Perfectly Ordinary People(11)

‘Goodnight to you both, then,’ Dad said. ‘I, um, love you. You do know that, don’t you?’

‘Of course I do Dad,’ I said. ‘I love you too.’

And then just as I was putting the phone down, I heard him say ‘I . . .’ but it was too late. The phone had hit the base and when I raised it to my ear again all I got was dial tone.

I waited for a moment, hoping he’d call back to say whatever it was. And then I hesitated about whether to phone him myself, my finger hovering above the keypad.

But then Buggles jumped up on to the bed and nuzzled my hand, so, with a shrug, I put the handset down. ‘Hello you,’ I told him. ‘Would you like to hear a story about some wolves?’ He didn’t seem particularly interested.

I reclined on the bed to stroke him and I thought about how little I’d known my grandmother, or indeed how little I knew my own father. I thought of Grandpa Chris, then, and wondered if getting to know him might be the key to finding more out about them both.

At that point I still hadn’t the faintest idea just how much there was to know.





Cassette #1

ML: OK, so . . . it’s the twenty-first of June 1986 and this is Marie Lefebvre, interviewing Genevieve Schmitt for Gai Pied magazine.

GS: Sorry, but before we get started, why are you called that?

Why am I called what?

Gay Foot. [Note from Translator: ‘Gai Pied’ – literally Gay Foot magazine.]

Oh, sorry, of course. Um, do you know the phrase ‘prendre son pied?’ [NT: To ‘take one’s foot’.]

Yes, of course I do. It means to have fun, yes?

Yes. And it also means, um, to have an orgasm, actually.

An orgasm.

Yes. And now I’ve shocked you, haven’t I?

Nothing shocks me, dear. Really, nothing. And of course I knew that too. I just forgot.

OK. Well, good.

So, Gai Pied. Is this interview for some sort of racy magazine then? Because I’d hate to disappoint.

No, no, not at all. The name of the magazine is, more . . . Well, it’s an honesty thing, I suppose. They dare to write about everything, including sex. I suppose the point is not to have any hang-ups.

Right. OK, well, I’ll bear that in mind.

Yes, please don’t ever feel you have to censor anything.

No censorship. OK. I can do that.

So shall we get started?

We probably should. But don’t you need to switch that thing on first?

This? The recorder? Oh, it’s already running. That’s why that green light is on.

Oh, OK. Fine. I kind of expected it to be whirring and clicking or something.

It is very quiet. It’s brand new. I just bought it. But the thingy is going round. Look.

Oh yes. That’s a tiny cassette.

Yes. But each side lasts a full hour. Neat, huh?

I like your hair, by the way. It wasn’t that colour when we met before, was it?

No, I was blonde, I think.

Well, I like it. Pink suits you.

Thanks. My partner did it.

But I’m drifting off track, aren’t I? You’re going to have to be much harsher with me if we’re ever going to get this done.

<Laughs> Don’t worry. I’ll get my whip out if need be.

Well, that might make things a little racier for Gai Pied.

You’re naughty! So . . . Where do you want to start?

I thought you’d probably have a plan.

Not a plan as such. But I thought maybe you’d simply start by telling me about when you met?

When I met who?

Well, Ethel, of course! When did you meet?

Oh, OK. So, we met when we were both thirteen . . . And I’m sixty-five now, so that would have been . . . Actually, can you work that out? I’m not so good with mental arithmetic – 1933 or ’34 I think, but . . .

Well, 1986 now minus your age – sixty-five – must mean that you were born in 1921, right?

Yes. I know that!

Plus thirteen – because you met when you were thirteen – so, that would be 1934. Does that sound about right?

I’m so silly! Of course it was 1934.

And how did you meet?

Quite simply at school. We’d seen each other around for years . . . We were in the same year, though not the same class. So I’m not sure if that counts as an actual first meeting. But that’s when we became friends.

And this was all in Mulhouse, in Alsace?

Yes. You know that.

I’m sorry, it’s just for the interview. For the tape . . . Sometimes I’ll have to ask you things I already know.

Of course.

I don’t suppose you remember the actual date for any reason?

No, I’m sorry. But it was summer. It was hot. That much I remember. We were in the playground.

So June or July, maybe? Before the summer break?

Possibly. It was after the Night of the Long Knives, if that helps.

The Night of the Long Knives?

Yes. You know about that, don’t you? You must have studied it in school.

I’m sorry, but no, I don’t think we did.

It’s the night Hitler killed Ernst R?hm. Oh, you don’t know about him either? Ernst R?hm was a very high-ranking Nazi. And he and some other high rankers weren’t happy about the way the whole Nazi project was going. There was a power struggle going on, I think, between different wings of the party. And on that night – I can’t remember the date so you’ll have to look it up – Hitler and his SS men murdered them all. [NT: June 30th, 1934.]