The Waiting Room
~ Chapter Eighteen
The Frenchman and Sparrow's Secret Place
“Why
would you do such a thing?” Wood asked, looking at the
destroyed
megaphone. “What has that megaphone ever done to
you?”
“I’m
not cleaning that up!” Grape yelled across the room He was
tired of
cleaning up after everyone. He just wasn’t going to do it
anymore.
Wood and DeMarco both brought their gaze up to look at
the man. They suddenly realized they did not recognize him.
“Where
did you come from?” Wood asked. He was Wood’s
height (and who
wasn’t, in the room), wearing a long, tan coat. A European
cigarette hung from his mouth, the smoke curled upward towards the
ceiling.
“Jesus,” Raoul exclaimed taken aback at the
stranger, setting his accordion aside. “Where in blue blazes
did
you come from? Who the hell are you?”
The newcomer shook
his head, indicating he did not understand what was being said.
“English? You speak f--king English, don’t
you?” Jung
yelled across the room.. The stranger shook his head again, holding
his hands up in a questioning manner. “Oh, f--k, he sent in
another
damn foreigner. Aren’t there any more Americans out
there?”
At
Jung’s words, several of the men turned to glare at him,
especially
Cesar, DeMarco, and Victor. Bon Bon wanted to glare but felt it was
not ladylike.
“Francais?” the man asked.
“French?
You are from France?” DeMarco asked.
Wood laughed. “Well
if he’s speaking French I’d say it’s a
50-50 chance he’s from
France” The director turned to the room, but felt naked with
the
megaphone. Instead he cupped his hands to his mouth.
“French?
Does anyone here speak Parisian?” Wood tried to add humor.
“Perhaps I can be of some assistance?” Rochester
stepped
over to the small group. “I am versed in several languages,
French
being a minor one.”
“Good,” Wood relinquished his place
near the Frenchman, “perhaps you can find out why he is here?
And
why did he find it necessary to demolish my megaphone.”
Rochester
bowed slightly to Wood, and rattled the questions off in French. The
Frenchman listened, aware that the man before him was not as educated
in his language as he thought. Instead of asking why he was there,
Rochester’s inquiry became, “What were you doing to
get in this
room?”
“Quelqu'un s'est marié et a eu un bon
nombre d'enfants”
Rochester translated.
“He says
someone was getting married and having lots of children. Makes no
sense if you ask me.”
“Maybe your French is rusty.”
Wood said. “Ask about the megaphone.”
Rochester tried
again, asking why the Frenchman had demolished Wood’s prized
possession.
“Ils rapportent de mauvaises mémoires.
Mon ami Carrie a eu un accident grave avec un. Je suis
désolé.
Je ne peux pas me commander quand je vois un.”
Rochester
adjusted the dog in his arms as he shook his head.
“He says
they bring back bad memories. That he can’t help himself when
he
sees megaphones. Something about a bad accident and his friend
Carrie.”
“Carrie?” a voice came from up in the rafters.
All eyes went upward to see Sparrow. “Ahh, yes,
Carrie.” The
pirate smiled to himself. When they saw him they assumed he was still
in search of the monkey. The distraction was enough for the room to
forget about the Frenchman and the megaphone.
But as he clung
to the rafters Sparrow continued to smile as he remembered his little
angel, Carrie. He turned back to the top of the book stacks where he
put the finishing touches on Megan and Sammy’s name, then
started
carving a large letter “C”, knowing at last that
Roux would never
find them there.