French Player

Chapter 3

     Barbar was the dream boy of every girl there. Slim and built, pale skin and blue eyed, all of the women fawned over him. Even for a french man, this was extreme. It was late into the night, the moon rose high in the starless sky, even the lateness of the hour couldn't dim the lights of Paris. Barbar leaned against the window seal and gazed over his beloved home, behind him the little girl moaned softly in her sleep. He moved over to her bed and ran his fingers through her blonde hair, the same color as his own. The girl whimpered and held his hand, opening her violet eyes a crack, "Bar?" He smiled sweetly, "Bonjour amoureux, nightmares?" 

      The little girl sat up, "A little bit, thank you for waking me up." Barbar rubbed the back of her hand, "N'inquiétez pas le chouchou, vous savent que je vise à svp."Don't worry darling, you know I aim to please. She laughed, "Uncle don't sound so gross about it!" He kissed her forehead "Sorry Clarinda, I can't help it, habit." Eighteen years old and he had decided to take in his niece, after a year with her, he had no regrets.

     Bar laid down on the bed and Clair curled up against him like a kitten, it was some kind of magic that little girls at the age of eight could curl up like that comfortably. 'Uncle, can you tell me about her again?" Barbar hummed and closed his eyes, "Back when me and your mother were small, we had this pet cat that was always disappearing. Sometimes it was days before we saw it again. One day we were in the park playing and she heard him meowing in the tree. Terrified for him she had me help her climb into the tree by standing on my shoulders, she had almost reached the cat when I slipped and she had to grab a branch to keep from falling with me." Bar peeked a look at his niece, she was staring up at him with worry, "What happened?" 

     "She held on to that branch for well over an hour, calling to that stupid cat to come down to her. Finally a one of the other parents saw us and came to help, they tried to grab her, but you mother, that crazy girl, used their hands to climb further into the tree. Grabbed the cat, then slipped and fell to the ground." He smiled at the memory and kissed Clair's forehead, "Are you better now?" The little girl gripped her Uncle's shirt, "I wish I could remember her." He ruffled her hair and pulled the blanket up around her, "I'm sure you will one day." She smiled and closed her eyes once more, "Good night Bar." She fell back asleep and Barbar eased out of the bed.

     The small fraction of the story was nice, what he hadn't told Clair was that his sister tied the same cat in a bag and drowned it in the river. Bar rubbed his arm and pulled back the sleeve and traced the long scar from where he fell out of the tree so long ago, he didn't want to lie to the little girl about who saved the cat, but he didn't want to tell her the truth ether. Until a few years ago, he hadn't really thought about Claire's mother up till he had gotten a phone call from the hospital telling his his sister was dead and her daughter had nowhere to go. Mary had died in a car crash, Clair had been in the passenger's seat, Mary had been on drugs and many of Clair's bruising had come before the crash, some going back a week, some to the night before.

     He didn't know what all happened before the crash, all he did know was that Claire had lost all of her memories prior to the event. It was probably for the best not to remember, but that didn't make Barbar any less mad at Mary. Bar sighed and opened the window, slid out, then closed it. The street noise was deafening at first, but he slowly weaved it out, same for the smells. The park wasn't too far from his home, and at night only people looking for trouble stood at the entree. Barbar didn't want trouble, but he was headed there.

     It was a large group by the gate that night, so to avoid trouble he hopped the five foot fence. It was easy and saved a lot of time, the darkness away from the city lights would have been impossible for a normal person to see in, but Barbar's eyes had something special, most call it eye bright, caused his eyes to shine fluorescent green and made the shadows thin and easy to move through.

     

     Early in the morning Barbar walked Clair to school, "Uncle, I don't like school." He looked down at her, "Oh really? Why, you're only in the second grade?" She rolled her shoulder, "The others make fun of me. Whenever I do something different they say I forgot how to be normal." Bar scowled and knelt down to be closer to eye level with her. "In live, people who are different are treated terribly, laughed at, and even scolded for being so." Clarinda's eyes widened. "Even with all this, those who are different live extraordinary lives."

     He smiled and ruffled her hair, "Don't be ashamed or embarrassed about being different, live your life the way you want." He stood and took her hand, "Lets go get a parfett and skip school today." She grinned and skipped next to him all the way to the ice cream shop.

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