Lítil örsaga (iii)

“Shaddup you face!”

Morris Weinstein, Yonatan Lifshitz and Harry Katzenjammer sat at their usual table in the far corner of Café Rosenberg on Rue du la Huchette near Place Contrescarpe. They were drinking coffee and discussing politics. They were in an unusually excited frame of mind. Yonatan was shouting and constantly banging the table with his fist as if adding additional weight to his arguments. Ruth Rosenberg and her cousin Lucia Vittore were drying glasses behind the counter. Ruth thought they were getting a bit out of hand and Lucia wanted to give them a piece of her mind, but Ruth said, “Better leave them alone. Let them feel important for a few minutes.” Then Yonatan began banging the table even harder. The other customers in the café were all looking at them. Lucia yelled at the three of them with her strong Italian accent, “Hey you old women, stop flapping you lips and shaddup you face!” Yonatan stood up and was going to shout something back at her but Morris managed to stop him. “Remember Yonatan,” Morris said, “a cat has nine lives, you only have one.”