emcess2036

@@@@@ vi "Oui, all??" For a moment I said nothingThe French threw me a littleThe fact that it was a young man's voice threw me more "All?, all??" Impatient now"Qui est a l'appareil?" "Mmm, maybe I have the wrong number," I said, feeling not just like an asshole but a monolingual American asshole"I was trying to reach Melinda Freemantle "D'accord, you have the right number Then, off a little: "Melinda! C'est ton papa, je crois, ch?rie The phone went down with a clunkI had a momentary image - very clear, very politically incorrect, and very likely brought on by Pam's 567 mention of the cartoon books I'd once drawn for a little sick girl - of a large talking skunk in a beret, Monsieur Pep? Le Pew, strutting around my daughter's pension (if that was the word for a bedsitter-type apartment in Paris) with wavy aroma lines rising from his white-striped back Then Melinda was there, sounding uncharacteristically flustered"Dad? Daddy? Is everything all right?" "Everything's fine," I said"Is that your roommate?" It was a joke, but I realized from her uncharacteristic silence that I had unwittingly hit the nail on the head"It's not a big deal, LinnieI was just-" " - goofin wit me, right It was impossible to tell if she was amused or exasperatedThe connection was good but not that good The subtext of that one to come through loud and clear: Want to make something of it? I most assuredly did not want to make something of it"Well, I'm glad you made a friendDoes he wear a beret?" To my immense relief, she laughedWith Lin, it was impossible to tell which way a joke was going 568 to go, because her sense of humor was as unreliable as an April afternoonShe called: "Ric! Mon papa" Something I didn't catch, then: " si tu portes un b?ret!" There was faint male laughterAh, Edgar, I though