The World Outside Read Online Free PDF Page A

adopting the same pious tone she used when quoting our teachers’ lessons.
    “Lighten up, Faygie,” I snapped.
    “Why should I? I’m right, aren’t I, Devorah Leah?”
    “Yes, you are,” Devorah Leah said, rolling her eyes at me behind Faygie’s back.
    “What do you think, Chanie? Do you want me to put on tefillin?” David asked, smiling at me.
    My heart was in my throat. The greedy hands of the Evil Inclination grabbed hold of me again. I was hot and cold at the same time. I shrugged my shoulders.
    “Well, Chanie, what do you say? Should I go back to your brother and his friends and put on tefillin?”
    There was only one answer I could give.
    “It’s your duty as a Jew,” I managed to whisper.
    “Your wish is my command.”
    He bowed and flourished an invisible hat. With a quick grin, he turned on his heel and headed toward the escalator.
    “It’s Hashem’s command, not mine!” I yelled after him.

CHAPTER 4
    T he gentle March breezes caressed my face and rustled the bud-filled trees. My winter jacket was too warm, so I unbuttoned it.
I’ll take Moishe for a walk when I get home
, I said to myself. As I passed a haberdasher, his window full of black fedoras, I noticed a sign in his window declaring “Messiah Now!” Next door was a store that sold women’s tights. Just past it, a shop offered religious books and framed photographs of the Rebbe, like the ones we had at home. I stopped for a second in front of a sheitel shop to admire the wide variety of wigs of all styles, colors and prices. This was the most popular shop in all of Crown Heights, for every married Lubavitcher woman wore a wig. When I finally remembered that Moishe was waiting for me at home, I turned away from the display and quickened my steps.
    As soon as I turned the corner of my street, I saw a large group of black teenage boys heading toward meon the sidewalk. They were talking loudly and jostling each other. I crossed to the other side immediately, Mama’s warnings ringing in my ears.
    “If you meet any
schvartzers
, just pretend that you don’t see them,” she told me. “Never try talking to the blacks. They’re different from us, especially the young ones. They don’t like us. And we cannot trust them.”
    “Shouldn’t I say hello to them? You’re always talking to Mrs. Orville.”
    Mrs. Orville was the first black person on our block, and Mama was constantly exchanging news with her over the fence. Nowadays, I saw more and more black faces in our neighborhood, many of them Caribbean Americans.
    “That’s different and you know it!” Mama said. She tapped my arm. “Don’t be smart! Just remember what I told you.”
    I turned my head away now, but from the corner of my eye, I could still see the boys on the other side of the street. The tallest of them, a young man with a giant Afro, pointed at me and said something to his friends. All of them began hooting and pointing in my direction.
    A girl with an ebony complexion happened to be passing me on the sidewalk.
    “Ignore those jerks!” she said.
    With Mama’s warnings still echoing, I didn’t answer her and dashed away.
    “Hey! I’m just trying to help!” she called after me.
    I glanced back and stopped when I saw the bewildered look on her face. At that very moment, two fire trucks turned the corner, with lights flashing and sirens at full blare. A city ambulance raced along behind them. All three stopped in the middle of the block, in front of an apartment building directly across the street from our brownstone. Both the black girl and I broke into a run, as did the boys on the other side of the street.
    Flames were shooting out of one of the ground-floor windows of the apartment building. A crowd of people—mostly blacks and just a few whites—were standing in front of it. The firemen told the onlookers to move back, then hooked their hoses up to a hydrant. One of them began pouring water through the windows. His colleagues were tramping in and out of