Outnumbered
Mandi Eizenbaum
Copyright © 2020 Mandi Eizenbaum
All rights reserved
First Edition
NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING
320 Broad Street
Red Bank, NJ 07701
First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2020
ISBN 978-1-64801-250-1 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-64801-251-8 (Digital)
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
For my father, Abram, who made me everything I am.
1
“Señor, señor, what’s the matter with you?” the pear-shaped waitress asked. Her whole face puckered like she was sucking on a sour lemon. The young woman dug her long, red fingernails into my shoulder and shook me hard. “It looks like you saw a ghost! Are you okay, señor?” she repeated.
It wasn’t the first time someone said that to me. The ghost of my late father truly did follow me everywhere. I never met the man, but his words were as aware and persistent as if he were right by my side, lurking in my head and casting a protective shadow over me. But all the secrets, the silences, the numbers, the haunting echoes—it was all too much now. The latest emptiness and grief were only making my anxiety worse. Much worse.
The panic-stricken screech from the waitress broke me out of my trance. Instinctively, my left hand fluttered to the gold chain around my neck, and my right hand fumbled with my pocket where I carried the faded, crinkled photograph of my father. Squirming out of the waitress’s clutch and shifting my weight in my seat, I shrugged my shoulders and leaned forward over the table.
“Yes, I’m fine. Can you just bring me a glass of water?” I stammered. A heavy tear escaped the
