Travel with Rain

Tucker drew in the smell of cigarette smoke.  It was never the good stuff here in France, though he was sure the French would disagree.  The smokes here had a harsh taste to them, none of that earthy flavor from back home.  Of course he could only take in the traces of the stuff second hand since he’d quit two years ago.  Still, the thought of a pack of reds always set the cravings off, it never really goes away. 

A cold breeze hit him and he looked back to the Airbnb he’d booked long term.  It was pretty good, much better than the dank student apartments available around town.  The guy who ran it was here pretty regular as of late. 

“Bonjour Francois!”

“No! It is evening now.  You must say bonne soirée.” Responded the landlord.

Tucker chuckled a little and turned to go in saying, “right, I’ve got to remember that. Bonne soirée Francois”.

He could hear him saying it twice in reply as he went in the door.  The place was made out of an old town house.  The rooms had been converted into little studio apartments.  Tucker wasn’t the only guest, but things were typically very quiet.

He sat down to have a cup of coffee and read an article.  It was an expat newspaper he had subscribed to.  It always amazed him how even here in France the news was still about politics back home.  You would think an expat paper in France would talk about things happening in France.  Maybe some people are just homesick for chaos.

Tucker’s thoughts were interrupted by some commotion.  Sound carried through the old house as if it were just one big room.  It was the landlord, apparently having an argument with one of the other tenants.  She was a Chinese girl, a student if he had to guess.  He didn’t like getting into other peoples business, but it was hard not to take notice when it sounded as if they were standing in the same room.  When he started to hear conversation about relationships he figured it was time to go out. 

Tucker had lived all over the place, mostly in Asia.  Usually there was an expat bar where everybody went, but France was different.  The only way was to call around and see where everybody was going.  After sending a couple messages back and forth it turned out to be L’Atomic tonight.  The place was a dimly lit dive, absolutely perfect for someone seeking anonymous comfort over the finer things in life. 

Someone shouted his name as he walked in the door.  It was Matthew, a large Canadian that sometimes reminded him of Santa Claus.  Tucker went and sat at the table.

“How’s things man?” asked Matthew in his usual jolly way.

“It’s been alright, but the neighbors been arguing” came the reply from Tucker.

“So that’s why you’re out tonight eh?” Matthew said.

It was less a question, and more an observation.  Tucker wasn’t one to spend his evenings drinking in bars.  It made him want to smoke, which was a sort of torture since he wasn’t going to give into it. 

“So what are they arguing about?” asked Matthew.

Tucker looked back from the bottles he was staring at on the wall and sighed. 

“You know most arguments are about money or extra relationships, this was about the latter.” said Tucker.

“So one of them’s been playing around then?” asked Matthew.

“No, the girl was arguing over a past relationship.  Typical jealousy stuff.  It was my landlord and another tenant, so I got out of there.” said Tucker.

Tucker wasn’t sure of the exact relationship between the Chinese girl and the landlord.  Up until the moment he heard their argument he would never have thought there was anything between them.  All he knew about him was that he was an older gentleman who worked hard, and owned the building.

This latest incident reminded him too much of the old retirees in the Philippines.  Always some retired American or Brit with a girl desperate to escape the slums that he can boss around and trophy about.  The landlord didn’t strike him as being that shameless though.  There must be more to it, there is always more to it.

The others soon joined them.  The tables were small, so they ended up taking two.  Tucker didn’t like to drink too heavily.  That was one of the things he liked about Matthew being there.  They would both get beer, and wouldn’t get drunk.

The bar was open until 3AM, but Tucker called it quits at 10PM.  When he left, some of the others were already about falling out of their chairs.  He never got like that.  He didn’t like the idea of being remembered like that.  The city was quiet now, and the cold air felt sort of refreshing.  He walked slowly back to the studio, not really thinking about anything particular. 

As he walked up to the studio he saw the Chinese girl just finishing up a phone call.  He wondered why she would come outside to make the call.  He started talking to her, because it would have been awkward not to.  She seemed nice enough, and the fact she spoke fluent English made conversation easy.  From the conversation he confirmed she was in the country as a student, but was surprised to learn she came over from America, and not China. 

“So how about you and the landlord?  Are you guys together or something?” Asked Tucker.

“Kind of together.  It’s a very complicated thing though” She said.

Tucker didn’t want to dig any further into the issue, but he was curious why an educated girl at her age would be in a relationship with an older gentleman like the landlord.  Sometimes it just comes down to what people find attractive, but he could never understand the appeal an older person found in a relationship with someone who had half their life experience.  He said goodnight, and went up to his studio.  It was late, and he was tired.

The next day he was awakened by someone banging on the door.  He threw on a robe and opened the door a crack.  He was surprised to see an older woman standing there looking frantic.

“Is everything alright?  Can I help you with something?” asked Tucker.

The woman did her best to respond in English, “It’s not alright.  I am looking for someone.  I am looking for the man who owns this home.  He is my husband.”

This took Tucker by surprise.  He figured the landlord was unmarried, but then the French do seem to play it loose sometimes with mistresses and such.

“Well I haven’t seen him today, but I haven’t been up as you can see.  Maybe he’s gone to do something with his plane, but I’m sure he’ll be back.  He’s here quite a bit lately.” said Tucker.

He felt bad for the lady.  She really looked stressed, almost panicked.  He figured it would be best to avoid mentioning the relationship between the landlord and the Chinese girl.  The last thing he wanted was to get caught in the middle of some love triangle.

“Yes, I am sure he is doing something of flying his plane, or someone is flying his plane.  I will come back to find him.” She said and then left.

This entire thing had just taken a left turn.  Luckily it was quiet over the next few days.  There was no sign of either the landlord, the Chinese girl, or the angry wife.  Just coffee, writing, and the occasional trip to the boulangerie.  Then they arrived.

Tucker was partly asleep when he was awakened by some noise.  It was the landlord and the Chinese girl arguing.  He could hear the Chinese girl telling the landlord to go back to his doctor woman.  He wondered if that was the wife he had encountered before. 

“I’m not your kid! I don’t have to do what you say!” yelled the Chinese girl.

Tucker couldn’t make out the landlords response.  Either he didn’t really care what the girl was saying, or he was just really good at keeping his cool.  There was no way he was going to go out at this point, so he did his best to ignore it and get some sleep.

The next day he encountered the landlord doing some chores around the house. 

“bonjour Francois” Tucker said.

“Yes, you said it at the right time of day, bonjour, very good.” Replied the landlord.

It was sort of impressive how someone could go through an argument like that the night before, and then be perfectly at ease.  He had to know that the argument had been heard.  Who doesn’t know their own house?  Maybe he was just one of those people who couldn’t be phased by anything. 

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.  A lady who said she was your wife was here looking for you.  She said she would be back by.  Did she get in contact with you?”  Asked Tucker.

“She’s not my wife.  What did she want from you?” Said the landlord in a surprisingly annoyed tone.  It seemed that he was able to show emotion at times.

“She just came to the door looking for you.”  Responded Tucker.

“Did she go near my car?” asked the landlord.

“I don’t know, I only saw her at my door.” Tucker responded, somewhat confused by the question.

The landlord continued, “no, that’s fine.  Did she ask about the girl who is staying in the other studio?”

Tucker explained that she had only come to the door looking for the landlord.  He said his good day again, and then turned to go to the market.  As he looked back he saw the landlord moving his car out onto the street. 

The supermarket in France is very much like an American supermarket, but with better food.  That is, mostly better food.  Tucker missed having access to fresh milk all the time.  The stuff in France was most likely irradiated.  It was never refrigerated, and could last a long time on the shelf.  That had its advantages, but it just didn’t taste the same.  The other place France was lacking, and he knew any respectable foodie in France would hate him for saying, was cold cuts.  He would never admit openly his dissatisfaction with the lunch meat available in France, saving him from a loss of face.

Everything else was excellent.  When it came to making food, even the supermarket in France had better offerings than most restaurants back home.  He was always getting a bit of pork.  It served as dinner and lunch the next day.

He almost froze in his tracks as he was walking back, but it was too late by the time he saw her.  There was the “wife” out in front of the house.  Since she had seen him he continued toward the house.  He could see now that she was quite upset, and looked as if she might have been crying.  This entire thing was getting to be too much.

“Hello!  Have you seen the owner of the house today?”  She said as he approached.

“I saw him earlier.  I told him you’d been by the other day.” Responded Tucker.

She followed him into the house talking about the landlord, and their relationship.  Tucker felt bad for her.  He had never seen someone her age falling to pieces like this.

“Were you going to wait for him to come back?  Can I get you a cup of coffee or something?” asked Tucker.

She came in and sat down, so he put the groceries away and got some coffee ready.  Again he couldn’t help seeing this as a bit strange, like someone’s grandmother caught up in a high school love triangle or something.  He realized at that same moment that she was probably closer to his own parents age, but it didn’t change the strangeness of the situation.

“This is good coffee” said the “wife”.

“I wish I could say it was because I knew how to make great coffee, but it’s the beans.  It’s one of the two things I spend money on, the other being film.”  Responded Tucker.

“So you are a photographer?” asked the “wife”.

“It’s how I can afford that good coffee.” Chuckled Tucker.  “By the way, I didn’t get your name.  What should I call you?”

“Charlotte, you can call me by Charlotte.” She replied.

“Alright Ms. Charlotte.  So what’s going on between you and your husband?” asked Tucker.

“Well, I am sorry to bother you with all these things.  He is not exactly my husband, but we have been together for ten years that he has been living at my home.” Said Charlotte.

“Where I come from that would make him your legal husband.  I’ve noticed he’s been staying here quite a bit lately.”  Responded Tucker.

“Yes, I told him to go.”  Said Charlotte.

She explained the whole of their relationship.  Tucker didn’t know why, but people always seemed to trust him with these kinds of things.  He figured there was something about his face that just made people open up to him, like an unofficial confessional of sorts. 

According to Ms. Charlotte, the two of them had met while they were both still married.  The landlord would take her to eat lunch or shop in exotic places with his airplane.  Their relationship had gone on for quite some time before he was discovered by his then wife, and he confessed everything.  Then her own husband found her out, and both marriages were wrecked.

“He brought this upon me you know.  He initiated the relationship.  So after all, he has gone to a younger girl.  He thinks I would not know about this little Chinese doll, or maybe its all just a game for him.” Said Ms. Charlotte.

She finished her coffee and then thanked him for giving his ear before leaving.  As he washed the cups he couldn’t help a bit of a chuckle at just how crazy relationships could make even the most experienced people. 

The next few days were quiet, but he had the sense to start looking for a way out.  He reached out to his contacts back in Taiwan and Japan looking for a sort of landing place once he got out of here.  He was in the middle of checking replies to his e-mails when the fireworks started.

He heard two familiar women’s voices outside, that of Ms. Charlotte and the Chinese girl. 

“Why don’t you just speak English?  I know you can’t speak enough of French”.  He heard Ms. Charlotte saying.

He stealthily looked out the window, and could see the Chinese girl was very upset over the comment.

You’re just an old woman who can’t accept she is old.  You go from man to man like you are young!” Yelled the Chinese girl.

“And who has told you this?  Francois?  Just look at you.  What do you want from him?  What are you expecting?  You are just a silly girl!” retorted Ms. Charlotte.

About this time he heard the voice of the landlord as he made his way over to the fighting women.  Tucker was surprised to see how harshly he dealt with the Chinese girl, telling her to stop talking. 

“No!  I am not going to take that from this old woman!” replied the Chinese girl.

“You don’t have the words to talk with her, just go back into the house.” Said the landlord very harshly.  Then he said something in French to Ms. Charlotte.  Tucker didn’t know French well enough to have a conversation, but he knew enough to understand what was being said.  The landlord said to remember his letter, and they would work it out soon.

Tucker realized then that the Chinese girl had also understood as she said, “So what?  You said all of that about never giving up on being with me?  All of that about you love me?  So what about that?  I’m just going to get my things and leave!”

In response the landlord turned on her saying, “No you won’t.  Where will you go?  To prostitute yourself to stay with one of your fellow students?  You have nothing to go with.  Just go in and I will deal with these things.”

A few days later Tucker was sitting in an airport lounge in Dubai thinking over everything that had happened in France.  There were details missing, but the mind always wants to make sense of things, and often fills in the gaps to do so. 

From what he could see, there were two very different relationship dynamics at play within the triangle at the house.  In one relationship the landlord lived in his mistresses home.  Men, no matter what they say, never like to be reliant on others.  At least its very rare to find a man who is comfortable living off of a woman.  Maybe that dynamic started to bother the landlord, and it soured the relationship. 

A lot of this happens without the person even being conscious of it.  The relationship with the Chinese girl, a girl who could be his daughter, may have even come in response to that need for more control, for more power in his own life.  If it was true, then it showed in the way he spoke so condescendingly to her.

Then there was Ms. Charlotte.  Tucker was sure she had told the landlord to leave her home, but it seemed that she had come to regret it.  She is old, and prospects are few at that age.  Maybe she came to realize that too, and saw the truth in that old saying, “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t”.  That is not to say that the landlord is a devil, just that she knew him for so long, and who wants to be alone in their life?

Finally there was the Chinese girl.  She was the biggest mystery of all.  She seemed so accomplished, so well educated.  Typically the girls you see clinging to an older man are uneducated, and desperately trying to escape the circumstances of their birth.  This girl had come to France as an American, and seemed to be no idiot.  He could only guess.  Maybe she had an absent father, or came from a broken home.

Who really knows in the end?  The final confrontation did show one important truth that Tucker would always remember.  When in a conflict, when faced with a choice, a persons loyalties will be revealed.  When faced with that choice, all of the nice words and feelings to out the window, and you will know by whether they choose you or not.  If there is any reluctance, or attempts at compromise when there is none to be had, you will know how loyal they really are to you.