Read Online After by Francis Chalifour - Free Book Online Page A

the way he said it struck me as comforting. We both looked at him as if he had solved the mystery.

    The days had been growing longer. When I got home, grinning like a demented ad for toothpaste, it was still light. I could hear Sputnik’s anxious yips as he waited for Luc to throw his ball in the backyard. Maman was sittingon the front porch sewing a button back on my pants. She had Papa’s jacket draped over her shoulders.
    “Well, that’s done. Here are your pants.” She snapped the thread off with her teeth.
    “Thanks.” I leaned my bike against the railing and sat down beside her.
    “Where were you?”
    “I was with Jul at the deli.”
    “I would really like to meet her someday, this Jul. You spend a lot of time with her.” She raised her eyebrows and smiled at me expectantly. When I didn’t answer she shrugged, closed her sewing box and got to her feet. “We’re having fish for dinner.”
    A moment later I could hear her in the kitchen pulling pans out of the cupboard. She must have turned on the radio because I could hear the low sweet sounds of Fats Domino singing
Blueberry Hill.
She called to Luc through the open window, “Come in and wash up. It’s time to eat.”
    Out of nowhere, I felt the stab of a memory that brought me such a rush of joy I could hardly stand it. It brought back an evening just like this one. Papa had taken me to the park, and we could hear Maman calling from down the street:
    “Francis, Ben, it’s time for dinner!” When we came in, Maman pretended to be angry. “Ben, for heaven’s sake, why did you take Francis to play in the park when you knew dinner was almost ready? Both of you are filthy!”
    “Don’t worry,
mon amour
, I’ll take care of Francis.” He tugged her ponytail.
    “Your
amour
wants you to change your clothes first. I just finished cleaning the kitchen, and I don’t want to have to do it again. Make sure you don’t wake up Luc. I just settled him.”
    “We have our marching orders,
mon amour
” He give her a quick kiss and scooped me up.
    Mon amour.
That was what my father used to call her. During the long last year, I don’t even remember him saying her name.
    Papa and I changed our clothes as ordered, because on matters of cleanliness, there was no arguing. Maman kept everything spotless, including me and Luc. When Aunt Sophie said, “You can eat off her floor,” which was something she said about one thousand times, Papa would wink at me and say, “Finally, a plate big enough for Sophie!”

    Maman served the fish. She’d snipped some of her potted dill to sprinkle on top. The curtains billowed at the open kitchen window and the air was delicate, if you know what I mean. Maman, Luc, and I sat at the table eating in comfortable silence. That night, my appetite came back without my even noticing.

10 | D INOSAURS
    O ne Sunday night we all went to see
Jurassic Park
, I like Steven Spielberg. The first time I ever went to the movies was when I was five and my parents took me to see
E.T The Extra-Terrestrial.
I didn’t want to cry in front of my parents when E.T. had to leave Eliot, but I couldn’t help it.
    It wasn’t a date, exactly, because my friends were there, but I waited at the ticket counter for Jul so that I could sit beside her. She finally arrived, but she was yakking at an older kid, David, her arm looped through his. I realized that I’d never actually touched her. She gave me a tiny nod but didn’t stop talking to him.
    There was an empty seat next to Melanie. She can always make me laugh and that night I laughed like a lunatic at everything she said. There’s a French expression, so jealous that you lose your teeth. Think about it.
    Melanie looks a little like Aunt Sophie, which can be kind of off-putting. I don’t mean she’s ugly–she’s not. It’s just that she and Aunt Sophie are the kind of people who take up a lot of room. They both favor eye-aching colors and laugh all the time. What’s annoying is that they both