A Bouquet of Rue by Wendy Hornsby

Author:Wendy Hornsby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mystery, women filmmakers, refugees
ISBN: 978-1-56474-824-9
Publisher: Perseverance Press
Published: 2019-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

] Six

Broken ribs hurt like hell,” I said. “And there’s nothing you can do except wait until they heal. Poor Nabi.”

Jean-Paul opened the side gate and led me out onto the foot path. I took some deep breaths as we waited for other early-morning runners to pass before we fell into line, setting off at an easy jog until we warmed up—the morning was surprisingly chilly in the hour after dawn—keeping to the left to let faster runners and bikers pass on the right.

“There is more concern about the bruised kidney,” Jean-Paul said, holding back to stay beside me; he was a far better runner. I was asleep when they all got back from the hospital last night and he was filling me in on Nabi’s examination. “The beating poor Nabi got was absolutely brutal. I hope those kids are taken into custody.”

“Taking bets on that?”

“Odds are they get counseling, sensitivity sessions, assignment to community work, maybe. They’ll be off the hook before the summer holiday. Before Nabi’s injuries heal, anyway.”

“No permanent damage, though?”

“Not to the body,” he said. “But damage to the heart and soul, who can say?”

In February, outside a refugee camp in Greece, Jean-Paul was badly injured by a bomb. After that, sometimes he cried out in his sleep. Last night, he cried out again.

“How are you today?” I asked.

He took some time before answering. “All things considered, I’m all right. And you?”

“What you said.”

We picked up the pace and ran in silence, both of us lost to our own thoughts as we turned off the path that ran behind the house, away from the crowd of bikers and more earnest morning runners, and into the open trails of the haras. We were far from alone, however. There were other runners and clusters of chatty walkers all over the park. Twice I spotted homeless men emerge from the dense copse that surrounded the vast central meadow; Ophelia told Nabi that scary people come out at night. I was still surprised that there could be homeless people in a socialist system. It was explained to me that while refugees admitted to France for humane reasons, like Nabi and Diba, were immediately eligible for benefits like health care and housing assistance, documented immigrants, like me, had a waiting period before social benefits kicked in; I was paying for international health insurance. Undocumented immigrants were eligible for rien, zip, because they were no more welcome in France than they were in the United States. Was that who these men were, undocumented aliens?

We heard a chorus of shouts ahead on the right where one of the clusters of women walkers seemed to be having an argument with a bearded man. Two of the women, both gray-haired, began to tussle with him, trying to keep him in place when it was clear that he wanted to go. Jean-Paul and several other men turned on their jets and sprinted across the lawn toward them, me in their wake. When I arrived, the long-beard was on the ground with one panting male runner sitting on his legs and two others pinning his arms.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.