Page 177 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Brothers and problems

education have to meet a dozen times a day at the front door and the
rear door, going out to the yard, then one cannot expect pleasantness
between the families. When that frigid feeling developed between the
women, it eventually affected the brothers, even against their wishes.
One has to stand by his wife or his country, right or wrong. Had
the wives quarreled or had a fight in the open, things would have
turned out better, as a rule. Thrashing out a dispute sometimes brings
peace and better understanding; as the proverb of Solomon says,
“better open enmity than covered hatred.” In time I learned the cause
of all the trouble, but it was too late to rectify it. It seems a woman
likes to boast and pride herself on how fine a husband she has
picked, not so much from a financial standpoint but as a lover who
never looked on another female since his mother quit nursing him;
that she, that beautiful girl, was the greatest attraction to this husband
of hers; and that means she is a real charmer. When the wives of the
two brothers sat on the doorstep in the twilight and talked of their
lovers, mine talked about things which should not be said to the
unsophisticated. The other heroine believed that her hero had never
looked upon another female; and my heroine told her that when Ben
was in New York, before coming to Los Angeles at the age of
seventeen, he was going around with a girl and he wanted to marry
her.
It was one evening in the store; I cannot remember how it
happened: I must have said something offensive, and Ben broke out
in anger, his face flushed, tears in his eyes. His whole being vibrated;
his veins swelled up on his neck. He said, “Your wife almost ruined
my marriage. I feel like grabbing this gun and killing you!” and burst
into tears. There was a rifle in the window and he stared at it, but I
merely said to him, “Well, go ahead and shoot.” It would have been
worse to argue with him in such a moment of anger and terrific
emotion. For quite a while we did not talk, except on urgent business.
Time cured him and, although we are not very attached to one
another, we later got together at times with our wives and children.
In 1914, when the First World War broke out in Europe, my
brother Joseph came here via Galveston from Pelcovizna. He was in
the first reserve and would have been in the first line of fighting; he
was lucky enough to get here. We sent him a ticket, but he lingered
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