Free Flesh and Other Fragments of Love by Evelyne de La Chenelière Page B

Benson

FRAGMENTS
    1. The Landscape
    2. The Corpse
    3. Blood and Tears
    4. The Belly
    5. The Fist
    6. The Chest
    7. The Tongue
    8. The Flesh
    9. The Brain
    10. The Heart

CHARACTERS
    Simone
    Pierre
    Mary

1. THE LANDSCAPE
    SIMONE
    (to PIERRE)
A body?
    What kind of body?
    Whose body?
    Where?
    What time?
    How?
    How long ago?
    Hair?
    Gulls?
    Hands?
    Eyes?
    A man or a woman?
    A woman, of course, a woman, I was sure of it.
    Did you touch her?
    Did you touch her, Pierre?
    Was she beautiful, soft, white?
    Are you sad, devastated, frightened, disgusted?
    You don’t want to tell me?
    Why?
    She’s yours?
    You don’t want to share her with me?
    You don’t want her to bring us together?
    You want her to drive us farther apart?
    Do you love her?
    Do you love her more than me?
    Why do you love her?
    Do you still love me?
    Pierre?
    Do you love me?
    Why don’t you love me more?
    Pierre?
    Do you want to love me more?
    Even more?
    Do you want to love me till death do us part?
    How can you accept that death will part us?
    Pierre?
    Are you going to let death part us?
    *
    PIERRE
    I was walking on the beach.
    I don’t know anything about the sea, the sun, the shore.
    Simone comes from the Mediterranean coast, while my roots are deep in the land of northern France.
    Go explore while I finish arranging everything.
    SIMONE
    He doesn’t know anything about the sea, the sun, the shore.
    I come from the Mediterranean coast, while Pierre’s roots are deep in the land of northern France.
    I thought our geographies would be united in Ireland.
    I thought that, hand in hand, we would draw a new map together during this long vacation in Ireland.
    I picked bouquets for our vacation home in Ireland,
    I made tea in our vacation home in Ireland,
    I washed the sheets and linens in our vacation home in Ireland,
    I’ve almost finished arranging everything in our vacation home in Ireland,
    how beautiful it’s going to be, this vacation together in Ireland.
    Ireland can be grey, but it’s mostly green,
    we can stay inside when it rains.
    I called the children,
    let them know we had arrived safely,
    I know they don’t care, but still,
    they weren’t home anyway.
    Or they decided not to answer.
    I’m not worried.
    I’ll call back.
    I’m not worried.
    They’re enjoying it.
    Enjoying our absence.
    It’s good.
    To go away.
    Occasionally.
    We should make a bonfire on the beach,
    yes, what a good idea,
    when the rain stops
    we’ll make a fire on the beach and we’ll cook some fish.
    The rain has already stopped.
    Go explore while I finish arranging everything.
    I know you’re dying to do it.
    Your walking shoes are in the front hall.
    You forgot them in the car.
    I know you’ll end up walking barefoot,
    but take it easy, give your feet time to form calluses.
    Be careful, the paths are steep.
    You’ll find the beach on your own,
    you can hear the ocean from everywhere.

2. THE CORPSE
    PIERRE
    I was walking on the beach.
    At first I saw
    a dark tangled mass
    that I mistook for a pile of seaweed.
    I’ve always been drawn to
    those long strands of black algae.
    I find the minute details of marine vegetation
    as fascinating
    as the fine line where the sky meets the sea.
    Simone told me,
    Go explore while I finish arranging everything.
    She knows I like to go for a walk alone, sometimes.
    Get the lay of the land.
    I thought, that was nice, very considerate of Simone.
    She had guessed, once again, what I wanted
    and she was trying to accommodate me.
    I felt a wave of affection for her.
    I picked up my shoes in one hand,
    a walking stick in the other.
    I felt a bit old.
    I thought this vacation in Ireland was going to be good for Simone.
    Good for both of us.
    And I was happy.
    But before long I was annoyed when I thought about the scene. Irritated, actually.
    Go explore while I finish arranging everything.
    Behind this offer of freedom was a desire to control that I hated.
    Once again,