‘wrestling pigs, or do you always look this horrible in the middle of the day?’
‘Get out!’ Mama snapped, but he only laughed.
‘Easy now,’ he said, laughing that throaty laugh of his. ‘Kidding.’
‘It’s all right, Mama,’ I said, and he brushed a smear of gritty dirt from my cheek with his thumb.
‘I know you’ve never liked me, Pauline,’ Gérard said, still looking around. ‘I’d expect nothing less from you,’ he said, and Mama’s eyes shifted to mine.
‘What brings you here,’ Mama demanded, in true Mama style.
Gérard pulled an envelope from his pocket. ‘I saw Albert this morning, asked if I’d deliver this money to you—’
Mama snatched it away, and he chuckled. ‘Maybe I should have kept it.’ She stuffed it into her apron pocket, and he turned his attention back to me, flicking his chin. ‘Go clean yourself, Adèle,’ he said. ‘I have a place a want to take you.’
‘Oh?’ I said.
He flicked his chin again. ‘Go on,’ he said, and I looked at Mama who nodded carefully. ‘I’ll wait.’
He picked through the photos on Mama’s sideboard, choosing one of Charlotte on her wedding day to study while I dashed off to my room to change, trying to give him as little time as possible alone with Mama.
I pulled my hair into a bun and took a wet rag to my legs and face, listening to Gérard’s voice lifting from the front room, asking Mama questions. I slipped out of my dirty dress and put on a new one, before racing out the door, only to find Gérard standing in the corridor waiting for me, not far from the root cellar.
‘What are you doing?’ I said, my heart beating fast again.
‘What?’ he said, and I realized I sounded suspicious.
I cleared my throat. ‘It’s not proper to wait for a woman so close to her bedroom.’
He folded his arms, and I thought he was thinking about walking away, but then he pointed down the corridor. ‘What’s down there?’
‘Charlotte’s old room,’ I said.
‘Oh,’ he said, pausing.
I shut my bedroom door after he caught a glimpse of my bed, but then realized the tease of seeing where I slept was just another thing to keep his treacherous thoughts of me burning in his mind.
‘All right,’ he said, and he turned on his heel and walked into the parlour but stopped at the cellar door. ‘And here?’ He pulled on the doorknob.
I laughed to shake off my nerves, trying to act casual and flirty. ‘What’s gotten into you?’ I said, my laugh turning into a giggle. ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘before you give Mama a heart attack. She’ll think you came to steal our food. It’s the cellar.’
I held my breath walking away, praying he’d follow me, taking wobbly steps down the corridor, when he said, ‘All right.’
And I exhaled, closing my eyes briefly. ‘Mama,’ I said, ‘Be back by supper.’ I moved in to kiss her cheeks just as Gérard walked past me and out the door.
‘Don’t be too sure!’ he said, as the screen door clacked closed behind him.
‘Be brave,’ Mama whispered.
I looked down the corridor to the cellar door, hesitating, and Mama patted my shoulder, urging me to leave.
I climbed into Gérard’s sidecar, feeling Mama’s eyes on my back through the window. ‘Where are you taking me?’ I said, and I tied a scarf over my hair.
‘Do you have to know everything?’ he said, and we drove off down the road in a cloud of dust. I looked back, watching Mama’s white linens flapping on the laundry line getting smaller and smaller and smaller through the road haze.
Luc.
*
I thought he might be taking me to the outdoor market, or to the Source des Célestins, give me a scolding and prove the lines were short, but we drove into the shopping district, where light reflected off windows and ladies walked around with frilly hats.
He parked in front of Madame’s Dress Shop—the most expensive shop in all of Vichy.
I untied my scarf. ‘What are we doing here?’
Gérard laughed. ‘You have an image to uphold now.’ He looked me up and down after I climbed out of his sidecar. ‘Come on.’
A saleswoman opened the door for us and he whispered in my ear. ‘See, Adèle,’ he said, but his voice had changed and it felt very unsettling. ‘I can be nice.’
The saleswoman clasped her hands together, eyes twinkling. ‘What’s your favourite colour, mademoiselle?’ She looked me over, studying my complexion. ‘Oh, we’re going to have so much fun together this afternoon.’
She whisked me off to