fin de siècle ; mixte 1963

chapter 2 ; whatever this world can give to me

"It's not that bad, really."

"How come I don't believe you?"

Gisele was sitting on a chair next to Joseph's desk while he was changing his eyepatch. She decided to visit him after school, when Jean and Charles wandered off elsewhere. Descamps was pretty much locked in his room, which made Gisele, after many years of experiencing it herself, pity the boy. There was no one else in the house at the moment and she was grateful for that; despite the fact that Joseph's mother liked her and the feeling was mutual, she was sure that she wouldn't be able to stand the woman in her overbearing mood.

"I mean... it could be worse, right? You could've lost both eyes."

"Wow, I am so grateful for still having one eye. Really, that makes me truly delighted," he whipped out a cigarette and offered her one, which she gladly accepted.

"At least you have the one that works. You could've been left with one eye and blind. Now you don't even have to wear your glasses!"

"Your arguments keep getting better and better. I can't wait to hear the next one."

"Alright, I give up," mumbled Gisele, looking through the window.

"I hope that fucker who did this gets thrown out of that fucking school. I don't know if I'll be able to keep my shit together if I see him again," Joseph was full of anger, as she could see; more than he usually was.

Gisele couldn't really blame him. As much as she didn't like the behaviour of her friend, didn't support the things that had lead him where he was at the moment, what the other guy did was so much worse. She felt angry with him herself, despite not knowing his name; she might be biassed, but punching someone so hard that they lose an eye was a shitty move.

"Well, make sure to go back to school when the teachers are about to decide his fate. That way they won't forget what he did."

Descamps smirked.

"I like your way of thinking," he said.

"But," Gisele made sure to look him straight in the eye "Don't do shit like that ever again. I am serious. If it wasn't for the current circumstances, I would put you through the same things you did myself, just so that you would learn your lesson."

"I don't get why you're so mad," replied the boy, scrunching his face with displeasure "You don't even know that girl. What does it do to you?"

"If a girl doesn't stand up for another girl, who else will?" mumbled Gisele in response "You don't know what it's like to be objectified and sexualised on a daily basis, you never will. Jokes like that will never be fine and just because you don't experience them yourself, doesn't mean you have the right to do that to others."

Joseph didn't reply right away. He took a drag of his cigarette, looked up, as if to count all the cracks on the ceiling, then put his eyes back on Gisele.

"But I would never do that to you."

"You've said so before, but that doesn't make it okay. How different am I from other girls? I can guarantee you that most of us share the same experiences and most of said experiences are not pleasant ones. What scares me is the fact that you were able to do that to some other girl and you feel no remorse."

"But I do. Now, at least." he answered and somehow, Gisele was sure that his words were true. Joseph Descamps was anything but a liar.

He had his own moral compass. He only took into consideration opinions of people that truly mattered to him. He didn't care much for others. He could twist your words against yourself, but he never changed their original form. In his mind, he saw the world the way that would suit him, not anyone else. But if something really did matter to him, Joseph would stand behind the truth with his whole self.