“That’s a total lie, just like everything else he says. Did he tell you how I whacked him with the bedside lamp, when I caught him trying to jump Morgan, and how he ran away, crying? I bet he didn’t,” says Rat. “I’ve been warning you he’s a perverted sicko for years now. You didn’t believe me then, you don’t believe me now. When are you going to believe me? When he murders some little kid?”

“Morgan says it didn’t happen, either—that Thierry never tried to touch him.”

“That’s not what Morgan says. Leave Morgan out of it.”

“You are so damn jealous it’s sick,” says Vanessa.

“What?!” Rat stops, dumbfounded. “Jealous of what? That it wasn’t me Thierry tried to rape?”

“You’ve always been jealous of me,” Vanessa pronounces. “Everybody says so, everybody notices how jealous you are. Even Marielle and Jean-Luc. You’ve never wanted me to have anything of my own. Back when Souad was alive, you were jealous rotten of me being friends with her. You used to hate Morgan, remember? It really shocked me, how mean you used to be to that poor baby when his own mother was dying.”

She’s working herself up into it, getting more and more more sorry-for-herself self-righteous as she goes. Rat’s done the same thing herself.

“All these years I’ve been so alone, struggling to keep a life together for me and my kids.” Vanessa’s voice is husky with tears. “Finally I’ve found someone who loves me and you just can’t stand it, can you? You have to wreck every last little thing I’ve got. Maybe you’re right, maybe it is time for us to separate, for you to get a life of your own. Then you’ll see it’s not so easy.”

“Fine,” says Rat. “That’s what I’m doing.”

“Where are you going?”

Rat doesn’t answer.

“You’re not taking Morgan with you.”

Rat says nothing. She’s trying to redistribute the weight, cram as much heavy stuff as she can into her knapsack, leaving Morgan’s manageable.

“Look,” says Vanessa. “You want to go sleep at a friend’s house for a few days, that’s fine. But you go on your own. Morgan stays with me. Don’t drag him into this business. You have a problem with me or with Thierry, fine. You’re a teenager, it’s normal we have conflicts. But don’t drag Morgan into it.”

“I’m taking Morgan somewhere he’ll be safe,” says Rat.

“Where?”

“I’m going to take him to Collioure.” She says it in order to hide the bigger fact of where she’s ultimately aiming to go, but soon as she’s said it, Rat sees she’s hit a strategic nerve.

“To Mémé Catherine?” Vanessa’s eyes swing round fast. “You’ve been in touch with her?” There’s an edge almost of panic to her voice.

Rat doesn’t answer. Fastens the sleeping bag to her knapsack, draws the cord tight. Vanessa lights a cigarette, paces.

“Okay, okay,” she says, tone indulgent now. “You go visit your grandmother for a few days, that’s fine. But Morgan stays here.”