Bereishit: 42: 38
Their system was foolproof. Whenever their parents were out on the town, Michael, Nate, and Donny would sit in their parents' bedroom and watch television, long after they were supposed to be asleep. The room allowed a perfect view of the driveway, and as long as one of them stood watch near the window, the boys would always have time to make it back to their beds and feign sleep before the folks would get inside the front door. There was no way they could get caught, and now that Donny was old enough to be the babysitter, there was no one to rat them out.
This particular night the folks had gone to see a movie with friends. They said they would be back by nine, but then their father called to say they were going to go for dessert and coffee.
"We should be back by ten, ten-thirty the latest," he said. In the background, Donny could hear his mother laughing. "Please make sure everyone goes to bed on time, Donny," his father said. "It's a school night."
"Don't worry, Dad. I have everything under control," Donny said.
"Thanks, Donny. I knew I could count on you."
As soon as he hung up the phone, Donny nodded to Nate, and Nate raised the volume back up on the television. They were watching some great cartoon on Nickelodeon that they had always wanted to see, but was always on way too late. Donny felt a little bad about fibbing to his dad, but five minutes into the show, he forgot about his guilt completely.
It was already past ten when the boys flipped to the Disney Channel to watch another show. Michael was on window patrol, guarding the driveway, and he must have gotten too engrossed in the program they were watching to notice the car pull up. The next thing the boys knew they heard the key in the front door.
They dashed for their beds, tiptoeing as quickly as they could across the hallway to their rooms. Donny tried to straighten out the covers on his parents' bed before he fled, so that it wouldn't look like there had been three boys under them moments earlier, and Nate tried to make sure they left no telltale signs, like cookie crumbs or discarded clothing, that would give them away. But mostly, Donny, Nate, and Michael ran for their lives, as silently as they could.
Their mother and father were whispering to eachother and laughing when they came inside. Every once in a while their mom would shush their dad, saying "Keep it down. You'll wake up the boys." And their father would try to supress his mirth. They came upstairs for the ritual "checking on the kids."
Their mother kissed each of the boys on the forehead. First she visited Nate and Michael in the room they shared. Then she peeked in on Donny in his room. Donny did his best to appear asleep. He tried to breathe slowly and deeply, even though his heart was pounding in his chest. His mother kissed him on the forehead and headed toward her room.
"Such little angels," their mother said, as she passed their father in the hallway.
"Yeah, angels," he agreed.
The perfect crime.
Donny's father walked into the room and sat on the edge of Donny's bed.
"Donny, are you awake?"
"Huh? What? Oh, hi Dad."
"Hi."
"How was the movie?"
"It was good. I think I liked it more than your Mom did."
"That's nice. Goodnight, Dad." Donny put his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes.
"So what time did you guys go to sleep?"
"Nate and Mikey went in at nine, and I went to sleep about nine-thirty."
"Good, good."
Long silence.
"Say, Donny, are you familiar with this week's parsha?"
Donny sat up in his bed.
"Miketz?"
"Yeah, Miketz."
"I think so," Donny said, rubbing his eyes.
"Well, there's this scene when the brother's come back to Yakov without Shimon, who's in jail back in Egypt. They tell Yakov that the only way they can get more food and get Shimon back is if they go back to Egypt with Binyamin. Do you remember that scene?"
"Sure, Dad."
"Well, when Yakov tells them they can't have Binyamin for the trip, he says, 'Lo yered beni imachem, ki achiv meit, vehu levado nishar, ukra-ahu ason baderech,vehoradetem et seivati biyagon she-olah. My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. Should disaster befall him on the journey which you shall take, then you will have brought me down in sorrow to the grave.' Do you know that pasuk?"
"Yes."
I really love that pasuk. Because to me, that's when Yakov kind of tells his sons that he's not as foolish as they think he is. When he says, 'ukra-ahu ason baderech, should something bad happen to Binyamin on the way,' Yakov is kind of telling them that he knows what really happened to Yosef. He wasn't really eaten by wild animals. They did something bad to the brother that they detested, and Yakov knows it. Know what I mean?"
"Sure, Dad."
"I mean, I know that may not be how most commentators read that pasuk, but I always thought that here Yakov is saying for all time that parents aren't really as blind as their kids think they are, Know what I mean?"
Donny swallowed hard. "I get it, Dad."
Donny's father leaned over and kissed Donny on the forehead. "Goodnight, son.
"Goodnight, Dad."
"Love you."
"You too."
Busted.