Belle Pearl (18 page)

“You mustn’t see him if he scares you, sweetie,” Pearl advised her.

“He told me that we’re meant to be together, that he can’t live without me. That I’m his life, his breath, his moon and stars.”

“Fancy words coming from such a tough man.”

“He’s crazy about me.”

“
Crazy
sounds like a good word to describe him. You’re in love?” Pearl asked.

I moved on to the kitchen. I didn’t want to intrude anymore. I fixed us all some sandwiches and drinks but as I came back towards the living room with the tray, I heard more. I stopped in my tracks.

“You know, each time I cut myself, it makes me feel better. Like a relief.”

“You need to see someone about this, Elodie. You could wind up bleeding to death.”

“I stopped. I’d stopped for ages.”

“But you started again?” Pearl asked softly.

“Just that one time.”

“Honey, you need to stay here with us. Sort yourself out. See a therapist, you know; we need to find you a professional to talk to.”

I stood there, wanting to come in but I was hesitant about interrupting their heartfelt conversation. If I budged, they’d know I was there. I remained motionless, hoping they’d move onto another topic and I could make my entrance. Then I missed a bit as they were talking in such quiet voices. Then Pearl asked:

“So you told your mom about the rape?”

“No, never.”

“Why not?”

“Because I was so young—I thought if I didn’t talk about it, it would go away.”

Pearl’s tone was gentle but ominous. “It never goes away, not even if you have amnesia.”

That’s when I came into the room. “Who’s got amnesia?” I said lightheartedly. “Rex? Forgotten he’s already had a load of popcorn and is now after our sandwiches?”

“Thanks, honey,” Pearl said, helping me unload the tray. “I could eat…I was about to say ‘a horse’ but I guess with the French eating horses, that isn’t such a great expression.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I sang. “Very funny. I’ll have you know the other day, in some ‘health food’ takeout restaurant, somewhere near Washington Square, they were serving up kangaroo meat, so it’s not just the French.”

“That’s gross.” Elodie winced.

“We should all be like Leonardo da Vinci,” I said. “All be full-on vegetarians, then we could feel blameless.”

“Apparently lettuces scream when you pull them up,” Elodie told us, but then she shifted her eyes mournfully to the Jim Dine painting on the wall that I’d given Pearl for her engagement gift: the multi-colored heart. Elodie’s look said,
I wish I could find that kind of love.
“I’m going to bed. Let you two love birds be in peace.”

“Don’t you want a sandwich?” I asked.

“No, I’m good. And it’s so late. So Parisian, to eat at this hour. Night. See you in the morning.”

“Night, sweetie. We’ll talk some more tomorrow.” Pearl blew her a kiss and sank back into the sofa. She tucked her legs under her, and spread out her beautiful chiffon dress.

We delved into the sandwiches. Five minutes later, I couldn’t contain my curiosity any longer. “I know it was a private girls’ talk but I did overhear a bit of your conversation.”

Pearl shook her head. “Eavesdropper.”

“I know. I’m sorry. But I
worry
about my niece; I want to help her. If I’d known what her problems were, perhaps she wouldn’t have fallen into the arms of the wrong man in the first place.”

“She’s young and impressionable. Mikhail Prokovich is handsome, rich, charming. He dates supermodels. And he made a beeline for her. She must have been very flattered; very swept off her feet. It’s not surprising she fell for him.”

I bit into a corner of my cheese sandwich and realized that cheese wasn’t the best choice so late at night. Perhaps we’d be awake for hours. “I heard the word ‘rape,’ I admitted.

“Elodie told me that in
confidence,
Alexandre.”

“I still overheard. What happened? And when?”

Pearl dabbed her lips with a napkin, rested her hands on her mouth as if considering whether she should divulge another person’s secret. I looked at her expectantly. Then she sighed and finally said, “It was her best friend’s older brother. She thought it was her first kiss but he went further and forced her to have sex with him. She’d had a crush on him for years and was crazy about him, but in an innocent, sweet way. But he took her against her will. Apparently, he was a real brute about it. She was only fourteen. He was much older—nineteen. Worse, he wanted nothing to do with her afterwards and her best friend abandoned her, so she felt totally betrayed all round.”

I scrunched up my brow. “Six degrees of separation. But from rape of some kind. It amazes me how many people have been affected directly, or indirectly, by abuse. Join the fucking club. Poor thing. About the same time she started dressing like a Goth and wearing spiky heels.”

“Exactly. Her defense mechanism.”

“I also heard the word ‘cut,’ ” I said.

Pearl grimaced. “Unfortunately, she’s a cutter.”

“You sound like you’re familiar with that term.”

“My brother, John…you know, he also cut himself. Sadly, it’s quite common.”

I screwed up my face, imagining a slicing razor blade. “Ouch.”

“Elodie’s thing is words. I noticed a scar on her stomach a few weeks ago and tonight I asked her about it. It seemed the right moment as she was confiding in me.”

“What do you mean,
her thing is words?”

“She carves words into her flesh. She cut the word JAMAIS into her hip.”

“The word ‘never’. Never what?”

“She said it made her feel better. And in control.”

I raked my hands through my hair. “Jesus. Poor girl. She needs to see a shrink or a therapist.”

“She says she
is
already seeing someone.”

I let out a lungful of air which I didn’t realize I’d been holding in. “Is this what we’re in for, for the next twenty years? Fucked-up kids who carve themselves and end up playing bondage games with ruthless arms dealers? Maybe becoming parents was a bad idea, Pearl.”

“Oh, so I guess you heard that part of our talk too?” Pearl raised her brows. “You caught that part of our
private
conversation? About the kinky stuff?”

“I told you when we met, I think girls Elodie’s age are too young to get wrapped up in sexual games like that. Yes, I heard your conversation. I have ears like Rex—sorry but I can’t help it.
La Legion
made me that way. I hear everything. See everything, whether I like it or not.”

“You’re right about her being impressionable—she said she was playing along to please him but he got out of control. And that she became scared of him.”

“He better stay the fuck away from her.”

“And what if she doesn’t want him to? She’s an adult; we can’t control her life. She has to choose for herself, Alexandre.”

“I’ll talk to her again tomorrow,” I said.

17

B
ut I didn’t get a chance to talk to Elodie the following day because she disappeared before I’d even gotten out of bed. She left her phone behind so I couldn’t call her. I stood in the spare room—Elodie’s clothing and make-up scattered all over the floor. I had no idea where she had gone. Out for breakfast? Would she be back any moment? I was contemplating contacting Sophie but my sister got there first. I answered my cell.

“What the fuck,” Sophie began, her voice a pack of ice.

I knew what she was referring to. I couldn’t resist an,
I told you so.
“Well, if you hadn’t been so gung-ho about having meetings with that shifty bastard in the first place—”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s all my fault. And now Elodie hates me because of Alessandra.”

“You should have talked to her a long time ago about all that. What did you expect? Elodie’s an adult now; she had a right to know. You betrayed her by not trusting her and keeping her in the dark. So yes, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you to repair the damage.”

Sophie groaned into the receiver. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, dear brother.”

“Sophie, you need to come out of the closet. It’s not fair on anybody, least of all Elodie. Not to mention your poor longsuffering husband.”

“ ‘Poor, longsuffering husband’ has been having affairs for years. Neither of us asks the other any questions; we lead separate lives.”

“Fine, but Elodie shouldn’t be piggy in the middle.”

“Where is she? She won’t answer her phone and I want to talk to her. She told me last night she’d be staying with you. I was thinking of coming over but thought I should call first.”

“She’s not here. She’s upset. Upset with you, upset with having got involved with Prokovich, upset with shit that went down in her past.”

“What shit?”

“That’s for her to tell. It’s not my place.”

“She’s been confiding in you and not me?” Sophie’s voice cracked—it sounded as if the floodgates were about to open.

“Not exactly. Look, I’m not going to discuss Elodie’s private affairs with you. Ask her yourself,” I said.

Sophie gave out a loud sigh. “She told me she didn’t want anything to
do
with me.”

“She’ll come around—just give it time. Look, I’ve got to go. I can hear the babies waking up.”

“Wow, you’re taking fatherhood so seriously.”

“You bet. I want to be the father I never had myself.”

“Talk to Elodie for me, will you. Please get her to call me.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Anyway,” I said later, in an angry rush, while Pearl and I were up on the roof terrace having lunch in the conservatory—my eyes fixed on Pearl as if it were all her fault. “What the fuck happened with your documentary on exposing arms dealers? You even had dinner with the bastard, why haven’t you told the world what an asshole he is already?”

“I wish it were that easy,” Pearl replied calmly, deflecting my rage with a flick of her wrist.

“Well what’s the fucking problem? His name is all over the news now. He and I are more notorious than ever. Grab him while you can!”

“He’s a slippery fish, Mikhail Prokovich—you know that. There’s no proof, as such. You can’t go around accusing someone of something
that major
until you have the guilty package all wrapped up with a nice big bow. The more famous they are, the more delicate the situation.”

“Well hurry up about it, baby; I’m losing patience.”

“Oh, we’re working on it, believe me. The research is complicated.
He
is complicated. Clever. It’s hard to link him directly to any shady dealings. If we attack at this point, we could lose everything—all our hard work up till now. We need to be patient. Plus, he’s connected to governments and big businesses. We’re in cahoots with 60 Minutes and the BBC’s Panorama, because we need clout. HookedUp Enterprises can’t do this alone. We could get our asses sued if we aren’t careful. And despite your little quip about Europeans not suing, I’m sure we’d have Prokovich’s lawyers jumping down our throats, crawling all over us, the second they could.”

My fists were clenched in tight balls while Pearl coolly sliced a piece of homemade quiche for us both and served us each a small portion of green salad. She carefully poured us each a glass of Pinot Grigio, the crisp white wine—as chilled as she was.

I had married a headstrong woman who complimented my character in every way. She wasn’t riled by things when it came to her career. It seemed she had everything managed, including me. Her presence calmed me.

I had certainly chosen the perfect woman to be my wife.

“Anyway,” I concluded, “that fuck has some heavy karma coming his way. By hook or by crook, he’ll pay for being such an asshole.”

Pearl started laughing.

“What’s so funny? Are you laughing at my accent, Mrs. Chevalier? The fact that I don’t pronounce the H?”

“Not your accent but I love it when you use expressions like ‘by hook or by crook.’ Do we even know where that comes from? Crook, as in crooked? Hook, as in a shepherd’s hook or something?”

“It’s probably derived from some obscure village in England called Crook or Hook. Anyway, right now, my focus is on Elodie. I’m worried about her. Obviously she left her cell phone behind on purpose so I can’t find her.”