Risky Business

it is 2:00 p.m. in the holy city of zefat.  i have an hour to myself before the kids return from their sephardi grandma  .it is a little cooler today.  things got pretty hot yesterday.  i spent the entire day waiting for the 5 yeshiva students to arrive.  i made a nice dinner for the family and was looking forward to sitting down and sharing it.  at 8:00 p.m. i was told by my son that the boys were coming to check out the place.  it wasn't a done deal.  all that schlepping for nothing.  i was livid.  my son turned on me and told me that i didn't hold my  Bacardi breezers well.  fool that he is, he still thought the deal could be salvaged.  i went outside with my food and ate on the table i had set up for the guys.  every bite was filled with bile.

the young men finally arrived.  they apologized for the inconvenience.  i tried to schmooze with them.  they were all from brooklyn.  they came upstairs and didn't seem too happy.  i let them know that i had been waiting for them all day.  my son tried to charm them but we both came off as too desperate.  they didn't like dogs and one might even have been afraid of them.  what could i do?  i was stuck with 3 dogs on one floor. my son told them to call me when they wanted to enter the house.  what a lame thing to say.  i told the young men that i would corral the dogs in so that they wouldn't encounter them alone.  i even brought up the new chihuahua to show them that it was a tiny animal.  it didn't really go over so well.  i told one of them that i had been a cook at an american yeshiva and had a lot of  experience dealing with yeshiva students.  i told him that i knew they liked their vodka.  maybe i came off as degenerate.  i offered to help them organize shabbat meals if they needed.  i just came off as desperate. it was an awful no win situation.

the guys actually said that they would stay until sunday.  they asked me about the curfew.  i explained that the house was unlocked.  i told them to feel at home.  i was going for caring but i came off as desperate, once again.  i thought we had settled on a price.  my son asked for payment and they hemmed and hawed.  they said that they had already paid the agent most of it.  my son tried to cover for the agent and he came off as shady.  i would have called the agent on the spot to figure out what was really going on.  my son and wife were on their way to a concert and didn't have any more time to deal with this.  i was left with the 5 young men,  the 2 small kids and the 3 dogs.  the guys told us that they were going downstairs to unload the car.  i showed them the back yard.  i offered them the use of the pool on wednesday when the family of 4 leaves.  i innocently told them that i had a group of girls coming on thursday and that maybe we could make a future 'mazal tov' out of the situation.  i thought i was being charming.  they obviously didn't because they took off and never came back.  they told me that they were going out to buy a grill.  i even offered them the use of mine.  oh there's nothing like an old fool.

i told my son from the start that i did not want to do business with this agent.  i also said that it was a bad idea to take on yeshiva boys while we have religious girls downstairs.  both he and his wife poo pooed me. they always do.  they have total lack of respect for my life time experience.  i am really annoyed.  i see red.  i hate myself for wanting and fantasizing about doing in this agent.  i want to be a better person.  it isn't just the loss of a potential income that is gnawing at me.  it's the same old problem.  my son is not a mensch.  he is all over the place and i can't reign him in and his wife can't either.  i am really broken. i  want out.  i am not enjoying my life one bit.  i am too stressed out.  i go for a pet scan in a few weeks and i'm obviously freaked out and scared that i might be sick again.

when i told my son  that the boys never came home last night he acted like a real cry baby.  he wouldn't contact the agent and confront him.  he had received an SMS at midnight saying that the students had decided not to stay for shabbat.  after all, how could they stay here while we had a bunch of hot babes in the swimming pool.  the SMS also said that the students didn't like having to go through our house.  no where did he state that they weren't coming back.  my son ran to work bright and early and said that he was finished with the rental business.  i am so mad at my son.  i killed myself the last couple of days.  last night i slept on a mattress on the floor because we took the bed upstairs.  i  had my granddaughter lying on top of me, the chihuahua on my head, and the pincher at my side. the third dog was sleeping on my grandson who was half way on top of me too.  i took out all three dogs so that they wouldn't make a pish in the house.  i didn't sleep well at all.  it was hot and it was way too quiet.  i didn't hear anyone coming in.  i got up at 5:00 a.m. and went up the stairs.  the door was wide open.  the lights were still on.  there was no sign of human life.  we were ripped off..

 i called the agent this morning and he blew me off.  when i mentioned that i wanted to be compensated for last night he became verbally abusive.  i sent him an email that i was planning on going to speak to the head rabbi of zefat about him.  i also threatened to write something on the zefat website about him.  i doubt that anything will come out of this mess.  if only i knew that my son learned his lesson from this i'd feel better.  i'm sure he didn't.  it makes me feel that i have failed him as a mother. i am scared to leave him alone in this world when i transpire.  i guess my mom felt the same way about me.  does that make me a loser?

my son called a little while ago. the agent said that 'perhaps' he could reimburse him for the purchase of the DVD.  i want more than that.  i want a night's rent. we earned it. i want justice in an unjust world.