A Matter of Gravity by Hélène Vachon

Author:Hélène Vachon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Talonbooks
Published: 2014-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

20

“Listen to your recordings and compare, buddy. Anybody could tell. Anybody.”

Anybody, who exactly is that? he wonders as he walks along beside the park. The pedestrian hurrying toward me? The policeman directing traffic? The mother who just let go of her child’s hand and turned around, confused? Or the odd fellow gesticulating in front of the painter with the tractors, the unnerving bionic reader with the divine hands. Twenty-six seconds. He was 17, and I, 32.

He stops right in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing the people behind him to stop short and go around him. He retraces his steps, goes into the park, spots a bench, and drops onto it. The drizzle has gradually changed to rain. The painter with the tractors is hastily gathering up her things, assisted by Number 17, who takes off his jacket and covers the lady’s shoulders. With the canvas and the easel wedged under his left elbow, he slips his right arm under the old woman’s arm and leads her, taking careful little steps. So many precautions, thinks Number 32.

He follows them with his eyes for a moment, unable to move or turn his attention elsewhere. Once the pair is out of sight, he leans back on the bench. Could he express an opinion on my music? he wonders finally. He sees the full silhouette again, the shoulders sagging under an invisible weight, the light brown hair that grows low on the neck. Would he have that particular talent of being able to say yes or no, it’s still okay or it’s not anymore, it was better before, it’s just as good today.

Anybody could tell.

It’s raining hard now. His eyes riveted on the deserted bench, he merely turns up the collar of his jacket. And while the park empties, while mothers call their children home with loud cries, while lovers laugh and raise the flimsy shelter of their damp clothing over their heads, his body curls up in a long, slow movement, closing around itself, spine curving, knees pulling up to the stomach, the primal body become one again, round, impervious.

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