Akin_A Novel by Emma Donoghue

Author:Emma Donoghue [Donoghue, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Family Life, General, Literary
ISBN: 9781443458955
Google: pTJ-DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-09-03T18:23:57+00:00

V

Neither Here

nor There

In the morning Michael was up and dressed and antsy. “Can we get out of here?”

“Just give me a chance to dress. Are you that hungry?” Noah doubted the kid was getting enough sleep. Perhaps he should have taken the phone away from him last night, even if it had led to a fight.

“Did my mom answer?”

Noah rubbed his eyes and swiped his tablet, looking for the right app. “Ah, not yet. Remember it’s still nighttime for her. And she’s probably… I doubt she’s allowed at the computer whenever she likes.” Noah tried to imagine the compulsory beat of an incarcerated day.

Breakfast was served downstairs in a dining room with see-through chairs and pictures of palm trees. Old American pop played over the speakers. Noah’s large crème was about a quarter the size of a New York latte, but he appreciated the hit. Michael turned up his lip at the cucumber water and rejected the croissants, but drank both their glasses of orange juice.

Would the boy’s stomach be a vat of acid now? Oh well, vitamin C, at least.

“On Saturday, there’s a Bataille des Fleurs—a mock battle—with people dressed up and throwing flowers at the crowd,” Noah told Michael.

“Do we get to throw them?”

“Well, I think the idea is for us to catch them, as many as we can.”

“Lame,” Michael muttered.

“Then on Sunday night we’re going to the Corso, the Carnival parade. But I haven’t planned anything else. What kind of thing should we get up to today?”

A shrug.

“We could take a train to a town called Menton where they make pictures out of lemons. Huge sculptures—scenes, really.”

“Just lemons?” The boy was incredulous.

“Various citrus fruit. I guess they had a glut one February, too big a harvest, so they had to get creative,” Noah said. “Want to check it out?”

Michael mimed putting a gun to his head and firing.

“OK, no lemons. Let’s see. I do want to visit my grandfather’s grave in the old cemetery at some point.” He might even spot the rectangle with the circle and two dashes, if it was a tomb.

“More dead people? Not today,” Michael pleaded.

Noah supposed the Nice war museum would come under the same heading. “What about a gallery, then? The South of France has always been full of artists.”

“We did that already in Manhattan. The drainpipe pic.”

Noah licked his finger to collect a flake of croissant. “Are you going to say no to everything?”

The boy jerked his head toward the ceiling. “Just leave me in the room, chillin’.”

“I can’t do that.” Tempting, though. As a Person in Parental Relationship, surely Noah had the right to leave an eleven-year-old on his own once in a while? “What about…there’s a sort of zoo, with otters and iguanas and, ah, lemurs, I believe.”

“I’m not some little kid.”

Noah got to his feet. “True. But you’ve used up all your vetoes.”

“My what, now?”

“Your no votes. Let’s go.”

“Not the freaking lemons!”

“I promise, no lemons.”

They went up to the room for Noah to brush his teeth and collect his satchel.

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.