Finny (2010) by Kramon Justin

Author:Kramon, Justin [Justin, Kramon,]
Format: epub
Published: 2011-01-14T19:13:02.593000+00:00

Chapter24

La Maison des Fantaisies

“So that’s my mom,” Earl said as they headed down a street called Rue Montorgueil toward the Seine. They’d walked into a market area and were now passing shops displaying cheeses of every shape and color, some looking like they were dusty, even covered with mold; or meats of vibrant reds and pinks, little roasted hens or rabbits tied to spits, spinning round and round; or pastries, lacquered with butter or sugar and bursting with fillings. Even on this winter day, some of the shops were open to the cold air. Finny saw one store that sold only foie gras, the stuff Earl had told her about in one of his first letters from Paris. Colorful tins lined the walls.

“She’s great,” Finny said about Earl’s mom. “I want to get her something to thank her for setting up the haircut for me.”

“Come on, tell me the truth. Do you even notice a difference?”

Finny smiled. “It was still nice.”

“Ramon said he’s going to take her in as a partner in the business soon. They’re going to call it Ramona.”

“That’s great.”

“It gives her something to look forward to,” Earl said.

“Is she not happy?”

Here Earl took a breath, then let it out slowly. “It goes up and down with her. She can be excited and bubbly, like today. Then there are times when I catch her crying for no reason. There’s a lot I didn’t understand about her for a while. She’s not the most stable person in the world.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, she has a history. When she was with my dad, it was right around the time she had a breakdown. She was barely eighteen. She cut all her ties with her family and joined that traveling act my dad told you about. Part of the reason she couldn’t see me after I was born was that she was in a psych ward. I think my dad didn’t tell me that stuff because he wanted to spare me—or at least to respect Mom’s privacy. But gradually the story came out. She told me some weird stuff, Finny. She started hallucinating when she was in the hospital and she said that all day she could smell the color purple, and when she ate, it tasted like the sound of birds chirping.”

“Jeez,” Finny said. “I had no idea.”

“I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, but that’s one of the reasons I came back. To check up on her.”

“That’s why she thinks you’re a wonderful son.”

“She thinks everything is wonderful, when she’s happy. Then when she’s sad, it goes the other way.”

“So is she all right? I mean, you said she’s not so stable.”

“She takes a lot of drugs now. Medicine, I mean. It keeps her within range.”

“What about Ramon?” Finny asked. “Is there anything going on there?”

Earl smiled. “You mean, like sex? I don’t think Ramon sleeps with women. I actually don’t think he sleeps with men either. He’s pretty content with himself.”

“Does your mom date at all?”

“Once in a while.

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