Breadfruit Read Online Free Page B

He was also a devoted churchgoer, and, what’s more,
     he had a good-looking face and irreproachable manners. Irreproachable.
    Auntie said to Loana, “Think about that marriage proposal, girl. Think about it seriously.”
    In the meantime, it was organized that the young man could come to visit. Auntie set the time and date.
    Auguste arrived at six o’clock precisely, as commanded by Auntie—he came with a potted plant for Auntie. Auntie was greatly
     surprised by the gift.
    They sat at the kitchen table: Auguste and Auntie on one side and Loana on the other. The Irish uncle was very busy with a
     bottle of whisky out the back.
    Auguste came again the following day, and the following, and the day after that. Two weeks passed in this way. Then he demanded
     an answer. Auntie confessed to Loana that the marriage would give her peace of mind.
    “I’m not young, girl,” she said. “I could die any day.”
    Auntie wanted to die knowing Loana would be well looked after, with a roof over her head, food on the table, and a good, hardworking
     husband.
    Loana accepted the marriage proposal.
    Auguste fell to his knees and said to Loana, “I swear to you that I will make you a happy woman.”
    But one night as Loana sat thinking on the verandah, she realized that she didn’t want to be Auguste’s wife. She felt nothing
     for him and she knew that you were supposed to feel something for the man you were going to marry. Loana knew, for instance,
     that when Auntie met Gordon for the first time, she said to herself, “That man, he’s for me. I want that man!”
    Loana told Auntie of her decision not to marry Auguste.
    “I can’t force you, girl, but you’re making a great mistake,” Auntie said, disappointed. “One day you’re going to regret it.
     Well, you tell Auguste. I wash my hands.”
    Auguste cried when Loana told him, he fell on his knees, he begged, he threatened to kill himself.
    The next morning, Auguste tried to hang himself. Luckily, the neighbor who was outside feeding his dog saw him. He jumped
     over the fence, but by the time he got to the breadfruit tree, Auguste was on the ground—alive. The branch had broken. He
     wasn’t meant to die that day.
    Auguste’s mother was so devastated that she sent her son away to France.
    Loana and Auntie and her husband had to change churches. It was too much to bear to be sitting in the same church as the mother
     of that poor seventeen-year-old boy who’d tried to commit suicide for Loana.
    Auntie didn’t make Loana join the choir at the new church.
    Aue
… Loana told Materena how she felt bad about it for months. Then she fell in love and she was glad that she didn’t marry
     that Auguste. Then her heart got broken and she wished she had married that Auguste. Then she fell in love again.
    Loana loved many times, and two of her lovers gave her children. One was a French
militaire
who went back to his country and the other a Tahitian who went back to his wife.
    Loana says she’s through with men now and content with her life. She goes wherever she wants to, no need for authorization,
     a leave pass, nobody pestering her, asking where are you going, how long are you going to be, who are you going with
patati patata
. . .
    Not that she goes anywhere. She likes to stay home.
    But when she feels like sleeping on the mat in the living room, well, she sleeps on the mat in the living room, and when she
     wants to stay awake, well, she watches the TV or she listens to the music on the radio.
    She’s alone but free.
    Aue,
life, it’s simple.
    But there are days when she thinks it would be nice to have somebody.
    Materena rolls to the other side of the bed. It’s too hot to be hugging Pito. And, plus, the alcohol smell on Pito is a bit
     too strong. Materena tells herself that she should get some sleep, even if she’s not going to work tomorrow, Saturday. But
     the marriage proposal is in her head. She keeps hearing Pito say, “Marry me.”
    Marry me.
    Go to sleep,