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There's a girl at the playground's edge. The children pay her no heed; neither do the mothers. Her hair is black. She's wearing a black camisole and skinny jeans. Passerby fathers turn their heads after her.
She likes it that way.
If she wanted a man she'd be seeking elsewhere. She doesn't care much for little boys. One of the little girls, maybe: one who would feel it, who would look up at her, come over and offer to play together. But none of the little girls notices here.
There's a woman sitting alone on a bench on the other side of the playground. Lilith noticed her earlier but dismissed her: not pregnant. She seems thirty-something, brown of eyes and hair. She looks Lilith dead in the eyes and smiles, and suddenly Lilith recognizes her. Lilith ain't gonna get no little girls today, not if Yael is watching over them.
Lilith comes over and stands directly in front of Yael. She shoves her hands in her pockets. "I hate you. Go away."
"Sorry, sweetheart. You know that's not the rule of the Land."
If this was the Diaspora Lilith would've been able to banish Yael. But this is the Land of Israel, and Yael doesn't have anything better to do.
Lilith drops down on the bench next to Yael. "I just want a kid."
"I know, sweetheart."
Yael is considering her. Lilith can tell, this close. "And those are girls. It's not like I'm stealing them away or something."
"That depends on the definitons."
"It's more like giving them a present." Lilith side-eyes Yael, giving it her best coy. "You don't want a kid?"
Yael sighs. "What am I ever going to do with you?"
"No, really." Lilith curls on her side to look at Yael. "Don't you want a child?"
"Seriously, Li?"
Lilith thinks about it. "Yes." It's been forever since Yael had had kids. Lilith had never had any kids of her own and she's way older than Yael - despite that Yael always looks thirty-something and Lilith always looks sixteen, twenty tops - but Yael is cool. They can totally be friends.
"C'mon." Yael stands up. "Hot chocolate?"
"What?"
"My treat."
Lilith makes a face, deliberately. "Isn't that, like, made of milk?"
Yael laughs. "I can't harm you and we both know it. But I can ask you out."
Well, this sounds totally different. Men ask Lilith out for coffee, but Lilith can't actually stand it and somehow, it's not a surprise that Yael knows.
Yael pulls Lilith up. "C'mon, Li."
Lilith kisses her on the cheek, just because.
Yael laughs.
