Benny, the War in Europe, and Myerson’s Daughter Bella Essay

When Benny was sent overseas in the autumn of 1941 his father, Mr. Garber, thought that if he had to give up one son to the army, it might as well be Benny who was a placidity boy, and who wouldnt push where he shouldnt and Mrs. Garber thought my Benny, hell take care, hell watch out and Bennys brother Abe thought when he comes back, Ill have a garage of my own, you bet, and Ill be able to give him a job. Benny wrote either week, and every week the Garbers sent him parcels full of earnest things that a Jewish boy should always have, equivalent salami and pickled herring and shtrudel. The food parcels were always the selfsame(prenominal), and the letters coming from Camp Borden and Aldershot and Normandy and Hol land were always the same as well as. They began I hope you are all(a) well and good and ended dont worry, all the best to everybody, thank you for the parcel. When Benny came home from the war in Europe, the Garbers didnt make a lot of a fuss. They met him at the station, of course, and they had a small dinner for him. Abe was thrilled to see Benny again. Atta boy, was what he kept saying all evening, Atta boy, Benny. You shouldnt go back to the factory, Mr. Garber said. You dont need the obsolete job. You peck be a help to your brother Abe in his garage. Yes, Benny said.Let him be, let him rest, Mrs. Garber said, Whatll hap publish if he doesnt work for two weeks?Hey, when Artie Segal came back, Abe said, he said that in Italy there was nothing that laugh at couldnt get for acouple of Sweet Caps. Was he shooting me the bull, or what? Benny had been accomplish and sent home, not because the war was over, but because of the shrapnel in his leg, but he didnt limp too badly and he didnt talk about his wound or the war, so at prototypal nobody noticed that he had changed. No body, that is, except Myersons daughter Bella.Myerson was the proprietor of Pops Cigar & Soda, on Laurier Street, and any day of the week, you could find him there s eated on a worn, peeling kitchen c haircloth playing poker with the men of the neighbourhood. He had a glass-eye and when a player hesitated on a bet, he would take it out and polish it, a gesture that never failed to intimidate. His daugh ter, Bella, worked behind the counter. She had a club-foot and mousy hair and some more hair on her face, and although she was only twenty-six, it was generally supposed that she would end up an old maid. Anyway she was the one the first one who noticed that the war in Europe had changed Benny. And, as a matter of fact, the very first time he came into the store after his homecoming she said to him Whats wrong, Benny? Are you afraid? Im all right, he said.Benny was a quiet boy. He was short and skinny with a long narrow face, a pulpy mouth that was roughly crooked, and soft black eyes. He had big, conspicuous hands, Thich he preferred to keep out of sight in his pockets. In fact, he seemed to want to keep out of sight altogether and wheneverpo ssible, he stoodbehind a chair or in alight so thatpeople wouldnt notice him and, noticing imitate himaway. When he had failed the ninth grade at Baron Byng High School, his class-master, a Mr. Perkins, had sent him home with a note saying Benjamin is not a student, but he has all the makings of a good citizen. He is honest and at tentive in class and a hard worker. I recommend that he learn a trade.