A Passover Play

“Come on, John. It’s a children’s class!” begged Adam.

“What do we have to do?”

“We’re just teaching them the story of Passover with a play I wrote.”

“Who's them?” asked John.

“A group of kids from my local synagogue,” said Adam.

“Why us?”

“’Cause the synagogue needed entertainment for Sunday groups. The teacher is out for the weekend and I volunteered us to help out. We're going to put on a play for them.”

“I want to be Moses,” said John.

“You can’t be Moses!”

“Why not?” John asked.

“I’m Moses,” said Adam.

“Why? Every time we do something like this, you get to play the hero. I want a chance!” John whined.

“Well, one, you’re blond. And two, I’m Jewish. I have to be Moses!” said Adam.

“Some Jew you are—you have a tattoo of an ankh. How much more Egyptian can you get?”

“Well Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace, right? So it makes sense that he would have a sign of his Egyptian upbringing,” Adam replied.

“Yeah, but not a tattoo! You can’t get buried in a Jewish cemetery if you have a tattoo!” said John.

“First of all, why do you know that?” asked Adam of his Christian friend. “Secondly, they hadn’t gotten the Torah yet so he couldn’t have known it was forbidden.”

“Why do you always have an answer?!”

“Hebrew Sunday school,” said Adam, smirking.

“Aaagh! Go away!”

“So you’ll do it?” Adam nudged.

“……….”

“I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven.”

“Seven?! In the morning?! What is wrong with you? Why do you volunteer for this stuff?!” said John annoyed.

“Thank you!”

“Yeah… whatever,” grumbled John, half-heartedly.

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“John! Wake up! We’re half an hour late!"

“G’way…. Slpng.”

“C’mon. Up, up, up,” said Adam, banging on the mattress. “We gotta get going.”

“Whatimezit?” asked John unintelligibly.

“8:30—We were supposed to be there at 8. C’mon.”

“Grump, grumble, grump, BUMP!”

“What happened?” called out Adam, rushing into the bathroom to find John rubbing his head.

“Stupid mirror.”
 
“You hit your head on the mirror?” How? thought Adam. It’s above the sink. You’re not that tall.

“Leaned too close and bumped my nose.”

Adam frowned. “Then why are you rubbing your head?”

John just looked at Adam. As if Adam was the crazy one. No one rubs their head after hitting their nose! That’s just stupid!

“C’mon. Let’s get you washed up and dressed,” said Adam, turning on the shower. “Get in,” he said and left the room to find John some clothes.

Adam came back into the bathroom five minutes later with a pair of black jeans, a black v-neck and a leather jacket in his hands. He left John’s clothes on the vanity and went to wait in the kitchen, stopping on the way to pick up a pair of socks and converse sneakers for his “I’m not a morning or a night person” friend.

John sat by the kitchen table while Adam rummaged through his fridge, looking for something remotely healthy. He pulled out a bottle of water, found a protein bar in the pantry and rushed John out of the apartment. On the way out, John missed the clock that read 6:15 a.m. in blinking red numbers.

______________________________________________________

Getting into the car, John fiddled around until he found a station playing classic rock. Meanwhile, Adam drove to a local Starbucks and ordered a Venti plain with skim milk and three Splendas for himself and a caffeine-packed, Tall, hazelnut coffee with milk and two sugars for John who was waiting in the car, complacently listening to the music. Normally, John didn’t require that much caffeine to function properly but Adam wasn’t taking any chances. He wanted his friend up and excited for the children.

Adam paid and brought the drinks to the car. He put his down in the cup holder and started to drive, glancing at John who was nursing his coffee, still half asleep with his mouth slightly less pouty at the smell of the hot drink.

______________________________________________________

As they pulled up to the center where the children were waiting anxiously for the play, Adam noticed that John was his usual bouncy self and Adam, now calm, smiled as they exited the car.

Inside they were directed towards a small room that was full of costumes and accessories. Adam and John began hunting for suitable costumes for their first scene: Teenage Moses striking down an Egyptian who was beating a fellow Jew. Adam grabbed some necklaces and some inventive robe thing that covered more than a loincloth but not much more. John grabbed a whip and a loincloth for himself and sandals for both of them.

The pair talked over the scenes while Adam did a messy job of applying eyeliner to them both and the costume was complete. “Moses” was going to entertain their young audience between scenes while John, who was playing every other part, made quick costume changes.

They heard a bell and faint clapping which was their cue to go out. They smiled at each other and John exited the room first.