Read Online The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles by Katherine Pancol - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Katherine Pancol
Ads: Link
with our eyes.” Joséphine blushed. “He’s so handsome!”
“Look at the map and see if I can turn right somewhere. We’re not going to be able to get through this way.”
“You can turn. But then you’ll have to take a left again.”
“I’ll take another left. The left side is where the heart is; it’s my kind of place.”
Joséphine smiled. Life with Shirley was never dull. She knew exactly what she wanted and went straight for it. Joséphine was sometimes shocked by the way she was raising Gary. Shirley talked to her son as if he were an adult, never hiding anything from him. She had even told Gary that his dad ran off the day he was born, but she also told him that she would reveal his father’s name if he ever wanted to look him up. She said she’d been madly in love with the man, and that he, Gary, had been wanted and loved.
Shirley usually took Gary to Scotland for school vacations. She wanted her son to know where his ancestors were from, to speak English, to learn about another culture. But this year Shirley had come back in a sad, gloomy mood. She announced that they wouldn’t be going back, and never mentioned it again.
“What are you thinking about?” Shirley asked.
“I was thinking about how mysterious you are, about all the things I don’t know about you.”
“I wonder the same thing, as it happens.”
They pulled up at the gate to Parnell Traiteurs at four o’clock sharp.
“You stay in the car and move it if you have to. I’ll go deliver these babies.”
Joséphine nodded. She slipped into the driver’s seat and watched Shirley maneuvering the cake boxes.
Shirley soon came bounding back out and kissed Jo on both cheeks.
“Hooray! I’m loaded! The guy gets on my nerves but he pays well. Want to go to a pub and treat ourselves to a cold one?”
On the drive home, Joséphine was thinking about how to organize her paper for the conference when she suddenly noticed a man crossing the street right in front of them.
“Look!” she shouted, yanking on Shirley’s sleeve. “There! Right in front of us!”
A young man with longish chestnut hair was sauntering across the street, hands in his duffel coat pockets.
“It’s him! The library guy! You know . . . See how handsome and laid-back he is?”
“Yeah, pretty laid-back, I’d say.”
Then the man turned around and waved to someone. The light was about to turn green.
“Uh-oh,” Shirley said.
A slim, beautiful blonde ran to catch up with him. She stuck one hand in his coat pocket and stroked his cheek with the other. The man pulled her close and kissed her.
“Oh, well.” Joséphine sighed.
“Oh, well, what?” Shirley snapped. “He can change his mind. You’re going to be Audrey Hepburn and seduce him. Just stop eating so much chocolate while you’re working. You’ll lose weight. All he’ll see are your big eyes and your tiny waist, and he’ll be on his knees in no time. Then you’ll be the one slipping a hand into his duffel coat pocket. And you guys will fuck each other’s brains out. That’s how you must think, Jo. It’s the only way.”
The minute she got to the office Josiane got a phone call from her brother, saying their mother had died. Josiane cried, even though the woman had never done anything but abuse her. She felt as if she’d been orphaned. Then she realized that she really
was
an orphan, and cried even harder. It was as if she were making up for lost time, crying the way she had never been allowed to cry as a child, when she’d been a slovenly little girl whose stomach ached from fear, hunger, and cold.
“What is going on here, may I ask? Goodness gracious, it feels like a funeral home with all this weeping. And why aren’t you picking up your phone?”
Wearing a hat that looked like a big pancake, Henriette Grobz was staring at Josiane, who noticed that her telephone was indeed ringing. She waited a second, and it stopped. She pulled an old Kleenex out of her pocket and blew
“Look at the map and see if I can turn right somewhere. We’re not going to be able to get through this way.”
“You can turn. But then you’ll have to take a left again.”
“I’ll take another left. The left side is where the heart is; it’s my kind of place.”
Joséphine smiled. Life with Shirley was never dull. She knew exactly what she wanted and went straight for it. Joséphine was sometimes shocked by the way she was raising Gary. Shirley talked to her son as if he were an adult, never hiding anything from him. She had even told Gary that his dad ran off the day he was born, but she also told him that she would reveal his father’s name if he ever wanted to look him up. She said she’d been madly in love with the man, and that he, Gary, had been wanted and loved.
Shirley usually took Gary to Scotland for school vacations. She wanted her son to know where his ancestors were from, to speak English, to learn about another culture. But this year Shirley had come back in a sad, gloomy mood. She announced that they wouldn’t be going back, and never mentioned it again.
“What are you thinking about?” Shirley asked.
“I was thinking about how mysterious you are, about all the things I don’t know about you.”
“I wonder the same thing, as it happens.”
They pulled up at the gate to Parnell Traiteurs at four o’clock sharp.
“You stay in the car and move it if you have to. I’ll go deliver these babies.”
Joséphine nodded. She slipped into the driver’s seat and watched Shirley maneuvering the cake boxes.
Shirley soon came bounding back out and kissed Jo on both cheeks.
“Hooray! I’m loaded! The guy gets on my nerves but he pays well. Want to go to a pub and treat ourselves to a cold one?”
On the drive home, Joséphine was thinking about how to organize her paper for the conference when she suddenly noticed a man crossing the street right in front of them.
“Look!” she shouted, yanking on Shirley’s sleeve. “There! Right in front of us!”
A young man with longish chestnut hair was sauntering across the street, hands in his duffel coat pockets.
“It’s him! The library guy! You know . . . See how handsome and laid-back he is?”
“Yeah, pretty laid-back, I’d say.”
Then the man turned around and waved to someone. The light was about to turn green.
“Uh-oh,” Shirley said.
A slim, beautiful blonde ran to catch up with him. She stuck one hand in his coat pocket and stroked his cheek with the other. The man pulled her close and kissed her.
“Oh, well.” Joséphine sighed.
“Oh, well, what?” Shirley snapped. “He can change his mind. You’re going to be Audrey Hepburn and seduce him. Just stop eating so much chocolate while you’re working. You’ll lose weight. All he’ll see are your big eyes and your tiny waist, and he’ll be on his knees in no time. Then you’ll be the one slipping a hand into his duffel coat pocket. And you guys will fuck each other’s brains out. That’s how you must think, Jo. It’s the only way.”
The minute she got to the office Josiane got a phone call from her brother, saying their mother had died. Josiane cried, even though the woman had never done anything but abuse her. She felt as if she’d been orphaned. Then she realized that she really
was
an orphan, and cried even harder. It was as if she were making up for lost time, crying the way she had never been allowed to cry as a child, when she’d been a slovenly little girl whose stomach ached from fear, hunger, and cold.
“What is going on here, may I ask? Goodness gracious, it feels like a funeral home with all this weeping. And why aren’t you picking up your phone?”
Wearing a hat that looked like a big pancake, Henriette Grobz was staring at Josiane, who noticed that her telephone was indeed ringing. She waited a second, and it stopped. She pulled an old Kleenex out of her pocket and blew
Similar Books
