Page 16 of No One's Like You
Adele arrives punctually at Odette's house. Darwin opens the door with a relieved smile, as if each time he sees her leave, he thinks she won't return.
"Good morning, Mrs. Hebert," he greets kindly. "My mother is in the living room."
Adele nods and heads there. Odette Bergeron sits in her wheelchair by the window. She wears a navy blue pantsuit, her hair perfectly styled in a low bun, and pearl earrings that sparkle in the light from the window. Adele always wonders why she dresses up so much when she never goes out or allows visitors.
"Good morning, Odette," Adele greets.
Odette turns her head toward her and looks back out the window without bothering to respond. Adele snorts, indignant, and without a word, positions herself behind the wheelchair, unlocks it, and begins pushing it toward the door.
"What do you think you're doing?" Odette asks with an irritated voice.
"Taking you for a walk," Adele responds calmly, without stopping.
"I don't want to go out!" Odette exclaims, trying to reach the wheels with her hands to stop them. "Darwin! Darwin, come here! This woman thinks I'm a dog."
Darwin appears in the hallway, but seeing the scene, instead of intervening, he simply smiles and crosses his arms.
"Have a nice walk, Mom," he says, and disappears as quickly as he appeared.
"Have children for this!" Odette shouts while Adele continues pushing the chair toward the door. "I'll disinherit you!"
Adele keeps moving forward, unfazed. She opens the door and exits to the landing, heading toward the elevator.
"This is kidnapping!" Odette shrieks, increasingly upset. "I'll call the police! I'll report you for this!"
"Go ahead," Adele responds calmly. "Tell them I'm taking you out for some fresh air after months locked up in your house. I'm sure they'll come running," she mutters sarcastically.
Odette continues protesting throughout the elevator ride and through the building lobby, however, as soon as Adele opens the main door and sunlight floods the entrance, Odette suddenly falls silent, because she's a well-mannered lady and won't allow anyone to hear her causing a scene in the street.
The contrast between the building interior and the brightness outside is so great that Odette squints. Adele begins pushing the chair along the sidewalk, now in complete silence. Odette keeps her back very straight and her chin raised, determined not to show any emotion, but her eyes scan every detail of the street as if discovering everything for the first time. It's a very sunny day without a single cloud in the sky. Odette will never admit it, but she feels something release inside her. The air, though warm, caresses her face and slightly ruffles her hair, making her feel twenty years younger in an instant. She smells scents she'd completely forgotten: freshly baked bread from a nearby bakery, flowers adorning balconies, and even the hot asphalt.
Adele, who came prepared, takes a light-colored wide-brimmed hat from her bag and places it on Odette's head without warning.
"What are you doing?" Odette protests immediately, bringing her hands to her head. "This doesn't match my outfit!"
"I suppose you prefer sunstroke," Adele responds, unfazed.
Odette opens her mouth to protest, but after a few seconds, lowers her hands and leaves the hat where it is. The relief she feels as the shade protects her face from the sun—especially her eyes—is too pleasant to reject.
They continue the walk in silence. Adele pushes the chair at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow as they cross through one of the parks. Odette notices everything without missing a detail: families having picnics, couples on the grass, and children playing near a group of elderly people playing pétanque. She feels that life is concentrated here, and she's missed it all out of pure pride, but she says nothing.
After a long while, Adele feels her arms tired from pushing and stops in front of an ice cream stand, where she buys two cones, one vanilla and one chocolate.
"Which do you prefer?" she asks Odette, showing her both to choose.
Odette, like a little girl, turns her head to the opposite side. Adele rolls her eyes, thinking that Ruby was more mature when she was small.
"Fine, I'll eat both."
"Give me the chocolate one," Odette says, extending her hand. "I'm doing this for those extra pounds you're carrying, not because I want it," she adds, and Adele contains a smile.
The comment doesn't offend her at all. She's very aware of the weight she's gained during those months of inactivity, depressed after her husband's death. She hands the cone to Odette and sits on a bench beside her. They both remain silent, licking their respective ice creams, feeling something relax them in each other's mere presence. Adele glances sideways at Odette and notices how her shoulders, always tense, have loosened a bit. Her expression seems less severe, and she doesn't appear to have her brow permanently furrowed.
Odette savors her ice cream with pleasure, not remembering the last time she ate something like this outdoors, without worrying about anything but this moment. She also glances at Adele from the corner of her eye, wondering how this woman she barely knows managed to get her out of her house when even her own children couldn't. There's something in Adele's carefree attitude, in her direct way of confronting things, that she finds comforting. Adele doesn't pity her, and for Odette, that's a relief. Everyone around her, from her children to the nurses, looks at her with compassion, as if she were a pathetic, diminished creature. Adele treats her as an equal, even if it's through sharp comments and defiant attitudes.
When they finish their ice creams, Adele takes a crossword puzzle magazine and a pen from her bag.Without saying anything, she begins solving the puzzles, completely absorbed in her task.
Odette closes her eyes and lets the breeze caress her face and, while enjoying the moment, catches herself wondering when Adele will decide to take her for another walk, because she won't ask for it, of course.
