They Gave Me a Check at Twelfth Night, So I Took Their Mardi Gras novel · Chapter 31 of 32
Chapter 31: The Lace
The old guard went quiet behind me, and the line at the booth went on without noticing.
Hortense stood at the counter with the napkin crushed in her hand.
She did not look at the oldest queen, or the maid, or the cook.
She looked at me.
"A slice, please," she said again.
"Four dollars," said the cook, flatly.
Hortense opened a small purse.
She counted out coins onto the counter, one at a time, like a woman who had never been shown how much a thing cost.
The cook watched her do it and said nothing.
There was a quarter missing.
She dug in the purse again.
The man behind her in line coughed.
Gaspard reached across the counter, gently, and slid the missing coin from his own pocket onto the pile.
Hortense did not look at him.
She took the paper plate.
She stood there in the sun with the slice, and she did not eat it.
"Clementine," she said. "A word."
"Say it here."
"Not here."
"Here, Hortense."
Her mouth tightened.
Then it loosened again.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of They Gave Me a Check at Twelfth Night, So I Took Their Mardi Gras are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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