Odette's Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

gatekeeper,
    pretends we are children like any others.
    All afternoon, we read fairy tales.
    In our cave of bookshelves,
    we feel safe from the evil giants
    marching down the street.

Lies
    Someone’s crying.
    The sound of it pulls me from my dreams.
    I open my eyes.
    It’s still dark.
    I go to the window and push open one shutter,
    just a crack.
    I look down and see little one-armed Noe.
    His mother, Leah, helps him put on his jacket.
    Rumpled people are being herded down the street.
    They all carry bags and bundles.
    A bearded man stumbles and a policeman pushes him along.
    All the people are “yellow star” people.
    All of them are Jews like me.
    Madame Marie bursts in.
    She wakes Mama by pulling the blankets off her bed.
    â€œHurry!” she says.
    â€œThe police are coming … they’re filling trucks with Jews!”
    Mama and I pull on our dresses as fast as we can.
    Mama grabs a coat and shoes
    and we fly down the spiral staircase.
    Madame Marie pushes us into the broom closet
    inside her small workroom.
    She shuts the door just in time.
    The doorbell rings.
    Loud men trudge into the hallway.
    â€œWe’re rounding up foreign Jews,” they say.
    â€œWe’re going to rid France of them forever.”
    â€œWonderful!” says Madame Marie.
    â€œThose Jews have taken our jobs and money for too long.”
    Then she offers them a drink …
    to toast their courage, she says.
    Frozen inside the dark closet,
    Mama and I cannot see, but we can hear.
    Madame Marie and the men are just outside the door.
    If the door were open,
    I could touch them.
    Mama’s fingers find my yellow star.
    Silently, stitch by stitch, she begins to rip it off.
    I listen hard.
    I hear the sound of drinks being poured.
    Glasses clink in a toast.
    Chairs scrape around Madame Marie’s table,
    only a reach away from our hiding place.
    The men boast and laugh.
    Suddenly someone says to Madame Marie,
    â€œWhere are
your
Jews?”
    His companions fall silent.
    Our bodies stiffen.
    Our breathing all but stops.
    â€œLong gone!” says Madame Marie.
    â€œThey ran away to their country house.
    Good riddance to them, I say.”
    More drinks are poured.
    But then, stern words.
    â€œYou know, Madame, if you lie to us, you’ll be sorry,”
    one man warns her.
    â€œWe’ll pack you into a truck along with them
    and send you far away!”
    My godmother sounds insulted.
    â€œMe? Do I look like a friend of Jews?”
    I’m confused …
    how can she say such terrible things?
    She
is
our friend … one of our
best
friends!
    But suddenly, I know she’s lying.
    She’s saying bad things about Jews to keep us safe.
    The same voice, still stern,
    â€œJust to be sure, we’ll go up to their apartment.”
    Mama grabs my hand, squeezes it too tight.
    But Madame Marie keeps the men away
    from our just-slept-in sheets and blankets.
    â€œOh, you don’t want to do that!” she says.
    â€œYou know how those foreign Jews are, filthy as pigs.
    When they were living there,
    I’d knock on their door only when I had to.
    I’d say what I had to say quickly
    and hold my breath as long as I could.
    Then I’d run back down the stairs
    as fast as my old legs would carry me.
    Don’t go up there if you don’t have to.
    Their apartment still stinks to high heaven.
    Anyway, our bottle’s nearly empty.
    Why not help me finish it?”
    We wait, cold bare toes pressed tight to the floor.
    The smell of sour mops is all around.
    My body shakes, hard.
    But I don’t make a single sound.
    Finally, the loud men push their chairs
    back in to the table.
    â€œ
Merci, Madame
,” they say.
    â€œAu revoir
.”
    Heavy footsteps echo through the hallway.
    The door slams.
    Silence.
    Madame Marie frees us from the closet.
    â€œHow can I thank you?” Mama asks Madame Marie.
    She takes my godmother’s hands in her own.
    Madame Marie shrugs.
    She