Читать книгу Black Man on the Titanic - Serge Bile - Страница 24

That day, Louise boarded the Nomadic once again. It was still in service, still in good shape. It was anchored at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Under the glare of the cameras and photographers invited for the event, she spent a long time on the ferry that had carried her to the Titanic with her family. All together, the attendees toured the Nomadic, traveling from one deck to another, and everyone took a souvenir shot on the very well-kept lower deck. Louise and Millvina posed together on one of the benches of the Nomadic, and the emotion was almost palpable. Olivier Mendez, who attended the memorial, was filled with emotion as the three children of the Titanic shared their experience. The reporters interviewed Louise for two hours, and Millvina granted them the same time, bringing back memories and high points in her life. Michel and Louise held hands the entire time.

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For a long time, Louise stayed away from tributes and commemorative events, to the point that others humorously nicknamed her “Mrs. Nyet,” borrowing the Russian word for “no,” because she categorically rejected any invitation to an event related to the Titanic. But, over the years, Louise had eventually come to accept her status as the ultimate survivor, and she finally took her role to heart, participating in this ceremony in Cherbourg and the unveiling of this headstone that commemorates Joseph Laroche, her father the hero, among the victims of the sinking.

“It is important for the memory of my family and all those who lost a loved one aboard the Titanic,” Louise acknowledges in a soft voice, after placing bouquets of flowers at the foot of the headstone. Her face is solemn. Her features are drawn. She reminds everyone once again that her family had simply been “at the wrong place, at the wrong time.” One can feel her emotion. She is lost, alone in the crowd, in a painful face-off with herself, with her life story, with the heavy burden no one has been able to relieve for all those years.

Louise will say no more. She takes a deep breath and stares one last time at the message written on the plaque that she just unveiled in honor of the 281 passengers who had boarded in Cherbourg, just like her family, the Laroches, eighty-four years ago. It reads: “RMS Titanic: During its maiden voyage, the liner Titanic made its only stopover in Cherbourg on April 10, 1912. It would go down in the night of April 14 to April 15 off the coast of Newfoundland. The Titanic Historical Society of Indian Orchard (Massachusetts, USA) and the city of Cherbourg commemorated this tragic event on April 19, 1996.”

Louise remembers her father. She keeps a picture of him in her purse. A purse that she is holding even closer to her body, realizing again how cruel fate was to this wonderful man who loved his wife and adored his children.

Joseph Laroche was going back to his country. He never had a chance to see his homeland again.