shirts in need of new sleeves and a tattered pair of overalls. Her services were
for the lowest prices possible. She had investigated local tailor shop menus and costs and had slashed their standard rates by nearly half. If she got this far, more often than not she would get a straightforward assignment with a quick turnaround to prove her abilities. Esther never failed to meet deadlines and always exceeded expectations.

  While researching the local competition, Esther chanced on one tailor who agreed to give her German lessons twice weekly. In exchange, she cleaned this woman’s shop on Tuesdays and Saturdays, refolding fabrics and stacking the pieces in order of texture, weight, and color—dark to light—and patterns—large to small. She reorganized spools of thread, as well as the buttons, needles, and myriad notions and supplies strewn throughout the floor after projects were completed. As part of her regular duties, she scrubbed floors and washed windows. The tailor had no interest in Esther’s forte; she cared only that the shop was cleaned to satisfaction and orderly. Whenever she was told to ready clothes for a customer, Esther struggled to not look closely at the mediocrity of this tailor’s output.

  I can do better with closed eyes, she would think. To discourage herself from expressing such thoughts out loud or making suggestions, she would bite the inside of her right cheek. Esther had only one goal: to achieve a flawless command of German. To simply learn the basics of this complicated language would in no way suffice. She was confident fluency would lead to business success.

  An advantage for her work … yes … but only one benefit among those even more vital …

  “Jetzt—Now. Nähen,” Frau Schneider said, as she redirected the lesson from basic food shopping terms to sentences about sewing. As a rule, each session focused on only one topic, but this Tuesday they had moved swiftly through the discussion of how to purchase fruits, vegetables, and basic necessities, and time remained.