If You Like Him... (1)

So there I was, sitting on a dirty, worn out chair, wondering how to extricate myself from this mess.
Oh, where was I?
Well... Ya see, my cousins used to live upstairs from this Sephardic family. They always seemed very pleasant, and I got used to hearing their "allo"s whenever I'd visit. And after my cousins moved from the Holy Land, and I'd finished my two year stint in Israel, I'd return each year and stay at a friend who lived one building over. Six years down the line, my face was quite a familiar one to those nice neighbors.
But I never knew what they really did. I mean, I knew that they were tremendous baalei chessed and all that, but I didn't know much else.
This past Succos, I travelled to the land with my family. Our apartment was just down the street from my usual dwelling place. As I passed by the building on my last day in the country, I stopped to chat for a minute with the woman of the house.

"You want my mum to take away ayin harah?" she asked.
Huh? So not my thing.
"My mum, people wait for long time to talk to her. She very good. Come."
My mother looked at me. I gave her a quizzical look as she told the woman "Why not? Can't hurt. Go on in, ok? Call me when you're finished and we'll go to the Kosel."

So I followed the woman into her mother's apartment...

to be continued...