Israel America: The Story Of Us

Israel POV

INTRODUCTION

"Grandpa Izzy?"

"Yes dear?" I replied, sitting down in my favorite chair. It was a soft black leather armchair that was a bit sun bleached from sitting here by the window too long. My littlest grandchild, Susanna had called me by my nickname and I assumed she and the other six wanted to hear a story.

"Where's Grandpa Al?" She asked me.

"Grandpa Al? Oh um..."I paused to pick her up and put her on my knee.

"Grandpa Al has gone away to New York, my child. He won't be back for a long time." I said.

"okay. Will you tell us a story about Grandpa Al?" She asked.

"Of course I will. What do you want to know?"

"How'd you meet him? You've been best friends with him since you were little right?" She asked.

"No sweetheart, in fact, I didn't meet your grandfather until I was 21 years old." I explained.

"Tell us the story!" Locke cried, sliding over to the rug in front of me and plopping himself down at my feet. Henry, Charlie, Kennedy, Elsie and Ariella came into the room hearing Locke and they scrambled to sit near him to listen to me. Susanna laid her head against my shoulder and listened in, like I was going to give her the world. What she didn't exactly know was my whole world began with him the day we first met. That day has led to a 30 year old friendship.

"Come on grandpa, tell us." She said.

"Okay." I looked down to my eight year old. Her blonde hair reminded me of the day we first met. I'd start there.

CHAPTER ONE

The American on the Bus

"I was twenty one years old and I was in Israel, coincidently my own name...I was wheelchair bound, on a bus and headed church to pray for my sister's survival. I can't remember what was going on until I heard a huge, roaring explosion near the bus and it flipped over onto its side, causing me and the rest of the passengers to fly into the windows and out of our seats. I lost my wheelchair and remember lying on the side of the bus, groaning like everyone else when I hit my head. Then all of a sudden, the bus was lifted back onto its wheels and yet again, we were tossed like ragdolls back to the ground of the bus. A dozen masked men with guns came into the bus and started shouting in Hebrew for us to lie down on our stomachs, put our faces into the ground and hold our hands behind our backs. They told us if we talked we'd be executed and he wasn't joking. One man who was obviously confused started shouting out in another language until they put a bullet in his head. Women were shielding their children and quietly praying to God so they could keep their lives. The men had the bus driver drive us somewhere else in the city and the windows were smothered in black paint so no one could see in and no one could see out. they came to us one by one, tying our hands together and some of our feet but to one man's surprise, I had no legs past my knees. He looked around and saw my wheelchair overturned in the back of the bus. He tied my hands and gagged me with a scarf then moved onto the next person. Soon after, they started rearranging where we were and they put a blonde haired guy next to me. He had to be around my age but not from here. He looked American from the sight of his brown leather jacket and the camera around his neck. His blue eyes were panicking, but like the rest of us, he was gagged and tied and could not speak. His glasses were broken only on one side and he wore a hearing aid on his right ear. He looked to me but I looked away and down at the ground as to "lay low". We were kept there as hostages for three days without sufficient food or water, so if you hadn't been shot, you were starved and thirsty so a couple died from that. It wasn't until the 3rd day that we were rescued. The Israeli Police,The Mishteret Yisrael came and actually shot down most of the men. People were gradually taken off the bus and taken all sorts of places. When they finally got to us, the American was horrified and shaking still. The Police asked him his name in English once they took out the gag. All he did for a while was cough and gag a little from having a nasty scarf in his mouth for so long.

"Your name sir?" They asked.

"Alfred Jones." He replied in a dialect all his own.

"American?" He asked.

"The epitome." He replied, almost laughing.

"What is your business here in Israel?" They asked kindly.

"Only to sight see. I was thinking about coming here to sight see and to visit the museums." He replied.

"Are you a student?"

"Yes sir." He replied.

"Okay. On your way to the ambulance right outside." He said. Alfred shook out his sandy blonde hair and sighed.

"I'm really okay guys." He said.

"Yes, I'm sure sir. But we have to get you checked out anyway. Please go to the ambulance." Said one of the officers.

"Sure thing guys." He replied nonchalantly, as if he was just waiting in a car for a friend. Americans. The police took pity on me since I was an amputee. One of them carried me out while the only took my wheelchair. I saw Alfred on the ambulance getting a band-aid over his nose where he'd gotten a cut and a nurse was wrapping his arm up in a cast. The officers put me on the ambulance with him and he just looked at me curiously.

"Hi. I'm Alfred Jones. What's your name?" He asked, a bit loudly.

"It's Israel." I said, just as the sirens above us started sounding.

"It's what?!" he yelled.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Israel!"

"That's my name!" I said.

"Cool! so what's with you being a double amputee?" he asked. The sirens were still blaring above us as the ambulance raced to the hospital.

"I was in high school and our school was bombed. I protected my baby sister but lost my legs." I said.

"Crap!" I said.

"what?"

"my baby sister's probably worried sick, I've been gone three days!" I exclaimed.

"I'm sure she knows where you are." he replied. Once the sirens stopped, I noticed Alfred was still talking really loud.

"You know, the sirens stopped, you don't have to speak so loud anymore." I said.

"oh sorry. I had my hearing aid turned up so I could hear those guys." he turned his hearing aid down and spoke again.

"better?"

"Much better. How'd you lose your hearing?" I asked.

"Baseball match. I was hit upside the head so hard that I lost my hearing since I was 13 years old." He replied.

"That must be hard."

"no, I can still read lips and use sign language but it's nicer with my hearing aid. I guess I kinda annoy my roommates back home because if I don't want to hear what they're saying, I turn my hearing aid off." He laughed. I laughed too.

"What a way to drown them out." I said. he laughed even harder.

"oh wow. you're funny. I guess I can agree. I'm thinking about moving here pretty soon."

"The bombing didn't change your mind?" I asked as the doors opened.

"Nope. But trust me, I'd rather be here than shot up a block from my dorm room up in L.A. I'm studying to be a chef I think...I change my mind a lot." He said. This guy wasn't half bad for being an American and a noisy chatterbox.

"Alright, let's get you two checked out." Said the nurses and doctors that were arriving at the back of the ambulance. Alfred and I were taken in opposite directions but he looked back as I was put in my wheelchair once again. He waved and shouted "BYE ISRAEL! SEE YA LATER ALLIGATOR!"

"I'm gonna stop there." I said, coming back into reality.

"Awe!" The seven kids groaned.

"Only for a minute. I gotta go get something to drink." I said. Susanna popped off my lap and I stood on my shaking legs. Even thinking about Alfred gave me the chills. I missed him. As I opened the refrigerator door, I could hear his voice yet again asking "So Izzy, what's there to eat around here huh?" I shivered as my aged hand reached in to get a Root Beer-something Alfred got me hooked on when I first visited America with him.

"Come on grandpa! We want to hear the story!" Cried Locke from the living room.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I'm still cripple!" I said. I heard Locke's cute little laugh. When I came in, he hugged my leg and smiled. He let me go so I could sit back in my favorite chair and I popped open the soda. Susanna yet again sat in my lap and as soon as I took a swig and set it aside, she had her arms around me and laid her head against my shoulder to listen.

"Grandpa Izzy?" Henry asked.

"Yes Henry?"

"Is Grandpa Al ever gonna come back here to visit ya?" He asked.

"I don't know Henry. But I hope wherever he is, he's wearing that leather jacket of his because it'd be awful bad at his age for him to catch a cold." I said. He laughed.

"He's old, like you." He said, with no ill intent to his words.

"Yes, old, like me." I agreed.

"Okay so where was I?"I asked.

"You were at the hospital grandpa." Susanna said.

"Mind if I skip a little bit?" I asked.

"no. More of grandpa Al!" Henry proclaimed.

"Sure thing Henry." I said.

~HEY GUYSSS!~ It's me! If you would like to read more, I'd really love to hear any comments just don't troll the pairing k? Thanks!