Unforgivable

by Philippe Djian

  He shot out of his car like a man possessed and charged straight for us. His T-shirt was torn, his face was in a pitiful state, the bridge of his nose was gashed, his eye was black, bloated, and shiny—I reckoned he had probably suffered the biggest thrashing he had ever had since taking up this sport. Behind him, a few distant flashes of lightning lit up the peaks of the Trois Couronnes.

  He fell to his knees in front of Judith like a wretched sinner before the Blessed Mother. I could foresee some extremely awkward moments ahead if he embarked upon this path—he would have to discover that throwing yourself at the feet of a woman did not guarantee anything. It was one of those dreadful lessons in life, according to Western customs.

  A second burst of gunfire then rang out and we were spattered, she and I, with blood and other more solid substances. Jérémie fell backward. Then, so, too, did Judith, who, opening wide her sorrowful eyes, discovered that she happened to have been on the wrong trajectory.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Philippe Djian is the renowned author of over twenty novels, including Assassins, Frictions, Impuretés, and the bestseller 37°2 le matin, published in the United States as Betty Blue and adapted for film by Jean-Jacques Beineix. A #1 bestseller in France, Unforgivable (Impardonnables) received the 2009 Prix Jean Freustié, given to a French author for a work in prose. Djian lives in Paris.