Augustino and the Choir of Destruction (23 page)

War Requiem
, Mélanie said it was their friend Franz who was conducting, did Mai remember him, listen to those choirs and soloists, she told her daughter, who seemed to be asleep on the seat and didn't answer, it's so moving, Franz is a musician who has gone through so many states of being to give us this music, and you know, they say that in the most beautiful music like this there is often a note left out, but I don't think there's one, some great musicians live such crazy lives that they end up getting killed, or they die in extreme poverty, the missing note, because they've given over their lives to music, Mai woke up in a leap of joy and opened the door, shouting, Mama, that's him, Emilio, over by the volleyball net, and when she caught up with him, all at once laughing and gay, Mélanie felt relieved, now she really knew where Mai was, in a circle of sand she was making around Emilio, his skin brown from the sun and his teeth sparkling more than ever in his delicate face, see how cute he is, Mama, and in this circle he's all mine, Mai exclaimed to her mother, at last Mélanie stopped being afraid that her daughter was not really there, not at the stadium nor walking the streets telling passers-by that she had no mother or father, Mélanie was thinking about seeing Renata that evening, unbelievable, wasn't it, that they were executing kids of sixteen, kids with parents like Mélanie and Daniel, who didn't know when they would see their children again, if ever, or perhaps see them die stoically in the glassed-in execution chamber with flames shooting through their sons' electrocuted bodies, maybe sometime soon even their daughters', look Mama, it's the flotilla, Mai cried, look, and Mélanie tilted her head to the sun, thinking about a life of struggle that was just beginning, how sweet it was still to be young, willing, determined in such a virulent world, and Ari told Lou, who was sitting on his lap, isn't it great to be on your own boat with Papa, it is our boat, you know, and I'm going to show you how to sail it,
Lou's Slipper
, listen to the waves, hear that, Lou had on the same outfit she wore when Ari took her to the gym each morning, where's Mama, I want Mama, she said, you'll see her on Thursday, Ari said, you see her every day from Thursday to Sunday, but today and tomorrow you're here with your papa, Mama, I want Mama, Lou sniffled reaching her arms out toward the marina where she had seen her mother head for the car, I want Mama, those were big birds on the wharves, she thought, and kittens she'd run around with, slapping her feet on the planks of the wharf, the marina, Mama's car, Mama's reddish hair, the litter of kittens, the landscape was receding, while Ari's boat — soon to be hers — moved seaward, the ocean that felt like nowhere, the huge place she didn't want to go, even on her father's lap, then she stopped crying, maybe he was right, she would be with her mother and her brother Jules on Thursday, her father kept saying, look how beautiful it all is, so beautiful, and in front of Pastor Jérémy's low, flat house amid the yellow grass, there were cocks and hens and chicks pecking away, Deandra and Tiffany were taking pictures for Carlos of Polly and Oreilles Coupées the dogs, if only they would stop wagging their tails, Polly should remember, they'd see Carlos and give him the picture on Sunday.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My thanks to Francine Dumouchel and to Marie Couillard for their constant and solid support, and to Claude for his enormous confidence.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marie-Claire Blais is the internationally renowned author of more than twenty-five books. She is a three-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and has also been awarded the Athanase-David Prize, the Medicis Prize, the Molson Prize, the Writers' Trust Matt Cohen Prize, and Guggenheim Fellowships. She lives in Quebec and Florida.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi's commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada's pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.”