Part I: Nadine
I had arrived in France the week before for my junior year of college, and I was already in the hospital. I had been hit by a car while riding my bike, and if nothing else, I had learned to be more careful. My French, which I had thought was pretty good before leaving the States, was about as broken as my body. Fortunately there wasn't too much wrong with me—some scrapes, and cuts, a broken wrist—but they wanted to keep me for a few days because there was some question about possible internal injuries. I felt OK, but it was true, sometimes when I moved I felt uncomfortable inside—like everything was
loose
. My French was just about adequate to ask for a pain pill or the toilet—not much more than that, and one of the nurses—Nadine—was always amused by my feeble attempts at speaking her tongue.
Her English was even more limited than my French—she managed "Good day," and "I help you?"—and "Happy Birthday." I guess she noticed my date- of-birth on the charts, and when she came in that morning, she not only said "Happy Birthday"—or rather "'appy Birtday!", but she also gave le a kiss on both cheeks. I was quite flattered until the day wore on and every single nurse that came into my room did the same, including the old one with the moustache and body odor.
Some of the nurses were quite pretty, and some were sexy, and some were both (because it's not always the same thing), but Nadine was my favorite. She was a big woman—really big—she must have been six feet tall. She was thick and heavy, but everything was the right proportion. She was a solid woman and I wouldn't have wanted to get into a fight with her. Despite being so massive, she was very gentle and very careful when she changed my bandages.
After about ten days they decided to let me go. In France, as opposed to the U.S., they seem anxious to keep you in the hospital as long as possible. I walked gingerly out of the entrance and into the sunshine and to the ambulance provided to take me back to my apartment. As I walked towards the car, I heard someone call my name—"Daveed, Daveed!"
It was Nadine, coming off duty with some of the other nurses. "Daveed, you mus' come to my 'ouse for a ... a.. dinner!" She looked at one of the other nurses for confirmation of her English, but I'm sure the smile on my face let her know that she had been understood.
"OK, Nadine, when and where?" Suddenly, she looked panicked—so I started to speak in French—but she remembered the piece of paper in her hand and held it out to me. It had an address and phone number written on one side and on the other a date— next Friday— and a time 20:00, which I translated correctly as 8 p.m.
"You come?", she said eagerly. I nodded and said "oui," and she smiled back and then said something I didn't understand to the other nurses. They all burst out laughing, but I didn't feel like they were laughing at me, though I would dearly have liked to know what exactly what they were laughing
at
.
When I got back to my apartment I looked up the guy who lived next door. His English was pretty good and I had one or two questions about my invitation. "Does 8 o'clock mean 8 sharp, or 10 minutes past 8 or 9 o'clock, or what?" I knew enough to know that punctuality meant different things in different countries.
"It is such a shame!" Jean Paul 's English was correct, but a little stilted and old-fashioned.
" What's a shame?" I asked.
"She has invited you for a dinner at 8 o'clock so it is clear that it is not for to make love."
"No, she's just a friend and it's for dinner."
"Yes, but it can be even better with a friend."
I wasn't going to get involved in a discussion of love-making with Jean –Paul, who I assumed was much more experienced than I was in this area.
"Just tell me what time I should be there!
Jean-Paul pursed his lips and gave a Gallic shrug. " 8:20 is good. You must not appear too eager for food – or love, but you don't want to make the lady too frustrated."
I assumed this was sexual advice, but I refused to be sidetracked.
"Should I take a gift?"
"Other than yourself? One or two bottles of wineare never wrong. One red and one white, then she can serve whatever is most appropriate. Perhaps you will have opportunity to drink them both!"
As I said, Jean-Paul's English was a little formal, but he knew how these things worked, so I listened to what he said as he explained about French dinners. Apparently I shouldn't expect to eat before 9 or 9:30 and I'd most likely be getting home at 1 or 1:30. "Or you spend the night there, no? And do not offer to help with the washing up afterwards. We do not do that in France."
""No," I said firmly.
Friday evening arrived, and dressed in my best levis and white shirt with a skinny tie and black suit jacket that made me look like a new wave rocker. I went up to the 5th floor of an apartment building near the hospital. I found the right door and checked my watch. 8:15, but I guessed that would be OK. I rang the bell and about 10 seconds later the door swung open. There in the doorway was a black man, in his 40's I guessed, dressed in a burgundy tracksuit.
"I'm sorry," I said in French. I was looking for mademoiselle... " I didn't even know her last name.
"No, no, you're in the right place," he said in English and with what was clearly an American accent. "Hi, I'm Steve." He held out his hand for me to shake.
Unreasonably, I wondered if this was Nadine's husband or boyfriend. Anything was possible, because I didn't know her at all—just that she was a good nurse and a nice person. I suddenly felt overdressed. "Here," I said, holding out the bottles of wine.
"No, give them to you hostess—ah, here she is."
Nadine rushed forward, drying her hands on a hand towel and smiling. "Daveed, you have come!" It was impossible not to smile when I saw Nadine, and suddenly I didn't feel overdressed any more. She was wearing a red dress that came down only to the middle of her thighs, nude pantyhose or stockings and black high heels. Her dress was cut fashionably low so that even when she didn't bend over you could see a lot of cleavage. I held out the wine towards her and after she had kissed me on both cheeks, she took it and set it down. "You make me very happy because you come," she beamed.
Nadine gestured towards a fourth person in the room." Thees ees Viriginie Dupont."
Viriginie stood up and shook hands with me. "Enchantée," she said. She was wearing a bottle green velvet dress, conservatively cut, black stockings and, oddly I thought, what looked like a mans shoes. She could have been anywhere between 25 and 45 years old.
Just then the doorbell rang again and Steve said "That'll be Anne-Sophie." He opened the door to admit a big girl—almost as tall as Nadine, but nowhere near as bulky. Statuesque is a good word to describe her.
I felt right hat home because she was wearing a pair of jeans, like me, and a blouse that wasn't dressy but wasn't a T-shirt either. Apparently there was no dress code here. It turned out that Virginie spoke no English, Anne-Sophie spoke a little, Steve was from Chicago, and Nadine—well you know. That led to an interesting mix of language while we had our apéritif. The conversation was in French until it was clear that I didn't understand and then Steve would translate for me, but sometimes it was a minute or two before he switched back to French—when he saw the lost look on the faces of the women.
By the time we got to the table at about 9:15 I was feeling comfortable with these people. The conversation around the table was easy and relaxed and soon everyone was talking in whatever language they could and we were all laughing.