Kolfifa

[Arabella Porter]

“Kolfifa means monkey” I pointed out, staring blankly at the lanky Israeli man swinging from the crow’s nest to the stern of the airship we had come across. “Why is he called kolfifa?” I asked.

“I’m sorry,” The captain of hasod shachor started sarcastically, “Do you not see how this man gets around?” He gestured to Kolfifa again even though I was already watching him climb up the mast of the ship and swing from net segment to net segment that was attached to the balloon of the ship. 

“I don’t understand what you want me to do.” I turned to Captain Lev and Shachar, his first mate.  We were going up to the Galilee for a bit to track down a silk trader making his way to the shukim of karmi’el and Acre.

“Lose this man. Leave him in the cold in the middle of nowhere. I don’t care. He’s an idiot and it annoys the hell out of me.” I looked to the captain.

“what do you think?”

“we’ll take him. Let’s go.” She said turning around and leaving the airship without taking a glance at captain Lev. I whistled up at Kolfifa.

“Oi! Atah! Yala!” Oi! You! Let’s Go! I shouted up. The man swung down from a rope and dropped to the deck. He was gaunt and  had a huge burn on his abdomen that made me wish he would put on a shirt. Isn’t it unhealthy to keep those wounds out in the air? His face was long with a hooked nose and dark circles under almond shaped eyes that were almost hidden by short, messy black hair.

“Mi at?” who are you? He asked walking slowly and casually up to me. I rolled my eyes.

“Ani Arabella veh atah imi achshav” I’m Arabella and you’re with me now. I didn’t have time for small talk .He had that attitude about him; something about his posture. “yala” I said, walking off the ship. He followed. 

When we entered the silver Widow, the whole crew stared at him but he didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy staring at our balloon, obviously noticing how the entire thing was covered in different shapes and sizes of nets for better access in case we had to patch something up. When we got to the lower deck, I grabbed a pillow and blanket from the closet and began walking down the hall.

“Ani lo poe rak hayom?” I’m not only here for the day? Kolfifa asked as we walked. I sighed.

“Ani lo yodaat” I don’t know, I told him.

“Tov. Ani lo ohev hasod shachor” Good, I don’t like the Black Secret He replied. I stopped, thought for a moment, and turned.

“Lama lo?” why not? I asked, He nodded forward and we kept walking. We were silent for a while and there seemed to be a flicker of guilt that burned steadily at the bottom of my stomach, small, but bright enough to heat my insides. It was like he had said it just to make me feel like an asshole. We stopped at the door to the large residential room.

“Atah gar poe achshav” You live here now I said, wanting to mean it but at the same time, a job was a job and a favor was a favor. Why was I feeling so guilty?

“Lo, ani lo gar poe.” No, I don’t live here said he, taking the pillow and blanket from me. I perked up.

“Ma?” what? He ignored me and walked into the giant room. (For those of you who have not read Living Conditions, I recommend reading it after.) I directed him to a hammock in the far left corner of the room which, like the rest, had three small cubical shelf units above it and a small chest against the wall underneath. He put his pillow and blanket on the hammock, hopped in and stared at me. “sha’ah achat tamid?” One hour alone? I asked. He nodded and with that, I left.

                              He knew exactly what was going on