Seize Heures cinquante. Grand soleil place Gustave-Toudouze. Located between Pigalle and Saint-Georges, this place is at the front of the area of sex shops, places and cams, and the theaters, the bourgeoisie, and the blonde cherubs. Three bancs, a kiosque, the old lamps, style lanterns, a Wallace fountain, a Morris colony, the marronniers, cinq restaurants. This is, number 2, from Odette Steiner, who was born in 1921 at Chaumont. Odette a connu la crisis de 1929, la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Front populaire, l'exode, l'Occupation, le droit de vote des femmes, l'épidémie de polio, la bataille de Diên Biên Phu, la guerre d'Algérie, May 68, la pilule, la légalisation de l'avortement, Mitterrand, Chernobyl, l'apparition du sida, l'an 2000. Elle a enterré ses parents et ses trois frères. There is nothing left over that is small enough to drink. I said to Alexandra that Odette took part in the chorale of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, atelier de mosaïque et d'un club équestre. Elle participait activement à la vie du 9e arrondissement en envoyant des letters à la mairie with ses recommendations, suggestions or plus souvent des critiques. Désormais elle ne sort plus guère. Doyenne de son immeuble, elle n'hésite pas à rappeler les règles de vie en communauté à ses voisins. D'après Alex, avec sa aunt, faut filer droit. The beautiful woman in your character is not as simple as she met in the poche.
For meeting Odette, I prepared myself for an audition. I'm looking forward to it, I'm looking forward to a shower before the essays plus tenues and considerations: a real role in composition. Natural, une queue de cheval, tatouages des phalanges camouflés, pas de boucles d'oreilles. I have this bedroom, one with my room and a porte, with the living room, the sofa, the sofa bed, the bateau cabins and the sous-sols d'hôpitaux. Depuis que je suis montée à la capitale, j'ai enchaîné les logements à Montreuil, Créteil, La Courneuve. À Montreuil, j'habitais rue de Paris. La vraie vie me narguait de l'autre côté du périphérique.
The windows of the buildings in Alentour are open, or even less visible. I'm all right and comfortable, the children are both habillés, decontracted mais pas trop, the women portent the carré court, the babies have a gigotent marina in the poussette dernier cri. The entrance is located between two restaurants. Odette is accoudée à son appui de fenêtre, au premier étage. Cheveux courts blancs, chemisier sous un pull bleu, derrière ses lunettes rondes elle observe les gens aux terrasses et les gosses quiuent sur la bouche d'aération du métro. La tête rentrée dans épaules carrées, elle ressemble à une chouette sur son perchoir. Elle regarde sa montre. Dix minutes d'advance. Déjà, elle m'attend. These eyes sit on my face, froncement de sourcils, lèvres pincées. Est-ce que je corresponds à la description de sa nièce? Trop tard for faire demi-tour, et pour aller où ? Great inspiration, je fais un signe de la main à Odette. D'un pas rapide, je me dirige vers la porte, compose le code d'entrée. Je reluque la boîte aux lettres à son nom, mademoiselle Steiner, bientôt, j'y ajouterai le mien. The day of failure of the fairytale, Le Pèlerin, La Croix. L'interphone grésille. If you open the window, you will have a coup d'œil in the mirror of the hall. My shirt is frozen. J'humecte un mouchoir avec ma salive et frotte mes baskets grises. Je touche mes joues, mon teint est blafard. Déjà, des petits cheveux dépassent de ma queue de cheval. Odette sits on the sea, agrippée on the chambranle de chaque côté. Nous nous dévisageons. Elle m'invite à entrer. Ça sent la lavande et la naphtaline, l'odeur de la mort, alors qu'au Pussy's ça pue la vie: la transpiration, les préservatifs perfumes à la fraise, le sperme. This is an impression of a beautiful woman who is promène between the worlds. This is the first time that Odette can be found in a possible location. Elle me le fait savoir, c'est l'idée d'Alexandra, pas la sienne, même si elle n'était pas contre. This is what happened in the morning, the telephone calls were exasperated, the escrocs pour changer sa chaudière pullulent, the solitude lui pèse. Elle voit ses copines perdre la tête, partir en maison de retraite quand elles ne décèdent pas avant. Odette a perdu l'appétit et sa joie de vivre. Inquiète, Alex a contacté le médecin quii a prescrit une pilule magique. Depuis, elle va mieux, mais ce n'est pas encore ça.
I retire with the baskets in the vestibule rouge tandis qu'elle ferme the porte à clef. On the entrance to a bordel, moquette rouge, luster en cristal, miroir. Tic-tac-tic-tac, there is a pendule on the loin. Odette m'entraîne dans la salle à manger. I am in the environment of a cemetery; partout of the fleurs séchées, of the croix, of the buis, of the photos of papes, of the portraits in black and white. Je frissonne. La petite voix jaillit d'un coup.
Do you want to see what you're seeing in the world? Ton regard te trahit. These handles in the clay and on the poignets, which are the cells of a chat with children?
Joffrine Donnadieu, Chienne et Louve (Gallimard, 2023).
4:50 p.m. Brilliant sunshine on the Place Gustave-Toudouze. Halfway between Pigalle and Saint-Georges, this square marks the boundary between the area of sex shops, prostitutes, and drug addicts, and the area of theaters, the bourgeoisie, and blonde cherubs. Three benches, a kiosk, old lantern-style street lamps, a Wallace fountain, a Morris column, chestnut trees, five restaurants. Here, at number 2, lives Odette Steiner, who was born in Chaumont in 1921. Odette lived through it all: the crisis of 1929, the Second World War, the Popular Front, the exodus, the occupation, women's suffrage, the polio epidemic, the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the Algerian War, May '68, the birth control pill, the legalization of abortion, Mitterrand, Chernobyl, the AIDS outbreak, and the year 2000. She buried her parents and her three brothers. Only her great-niece, who lives abroad, remains. From Alexandra, I know that Odette sang in the choir of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, worked in a mosaic workshop, and was a member of a riding club. She actively participated in the life of the 9th arrondissement by sending letters to the town hall with her recommendations, suggestions, and, more often, criticism. From then on, she hardly ever went out. As the oldest resident of her apartment building, she doesn't hesitate to remind her neighbors of the rules of coexistence. Alex says you always have to stand your ground with his aunt. The old woman has a strong character and it's not easy to wrap her around.To meet Odette, I prepared as if for an audition. I got up early, took a cold shower, and then tried on different outfits and looks: a real extra role. Of course, a ponytail, tattoos disguised on my knuckles, no earrings. I need this room, my own place with a door; I'm fed up with living rooms, sofas, sleeping bags, ship cabins, and hospital basements. Since moving up to the capital, I've been staying in one place after another in Montreuil, Créteil, and La Courneuve. In Montreuil, I lived on the Rue de Paris. Real life mocked me on the other side of the ring road.
The windows of the surrounding buildings are open, and there's a smell of laundry detergent. Everything here is clean and light; the people are well-dressed, casually but not too much so. The women wear short bobs, and babies in sailor suits kick in the latest strollers. The entrance is nestled between two restaurants. Odette is leaning against her first-floor windowsill. She has short white hair, a blouse under a blue sweater, and behind her round glasses, she watches the people on the terraces and the children playing on the metro's ventilation shaft. Her head hunched, her square shoulders giving her the air of an owl perched on a high seat. She glances at her watch. Ten minutes early. She's already waiting for me. Her eyes are fixed on me; she frowns and purses her lips. Do I fit her niece's description? Too late to turn back, and where to? I take a deep breath and wave to Odette. I walk quickly to the door and enter the access code. I look at the mailbox with her name on it, Miss Steiner; soon I'll add my own. Newspapers are sticking out of the slot. Pilgrim, La CroixThe intercom crackles. I push open the glass door and glance in the hall mirror. My blouse is wrinkled. I dampen a tissue with saliva and scrub my gray sneakers. I pat my cheeks; my skin is pale. Small hairs are already poking out of my ponytail. Odette stands on the doorstep, holding onto the frame on both sides. We size each other up. She invites me in. It smells of lavender and mothballs, the scent of death, while Pussy's reeks of life: sweat, strawberry-flavored condoms, semen. I feel like a sentry, pacing back and forth between two worlds. It's the first time Odette has received a potential tenant. She lets me know that it was Alexandra's idea, not hers, even though she wasn't against it. For the past few months, she's been afraid at night, telemarketing calls infuriate her, there are countless scammers trying to replace her boiler, and the loneliness is weighing her down. She watches her friends lose their minds and end up in nursing homes, if they don't die first. Odette has lost her appetite and her zest for life. Worried, Alex went to the doctor, who prescribed her a magic pill. Since then, she's been feeling better, but that's not the end of the story.
In the red anteroom, I take off my sneakers while she locks the door. It looks like the entrance to a brothel: red carpeting, crystal chandeliers, mirrors. Tick-tock, tick-tock, I hear a clock in the distance. Odette leads me into the dining room. I'm in the middle of a cemetery; dried flowers everywhere, crosses, boxwood, photos of popes, black-and-white portraits. A shiver runs down my spine. The small voice suddenly speaks.
Do you really think you can fool that old woman with your angelic face? Your look gives you away. And those scratches on your neck and wrists—could they be cat scratches? 1
This article is written in German and can be found at https://rentree.de. Automatic translations into English and French are available. English, French.
Notes- “‘I want to breathe on the stage, hear the three beats every night, commit crimes, infanticide, adultery, love immortally, hate madly, travel through the ages, change gender, poison myself, die, be reborn.’
Twenty-year-old Romy arrives in Paris with the dream of becoming an actress. To make ends meet and pay her Cours Florent entrance fee, she works in a strip club in Pigalle. Odette, an eighty-nine-year-old spinster, lets her stay with her in exchange for a small rent and a bit of companionship. The glittery thong and the crucifix have to learn to get along. Two women tame each other, somewhere between dog and wolf. They build a relationship of fascination and dependence, reflecting back to each other their battered bodies, their loneliness, their eccentricities, their stolen childhoods, and above all, their will to live. How far will they be able to go in this mutual influence?
Here, the compelling power of Joffrine Donnadieu's writing is evident, as she incisively describes the violence of social relationships, theatrical training, and the lives of bodies.” (Translation of the publisher's announcement)>>>
