Читать книгу The Restless - Gerty Dambury - Страница 13

2.

She’s already refusing to do what we say!

We’re talking about our neighbor Nono, who left this world two years ago, in 1965.

With her ninety-eight years of life on this earth, old Nono thinks she has priority to tell a part of this story.

She wants to be the first one to speak. Otherwise, she’s threatening to disappear. And what she says, she does. She claims she’s the accordion of this orchestra and that she’ll play her part until the end because she knows more than anybody else here. That’s why she thinks no one else has the right to speak before she does about Émilienne: “She’s my child, she is.”

Throughout her life she repeated that phrase, even if there’s no shared blood between us.

She thinks of herself as a member of the family: “A good neighbor is often worth more than a bad relative.” That’s what she said when she was alive, and she still thinks it. “It’s my duty to protect that little girl!”

Up till now, we thought that was our father’s role, that he was the only one who could calm our little sister’s nerves.

And she hasn’t stopped asking when he’ll come home. Next—if he really will come home. After that—why wasn’t he coming home?

But he hasn’t approached our shores today.

It seems his ship’s still docked!

This isn’t the first time Émilienne has waited for him, that we’ve all waited, and that he didn’t come home.

But we haven’t seen him since Wednesday.

And so, since he hasn’t made up his mind to enlighten our little star and chase away the darkness, it seems we should give the floor to those who have been waiting in the dark.

Let’s start with old Nono.

The privilege of age. Escort the Queen!