Chapter 4

A little later...

After the shower, of course, we got dressed and headed out to find an RV or bus or something of that nature. As it turned out, there were still a few around, but we had some cleaning and fixing up to deal with where we found them. The one we chose was missing some key parts, but unlike whoever passed it up, I simply cannibalized parts from other abandoned RVs, as this was the most realistic choice. There was less maintenance required, after all.

Even so, with all three of us working together on this project, it took roughly ninety minutes to make it a serviceable machine. The ladies particularly scrubbed it down and got the “old lady medicine” smell out of what turned out to be a widow’s home. She had been a Snow Bird at one point, but must have quit that whole thing once her husband died. We knew her name, since she had all kinds of paperwork in the place. Esther Rothenbaum. RIP. Widow of one Dr. Yakov Rothenbaum, former cardiologist.

“They were Jews, like our late husband. Shouldn’t we do something in their memory? I think that Judah would be pleased that we did so. He was a great man, Judah. I would like to honor his memory more by honoring two members of his Faith. We are using their RV, after all,” Sandy suggested, “not that I’d try to override you if we don’t have the time.”

“Oh, we have the time. I don’t know enough Hebrew to hold a funeral for them, over them, so that will have to be you two gals’ job. You were both married to a Jew, after all. If a Jewish girl wanted to join us and she was the right kind, though, that might well change,” I observed.

“I would love that, too. Judah did have a niece, you know. Lizzie Goldfarb. Perhaps we’ll run into her at some point. She was rather cute, last time I checked. Fifteen years old going on fifty at times, in terms of precociousness, but still, that was a good thing, right? I often wished that incest wasn’t something totally against his beliefs and social taboos, that kind of thing. She would make a great sister-wife for us,” Lauren informed me, even as we showered again after the workload.

Yes, we tested out the new shower, but no, not in that way yet. We still needed to recover from the RV renovation project. There would be time for that later, as much as we all wished for it sooner. I was younger than my wives by several years at least, but even I had limits to my stamina, working outside in the hot mid-day, Midwestern sun. We wanted to be clean, especially as we agreed to hold a little memorial service for the Rothenbaums.

“It would be nice, as would finding my sisters. One way or the other, though, once we’ve had the memorial service, we need to get moving. We’ve got a long way to go to find shelter for the night. Somewhere in Iowa, I think. Just not a city like Davenport or Des Moines. A smaller town, of course. Likely to be safer, you know,” I explained as we rinsed and dried, turning off the now clean shower head.