Dancing in the Baron's Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page B

tomorrow,” he said.
    She stuffed the bills into her bra, her eyebrows knitted into a frown. “Enos’s doctor bills keep piling up, and we must paythem. Plus Madame Simeus won’t stop harassing me about rent. Are you going to solve all this by tomorrow?”
    â€œI said I’ll get more money tomorrow,” Raymond repeated. “What do you want me to do? I can’t work miracles—”
    â€œMaybe you should stop giving away free rides,” she said.
    This was not how he had envisioned ending the day, but it was how days usually ended. In their arguments, his generosity became an offense to Yvonne, as if having a little humanity was an affront to their family.
    â€œI don’t just offer free rides for the hell of it,” Raymond said slowly, patiently, clenching his jaw, the desperate faces of Milot Sauveur and his family flashing in his mind.
    â€œThere is always someone with an excuse, isn’t there? Someone who got mugged, someone who is homeless, someone who’s sick. That is not the way to do business, Raymond. Everyone will take advantage of you!”
    Raymond closed his eyes. It was so simple for her to tell him how to do his job. She wasn’t the one at the wheel, observing the decay out there.
    â€œYou forget that’s how we met,” Raymond said.
    Yvonne glared at him. It pained him that they were already fighting. But he couldn’t help it. He had to remind her of that fateful day when she’d been left stranded in the rain in downtown Port-au-Prince. She’d have caught a cold if Raymond hadn’t come to her rescue.
    â€œThat’s not fair,” she said.
    â€œYou don’t understand what it’s like,” he moaned, rubbing nervously at the stubble on his chin. “I almost got killed today.”
    Yvonne listened as he told her what had happened, staring like he was a ghost. As soon as he was done, he saw her lower lip quiver and he regretted having told her. She had enough to worry about.
    â€œI—I don’t know what to say,” she stammered.
    â€œThere’s nothing to say,” he replied. “I had to do something. I couldn’t let them die on the street like that. Could you?”
    She lowered her eyes, but did not answer.
    â€œI’ll have to be extra careful the next few days.”
    â€œWhat about us?” she asked. “What about the kids?”
    â€œI just need to get a little work done on the car, replace the license plates, and we’ll be fine. They’ll never find me.”
    â€œHow are we going to pay for that?”
    â€œI’ll take care of it.”
    â€œYou can’t afford not to work for a few days—”
    â€œI’ll take care of it,” he repeated. “Could I have something to eat?”
    Yvonne jumped up and grabbed a ladle to stir a pot of bouyon. The aroma filled the apartment. Raymond began to salivate, and his stomach ached. All he’d eaten today were two hard-boiled eggs, purchased in Cité Simone on the side of the road from a large woman with dirty fingernails and unsightly moles on her face. He watched his wife pour the soup into a bowl, her thin waist and shrinking frame barely visible under her dress. Even her hair was graying early, and these days she kept it hidden under a scarf because she didn’t have the luxury of caring for what used to be a spectacular mane of wiry curls. She placed the bowl in front of him. Raymond noticed it was only half full. He ran his spoon through it. No meat. Just a few chunks of plantain and yams.
    â€œI was thinking…” Yvonne swallowed and sat next to him. Outside, they heard the children laugh. She bit her lip. “I was thinking, maybe you could get a loan? Maybe ask Eve and Nicolas?”
    Raymond turned to her and she lowered her head, avoiding his eyes. He clenched his jaw again and felt his appetite leave him. “Don’t,” he said.
    â€œThey’ve got the