Page 99 - LEIBY

Chapter 12 99

Jewish committee had organized the event. What was the
organization all about, and what were its objectives?

Leiby tried to enter the backstage rooms, but a hefty guard
stopped him. Undaunted, he circled the outside of the building
and discovered a discreet side door that took him just to the
place he was looking for.

The door to the room was locked, and Leiby knocked firmly.
After a few minutes, the door was opened by an elderly
maintenance worker.

“What do you want?”

“To go in,” Leiby stuck his foot inside the door before it could
be slammed shut, and with surprising alacrity slipped his way
inside.

“Hey, who are you?” The worker called after him.

“Me? I am who I am,” Leiby laughed. He looked around to find
his bearings. He saw that he was in a large room, strewn with
various miscellaneous articles of clothing and a huge mirror all
along one of the walls.

“Boy, what are you doing here?” A young man was sitting in
the corner of the room arranging bottles and boxes of different
colored makeup in a suitcase, and he stared at Leiby in
astonishment.

“I have to change my identity.”

“Why?”

“Because the police are after me,” Leiby disclosed the truth. “I
helped smuggle Jews over the border to Poland, and from there
they’re going to travel to Eretz Yisrael.”

The man looked at him disbelievingly, apparently suspicious of
some sort of con, but in the end he decided to play along.

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