Tiare in Bloom by Célestine Vaite Read Free Book Online

found out that his
     fish was pregnant, it had eggs, and the value of the fish dropped dramatically. “What are men trying to tell us?” the enraged
     woman shrieked at the top of her lungs, hurting Pito’s ears. “That when a woman is pregnant, her value drops?” Pito switched
     the radio off, telling himself, It’s not true! Women are taking themselves for fishes now?
    “You see?” Leilani cackles. “You can’t say that Papi isn’t trying to be supportive of you.” In her opinion this is a big step
     for her father to be taking, considering that he must be feeling a bit threatened at the moment. “But you know Papi, he’s
     a good man, he has his heart on his sleeve.”
    “Oh,” Materena says vaguely, “when he wants to.” She can’t believe Hotu isn’t dominating all of today’s conversation.
    “It’s like with Hotu and me.”
    He’s back!
    “You intimidate him?” Materena asks.
    “But
non,
he’s confident, he’s living his dreams,
non,
we’ve never intimidated each other, but look at us now — I’m here, he’s there. Doing sexy loving with a COCONUT-HEAD!”
    “Oh, how do you know this?” Materena does the reassuring voice. “He’s probably crying on his pillow for you.”
    “Mamie, he’s a man,” says Leilani, her sigh filled with resignation: you can’t change the world, men are like that, they need
     action, whereas women can go the distance with the memories and scents that go straight to the head.
    “Ah this, you said it, girl!” Materena exclaims. She knows what she’s talking about. While she was in Tahiti dreaming about
     her boyfriend Pito night and day, that
con
was doing romance with French girls. According to Pito, Tahitian military servicemen were very popular with the French girls
     — they found them exotic, with their smooth chocolate skin. Pito (still according to Pito) only had to wink and the girls
     jumped on him.
    “But not all men are the same,” Leilani adds. “Hotu and I had something very special.”
    “True.”
    “Our story wasn’t just a story of arse . . .” Leilani’s voice cracks. “We had our ups and downs . . . like you and Papi.”
    And Materena sighs, a heavy sigh from the soles of her feet.
    “Like everyone,
chérie.
”

Bread Crumbs
    W hen Pito came home from his speedboat wandering with Ati on Saturday, Materena wasn’t home, and by the time he went to bed
     after a frugal dinner (corned beef straight out of the can), Materena was still not home. It was a nice surprise for Pito
     to open his eyes on Sunday morning and see Materena next to him. He was very tempted to try his luck, but decided otherwise
     — Materena never wants to do sexy loving before mass. But then Pito thought, eh, maybe she’s going to be interested if I do
     this . . .
    Then the phone rang and Materena sprang out of bed to answer it. Bloody telephone, Pito told himself, there’s never a moment
     of peace, it’s only quarter past five! Later, in the kitchen, he overheard part of Materena’s conversation with Rita. “Eh,
     eh, Cousin,” Materena was saying, “you got your period again . . . Rita, don’t worry, okay? Baby is going to come when he’s
     ready, eh? You’ve only been trying for the past five months, sometimes it takes a bit longer . . . True, at least it’s a lot
     of fun trying!
Oui,
Cousin, I see you at mass.”
    At the church, Materena completely ignored Pito as she always does — when her relatives are around, her husband doesn’t exist
     — and left with Rita immediately after mass.
    By the time Pito went to bed after yet another frugal dinner (corned beef straight out of the can), Materena still wasn’t
     home and he didn’t hear her get into bed in the middle of the night. She must have sneaked in.
    When Pito gets up next morning she’s still in bed, fast asleep, her eyes closed very tight. It’s not like Materena — Madame
     Énergie — to be in bed after six thirty in the morning. Even the next day after coming home from