by Jes Drew
“Yeah, but I don’t want to wear it.” I don’t want to be a survivor. I just want to be a normal person with a normal life.
Mary-Ann drops a pair of hot pink sunglasses. “Oops.”
The stand owner glares at her. “You know, if those break, you’ll have to pay for them,” he says in mangled English.
“Yes, I know,” I answer, grabbing the pairs of sunglasses from my cousins and laying them on the counter. I also add my own sunglasses and three baseball caps. “I’m purchasing these.” I hand the vender several Euros.
He takes the money and hands me the change. “Nice doing business with you.”
I nod and hand my cousins their disguises. Then I join Ata and the others at the bus stop. I begin pacing to stretch my legs. When I glance up, Christopher, who is still standing near the vender is studying me with this strange, undecipherable look before quickly looking away.
I turn to Ata. “Is it just me or is Christopher acting rather odd?”
“It’s just you. He was acting perfectly normal on the bus.”
Well, that makes me feel better.
When the bus pulls up, I look around for my cousins. Chase is standing near Grandmother, talking animatedly to her. Mary-Ann is nowhere to be found.
“Mary-Ann?” I call.
No one answers.
“Mary-Ann!”
Someone tugs on my shirt. I look down. It’s Mary-Ann and she’s wearing both her sunglasses and her hat.
“Wow, this must be a good disguise,” she says.
I nod, clutching my heart.
The doors of the bus swing open and we all climb in. Mary-Ann and I sit in the same row. From my seat, I watch as everyone else climbs aboard: Grandmother, Chase, Joseph, Oto, Ata, and finally, Christopher. Christopher is wearing a hat, but it isn’t the one I picked out. He doesn’t glance my way as he walks towards the back of the bus. Joseph and Ata follow him.
My eyes narrow on Ata. Something fishy is going on and I don’t like it.
~~~
I glance around the bus stop as I exit the bus. It seems slightly fancier than the ones back in Belgium- or maybe it’s just my imagination.
Either way, I’m in Paris.
“I’m. In. Paris!” I cry. “I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it!”
Chase steps off the bus behind me and promptly stretches. “I can believe it. Every bone in my body does.”
After everyone has climbed out of the bus and it has driven away, Grandmother puts a plug on my rapture by asking, “So, where do we go now?”
I bite my lip. As leader, that’s my job to figure out.
Everyone pauses. Well, everyone but Christopher does. He coolly steps off the bus stop before turning back to us. “We hail a cab.”
It’s so nice that he has such a take-charge attitude, but still…
A previous mental list of vehicles that I wish to avoid:
(1) Motorcycles because they’re deathtraps on wheels;
(2) Roller coasters because they’re deathtraps on rails;
(3) Taxis because of bad memories and the fact that all taxi drivers are maniacs;
(4) Boats because of really bad memories;
(5) Planes because of the Accident;
I don’t ask any questions as he hails two cabs. I do, however, make sure that I get into the cab Christopher climbs in. Oto climbs in after me, and Ata after him (Joseph tries to climb in too but Grandmother grabs him for her taxi) and I find myself squished between Oto and Christopher.
“Do you see any seat belts?” I ask.
Before anyone can answer, the cab lurches.
“Wait-!” I say, getting up to find my seat belt. Before I have a chance to look, the cab lurches to the left, throwing me onto Christopher. He stiffens beneath me.
Blushing, I jump back up, but before I can seat myself, the car lurches to the right and seat me itself- on Oto. He grins.
I practically throw myself off of him and firmly plant myself in between Christopher and Oto. My face is on fire.
The rest of the ride is far from peaceful. The French may be slightly more lax in their distribution of licenses than either America or Britain. Though, come to think of it, the other time I rode in a cab, it was about as crazy as this.
A mental list of laws I’d invent if I were to ever become a professional scientist:
(1) All cab drivers are maniacs;
(2) Babies are lovable;
(3) Fluffy animals are lovable;
(4) Fluffy baby animals are extremely lovable;
(5) Nobody looks good first thing in the morning;
(6) Things are never as good as they seem from afar;
(7) Stuff always happens after you forget about it;
(8) According to Mom, morons always come out when she’s driving;
(9) According to Aunt Donna, if a guy consistently gets on your nerves, you’re doomed to end up with him (or vice versa, according to Uncle Gerald)- somebody should probably warn Oto about this;
(10) Things get worse over time… Oh, wait, someone already came up with that one;
(11) Scientific laws are basically statements of the obvious made complicated;
At last, the cab comes to a stop. I can’t get out fast enough.
As I smooth down my hair, the other cab pulls up and the rest of our group climbs out.
“So,” Grandmother says, joining me, “where are we?”
I glance around the street that the cabs had brought us to. It’s packed with lovely townhouses. “I’m not sure.”
Christopher, who had been paying the cab drivers, walks over. “Cook’s sister, Madame Monique, lives here. She’ll take us in.” He walks over to one of the townhouses and rings the doorbell.
“Isn’t that a bit presumptuous?” I ask.
“Not at all,” he answers just as the door swings open.
The person who opened the door is a middle-aged, pleasantly plump woman with brown curls and a resemblance to Cook. “Christopher!” she cries in a thick French accent before pulling him in a hug. “It is good to see you.” Looking over his shoulder, she sees the rest of us. “You brought friends!” She eyes Ata and me. “Pretty friends. Well, it’s about time. Oh, shame on me, keeping you all out in the heat. Come in. Come in!”
Madame Monique (I think) drags Christopher inside and the rest of us cautiously follow.
“You should have told me you were coming- and with such an entourage too.” Madame Monique clicks her tongue. “I’ll have to scrape something together and hope it’s good enough for dinner.” She pauses and faces us. “Well, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends? Really, Christopher, I thought your father raised you better than that.”
“I’m sorry,” Christopher says, sounding too tired to be properly apologetic. “Madame Monique, this is Mrs. Rogers, Emily Rogers, Chase Rogers, Mary-Ann Rogers, Oto, Ata, and you already know Joseph. Everyone, this is Madame Monique.”
“Nice to meet you all. Welcome to Paris.”
I try to return the pleasantries, but before I have a chance, Madame Monique continues. “Now, lucky for you, none of my siblings or cousins or friends are staying her right now- they never visit in the summer because of the dreadful heat. Anyway, all my guest rooms are available. Though, I only have four, so you’ll have to be in pairs. Now run along and drop off your bags while I scrape something together for dinner. Christopher, you know the way.”
Christopher takes Grandmother's and my bags. “This way.” He leads up two flights of stairs.
“Can I sleep with you, Grandmother?” Mary-Ann asks as we walk.
Grandmother nods.
I blink. So, for once, I'm not her roommate? I glance at Ata. “I guess we’re together.”
She gives me a small smile.
I smile back. Maybe I can get her to spill the beans about Christopher. Or at least Oto.
~~~
“Wow, you were able to ‘scrap’ this together really quick,” Joseph says when he sees the feast that Madame
Monique had prepared for us.
“Well, I have to get some food into you poor darlings,” Madame Monique answers before pinching Christopher’s cheek. “Nicole obviously hasn’t been feeding you enough- you’re too skinny. Now I told her, Nicole, you keep that boy fed- he’s still growing after all.”
Christopher steps away from her, looking slightly flustered. Something I've never seen from him before. “She’s can’t help it that I was on a deserted Island for ten days. And believe me, she's been trying to make that up.”
Suddenly, Mary-Ann raises a hand. “Um, I’ve got a question.”
Madame Monique bends down to look her in the eyes. “Yes, mon chéri?”
“Did you make snails? Because I’ve heard that French people eat snails, and that’s gross.”
I stifle a gasp. Mary-Ann!
But Madame Monique only chuckles long and hard. “No, no, mon colombe, I agree- snails are gross. I would never serve my guests that unless I knew they preferred it. Once, my cousin invited me to her house and served snails. Now I said, what is this? And she answered, snails. Then I said, but I’m allergic to snails! And then she said, my brother, whom I tried to feed yesterday, said the exact same thing. Then she sighed and said, at this rate, I’ll never get those snails eaten up!”
Everyone laughs. Disaster averted.
An adjusted mental list of all the unusual people I’ve met in my life:
(1) Our next door neighbor at our second house who stole anything we left outside and sold it on Ebay;
(2) My junior high science teacher who got too much pleasure from cutting up frogs;
(3) Oto, who killed a bear the first time I met him;
(4) Ata, who was about to be whipped to death the first time I met her;
(5) The Masters, who are seriously messed up;
(6) Joseph- need I say more?
(7) Holly, who is part of the mystery that is Oto’s past (and she makes a leather jacket and a girly top look good together which is downright unnatural);
(8) Mickey, who gives me whiplash;
(9) Madame Monique, who is unnaturally hospitable;
~~~
As Ata and I go into our bedroom, I consider the day. No PTSD. At all. Maybe telling Christopher was the cure. And I didn't even have to tell him the real reason my PTSD concerns me.
Thinking of Christopher and earlier this day… “So, what did you and Christopher do on the buses? I mean, of all of us, you two sat together the most.”
Ata raises an eyebrow. “You kept track?”
I blush. “It was, uh, hard to miss.”
“Well, we didn’t talk very much, and when we did, he mostly asked about what my life was like on the Island.”
I nod. That sounds innocent enough. Too innocent.
Ata climbs into one of the two twin beds in the room. “Madame Monique has a lot of rooms and a lot of beds. How many siblings and cousins do you think she has?”
“She mentioned at least a dozen of them at dinner.:
We giggle. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Ata giggle.
When we sober up, Ata asks, “Is that what we’re going to be like when this is all over with? One big family?”
“I hope so. I really do hope so.”
Chapter Six
When I wake up, I quickly glance around the room. Nobody else is in it but Ata, who is mending a top. Good- no more Holly scares.
And no more PTSD. And no more being scared I'll actually get so taken by my flashbacks that I'll kill someone like I almost did on the Island.
I'm not a danger to myself or others anymore!
I sit up and stretch. “What time is it?”
Ata glances at the clock. “You understand your strange time-keeping mechanisms better than I, but from what I can tell, it’s eight fifty-four.”
I check the clock. “Good job, Ata. You’re a really fast learner.”
Ata shrugs like it’s no big despite the fact that she was only introduced to clocks a week ago.
I walk into the bathroom and shower. I’m not sure how I survived those two weeks on that wretched Island without a shower in sight, but I don’t intend on going through that ever again.
When I emerge, Ata is mending one of the window curtains.
Come on, Emily, this is your last chance to get information from Ata about Christopher, so do it. “Are you sure Christopher didn’t act funny at all yesterday.”
Ata pauses for a moment. “Well, he did go silent after he read his, er, email on the first bus.”
Wait, the email Joseph sent him? What on earth could Joseph have written that would have put Christopher in such a foul mood? Unless… unless Joseph listened in on Mickey and my conversation.
But why would it upset him if I didn’t want to kiss him? I said the same thing about Oto, didn’t I?
No, wait- I didn’t.
That must be it. He thinks I like Oto more than him. Those boys are a competitive pair. And maybe he even likes me and is upset about it… I shouldn’t flatter myself like that.
Though, the way he got so upset when he thought Oto and I were making out on the roof seemed a bit more than impersonal protection…
Well, I guess I’ll just have to prove to Christopher that I do like him better than Oto. I mean, I like Oto, but I like Christopher slightly more. If he just knew that, then his pride or whatever it is will be fine. Then, things can go back to normal. Or, well, as normal as life on the run can be.
I just hate having him be so distant. Not when he seems to be the person who understands me better than anyone. Except when it comes to Oto...
“You seemed to have garnered much from my simple statement,” Ata says.
I raise an eyebrow. “Have you been reading the dictionary?”
“I have.”
“I tried to do that when I was younger. I never made it out of A.”
Ata shrugs, the one gesture she seems to do without carefully thinking it out- or maybe she does. It’s hard to tell what goes on in her calculating mind.
Suddenly, someone scratches on our door.
“What was that?” I ask.
Ata shrugs again.
The scratching stops for a moment before starting back up.
I answer the door. Standing on the other side is Madame Monique in a flowing, blue morning gown.
“Oh,” she says. “You are awake. I thought as much. Though, I didn’t want to wake you if you weren’t, so I scratched the door instead of knocking. Back before the Revolution, if you lived in the Versailles, you always scratched the door instead of knocking. They grew their pinkie nails long for just that reason.”
I nod slowly. One really does learn something new everyday.
“Anyway, it’s time for breakfast. I picked up some croissants at a nearby bakery.”
Croissants? Croissants! Boy, am I ready for a croissant.
“Come along,” Madame Monique says with an elegant hand gesture.
Not needing any urging, I follow.
Everyone else but Grandmother and Ata, who is right behind me, is already in the dining room, sitting around the table. Madame Monique takes her seat, leaving only three open seats: one next to Christopher, one next to Oto, and one across Oto.
Here’s my chance to prove to Christopher my preference.
I take a step in Christopher’s direction, but before I can get to the sat, Grandmother comes out of nowhere and claims it.
Never mind.
I take the seat across from Oto and Ata sits next to her brother.
“So, what are you all here to do?” Madame Monique asks. “I can get you reservations to just about anywhere.”
“Actually,” Christopher says, “we’re not here for pleasure; we’re here for business.”
“You sound just like your father.”
Christopher closes his eyes for a moment before continuing. “Actually, he’s why we’re here. I need to know whom my father is currently working with and where their base of operations is.”
“Sho
uldn’t you know where your father is?”
“I should.”
“Well, then I will find out for you by this afternoon. Meanwhile, you all have some fun and tour the most beautiful city in the world. Can’t have you turning into your father, now can I?”
Everyone turns to me to see what I, the leader, will do.
I force a smile. “I’ve always wanted to see the Louvre.”
~~~
“Are you sure you want to go to that art museum place?” Mary-Ann whines. “Cause, I think we should see the Eiffel Tower instead.”
“Yeah!” Chase agrees. I think he’d rather go anywhere but a museum.
I look down at their pleading faces. How can I say no to them? “Fine.”
“Now, Emily, you’ve wanted to go to the Louvre ever since you started sketching,” Grandmother scolds. “And you’re going to go. I’ll take these two to see the Eiffel Tower.”
“What is the Eiffel Tower?” Ata asks.
“It’s a nine hundred and eighty-four foot tower and famous landmark,” Grandmother answers.
Ata lifts an eyebrow.
“Basically, it’s a strange, silver tower,” Joseph translates.
“Well, it sounds more interesting to see than a house full of pictures-” Ata glances at me. “No offense, Emma.”
“None taken.” After all, she doesn’t know much about culture yet. “So, is anyone going with me?”
“I am,” Christopher answers, walking back from the bank where he was exchanging his pounds for Euros.
“Me too,” Oto adds.
Everyone gives Oto funny looks. They probably would expect him to want to see the tower- but I know better. He has an eye for art.
“Joseph?” I ask.
“I think I’ll check out the Eiffel Tower,” he answers, checking out Ata.
I nod. “Okay, everyone meet back here at two.”
“We will,” Grandmother assures. Then she and her party hail a cab.
“Who’s ready to see the Louvre?” Oto asks excitedly. Then he pauses. “What exactly is the Louvre, anyway?”
I sight. I have a lot of work ahead of me to bringing those twins up to date on the world.
