Memory by Philippe Grimbert

Author:Philippe Grimbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

MAXIME HAS REFUSED to go to the police station to have the defamatory red mark stamped on his identity papers. This decision is the cause of much family conflict. Esther and George have made themselves known, Elise and Marcel are still holding out, Joseph is waiting on his son’s decision. They all debate the subject heatedly.

Maxime trains with new energy: building his muscles has become a stand against cowardice and submission. He has never won as often, nor beaten his opponents so easily. He is keen to cover his chest with medals, to stand on the highest step of the podium. He takes Hannah and Simon to the club every Sunday; the little boy is his father’s pride and joy, his agile body excels at balancing exercises, sequences, and somersaults. He will soon start apparatus work and wrestling.

Robert, younger than Maxime, has been called up to the Eastern front. Tania took care of the Lyons shop for as long as she could, but difficulties caused by the slow arrival of supplies and the closing of factories finally forced her to close the doors. She has returned to Paris and her mother’s house in the rue Berthe. Loneliness has made her draw closer to her husband’s family; she sees Hannah and Maxime regularly. The problems she dealt with in Lyons and the panic she feels each morning as she opens the post have left their marks on her face. She looks haggard, and takes less trouble with her appearance than she used to, but she has only to smile or move a certain way for Maxime to be just as dazzled as before.

One Sunday Louise, George, Esther, and Tania accompany Simon and his parents to the club to check on the boy’s progress. They’ll have lunch on the banks of the Marne, feasting on fried fish and white wine, and in the afternoon Simon will show off his talents. If she wishes, Tania can take up her training again. When she appears after lunch in her tight black swimsuit, Maxime realizes the real reason for his invitation: he wanted to see her in that outfit. He thought he’d transcended this painful feeling at the back of his throat; once again, as on his wedding day, he is bowled over by the sight of her. Tania dives off the high board, tracing a perfect shape and then disappearing beneath the water. Maxime can’t take his eyes off the line of those shoulders, that waist, those finely chiseled legs.

Hannah claps, and then seeks out Maxime’s tender gaze. All she sees in his eyes is Tania. She knows her husband well enough to recognize boiling desire, a fascination he is not even bothering to hide. He has never looked at her that way. She turns toward Esther and George: all these eyes shining for Tania with a similar intensity. She finds support only in Louise, who has understood and tries to reassure her with a smile. She sways; through a fog she hears the bravos cheering some new feat of Tania’s.

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