High Noon

Ch9

Antoine closed the door and then locked it.

 He was still clutching my wrist tightly and I yanked it out of his grasp.

"What the hell, are you doing?!" I yelled angrily at him.

He looked at me not responding as he was still concealing something from underneath his coat. 

I know Antoine was hiding something, whatever it was he seemed nervous about it.

"What do you have underneath your coat?" I asked him.

"Nothing," He said as he walked away from the door.

"If it was nothing you wouldn't be hiding it," I told him with a frown.

"It is none of your concerns, which makes it nothing," Antoine said as he pulled the curtains on the windows shut.

He lit an oil lamp and then sat down at the table.

He sat there while I stood both of us in silence and as it grew I could feel myself getting agitated.

 I hadn't seen Antoine or even thought of him in months, I had given him up for dead and he dragged me into this room and then doesn't tell me what's going on.

He didn't even give a simple hello or it's good to see you. 

"I'm leaving," I said furiously as I headed for the door.

Before I got to the door Antoine sighed and said, "Sophie, I was worried about you." 

I turned around as I folded my arms across my chest. 

"You sure have a funny way of showing it," I said sharply.

He approached me and I could feel my heart in my chest pounding as he got closer, I didn't want my heart to be that way, I wanted to be angry at him, but my heart continued to pound violently.

"You don't understand, I'm trying to protect you," Antoine told me.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him.

"Now you want to protect me, Antoine, I thought you were dead, we haven't seen each other in months, and now you want to try and protect me, from what? The Nazis? I don't need any protection, especially from you." 

He grabbed my arm again before I could even make another move towards the door.

"Sophie, you don't know what I have gotten myself into," Antoine told me.

"Then what have you gotten yourself into? Tell me." I said.

He released my arm and shook his head.

"I can't, it'll only put you in danger." 

I frowned.

"Of course, well, it was good to see you too, Antoine, Au revoir," I said bitterly.

I walked out of the room slamming the door shut.

I went down the street the juice from the meat had started to leak through the packaging, dripping onto the road.

When I arrived home, I kicked off my boots near the door and hung my sweater on the hook. 

As I set the meat on the counter I saw that Captain Josef was sitting on the dining room table, papers scattered before him.

"Bonjour, Sophie." He greeted me.

I had grown used to the Captain being here and to his terrible French, he hasn't been rude or cruel in any way, but I never forgot that he was the enemy.

"Bonjour, Herr Captain." I said.

He stood up and walked over pulled up a little bit of the packaging and said, "What kind of meat is this?"

I glanced over at the package and shrugged.

"I don't know, I was lucky to get anything today," I told him as I picked up the meat to put it into the basement, which was the coldest place that would keep it from getting spoiled.

"Allow me, Madam." The captain said as he pulled the meat out of my hands.

"Merci, Captain," I said.

He nodded and carried the meat into the basement.

I went upstairs and started to think about Antoine.

He was acting so strange and distant, he never even said hi to me or anything it was as if he didn't want to be seen with me. I began to wonder, was it because of my appearance? I had lost a lot of weight since the last time we saw each other, but I shook my head that would be a stupid reason. 

I hadn't seen Antoine for months he treated me as if I was just something to protect, like I wasn't capable of protecting myself and maybe that was my fault. I had been scared of the Nazis, of the unknown, I didn't do a good job of not showing it. Now Antoine wanted to protect me as if I were a little girl, that didn't know any better. 

I frowned, no more, I wanted to know things and not be protected no matter how dangerous knowing some things would be. At least I wouldn't be left in the dark with questions that'll never be answered.

I heard the door open downstairs and I knew Mama was home. 

I went downstairs and noticed that the Captain had left. 

"It's just going to be us two for dinner," Mama told me with a smile.

I was glad that it was going to be just us, that way I could say whatever I wanted without feeling like I might get shot for saying it.

I helped Mama make something with whatever the meat that I had brought was. 

We cut the meat and light the fire on the wood stove to cook it in the pan, putting it with diced onions and cabbage. We didn't have any butter which Mama usually would've put in with it, but not anymore.

I set the table for me and Mama and as we sat down I found myself thinking about how it used to be when Papa had been here. 

Mama used to smile a lot more, I would hear Papa and Mama laughing every morning when I woke up. I remembered Papa smelling like tobacco and pepper, his brown mustache curled at the ends, and Mama used to make fun of him for it. 

I couldn't wait for him to come home, whenever that would be.