"Cowards! All our soldiers are cowards!" Gavroche says, pumping an outraged fist in the air, as if he could scold all the army of his home. "One little battle, and they all ran away, and the krauts took over. They put Pétain in charge, and a lot of people said it'd be good because Pétain is one of our war heroes, but Pétain's just let all the krauts kidnap and torture people. They kidnapped some of my friends from school, and took them away, and they probably killed them all. And worse, Pétain's police helps them kidnap and torture people, and they offer extra food and money and cigarettes if we point out neighbors who said bad things about them so they can be kidnapped too."
Scout visibly looks away, content to allow Gavroche to go on a tirade rather than discuss the conflict he himself was part of. And as Gavroche speaks, the stone city they sit in starts to come to life. Shadows of people pass by, their faces covered with paper with a single eyeball painted on. It feels like everyone is watching.
"The Limping Lady came to help us. Mom helped the Limping Lady by moving packages around the city so the krauts didn't see, and I helped by playing where the Limping Lady asked me to play."
One of the shadows has more definition. A woman with a distinctive limp, but an upturned chin and an aura of magnetism around her. Gavroche strongly admired this woman. In the windows, activity flickers, lights turning on and off and people hanging laundry to dry, and each action hums with secret messages, things that can only be understood by the right observers. Gavroche rarely understood the meaning behind the signals, only that they were indeed signals and how they should be passed along. "I'd play, and I'd watch the krauts, and I'd tell her what I saw. Or I'd walk down the street, and I'd see if a friend had put up black stockings on their line or white, and I'd tell someone else what I'd saw so they'd know what to do. The Limping Lady said I was her best man, because all the older ones got distracted and thought with their dicks."
And Gavroche is clearly fiercely proud of that, puffing out his chest. He hadn't been able to brag in life about his important work, so now he'll tell all.
no subject
Scout visibly looks away, content to allow Gavroche to go on a tirade rather than discuss the conflict he himself was part of. And as Gavroche speaks, the stone city they sit in starts to come to life. Shadows of people pass by, their faces covered with paper with a single eyeball painted on. It feels like everyone is watching.
"The Limping Lady came to help us. Mom helped the Limping Lady by moving packages around the city so the krauts didn't see, and I helped by playing where the Limping Lady asked me to play."
One of the shadows has more definition. A woman with a distinctive limp, but an upturned chin and an aura of magnetism around her. Gavroche strongly admired this woman. In the windows, activity flickers, lights turning on and off and people hanging laundry to dry, and each action hums with secret messages, things that can only be understood by the right observers. Gavroche rarely understood the meaning behind the signals, only that they were indeed signals and how they should be passed along. "I'd play, and I'd watch the krauts, and I'd tell her what I saw. Or I'd walk down the street, and I'd see if a friend had put up black stockings on their line or white, and I'd tell someone else what I'd saw so they'd know what to do. The Limping Lady said I was her best man, because all the older ones got distracted and thought with their dicks."
And Gavroche is clearly fiercely proud of that, puffing out his chest. He hadn't been able to brag in life about his important work, so now he'll tell all.