Bubbe's Place: Stories

No Gambling Here

I wouldn’t say that the letters were untruthful. The photos were a good likeness. But neither the letters nor the photos prepared the young couple for the truth. The truth was that Lyba and Jake were quite different. Lyba had great expectations. All her life she was an avid reader. Reading was always more important than household chores. Diapers and dinners often waited until a book was completed. Jake, on the other hand, was a plain fellow. He worked hard as a peddler. He would arrive home too tired to read and study. He wanted lighter entertainment. He enjoyed a good game of cards.

Lyba hated cards. “A terrible waste of time!” she declared. And if men increased their pleasure by betting a few pennies on the cards, Lyba would declare, “It’s gambling! Satanism!” She hated every form of gambling with a passion.

Once when the five Gabin* children were very young, their father came home late with a fistful of dollars. Business had been good and he had earned more than usual.

Lyba eyed him suspiciously. “You were gambling!” she accused.

Jake, a tease, winked at the children and answered, “All of life is a gamble. But the money’s good.”

Well it wasn’t good to Lyba. “Gambling money,” she thought. While Jake’s mouth dropped open, she threw the money into the stove and burnt it all up.

What happened next? To tell the truth, I don’t know for no one ever told me.

* In America Gubenko was shortened and Anglicized to Gabin.