Bambi blinks, looking at the blonde girl on his arm. "Who... Who's this?" She asks, pushing past Mama B, Lazare and Larry. "Who's she?"
"Bambi?" Laurent asks, a deep frown on his face. He pulls away from the girl and walks over. "I not know you were-" Mama B stops him, pushing him back over.
"Who this girl?" She asks, her voice cold.
"She's a..." Laurent looks back at the girl, then back at Bambi. "She a singer. I trying to work with her and-"
"Laurent, what is going on?" The girl asks in french.
"It... Just wait outside for a second so I can-"
"No, no." Bambi interrupts, holding her hand up. "Stay." She tells the girl, breathing deeply to calm herself. "Don't leave." She says in french, trying to make it sound as good as possible. She hated how bad she was, but that wasn't going to stop her.
Laurent looks at Bambi, who had kept her hard gaze on the girl.
"How can you do this, Laurent? You not come to visit for three months. She be here waiting for you for three months. She not go home til she see you. And then you come and bring a girl with you?" She asks, making Laurent look over. "Is Bambi not your fiancee anymore? Do you not love her anymore? Are you in love with this girl?"
Bambi looks down at her hand, at the ring. "Please-" She stops herself and looks at the girl "Are you with him?"
"Bambi, you not-"
"Are you with him?" Bambi repeats, looking at the girl again.
"What?"
"Is he your..." Bambi looks at Lazare for help. "Boyfriend, what's the word for-"
"Bambi, I not with her like-"
"Is Laurent your boyfriend?" Lazare asks the girl, interrupting his younger brother. The girl looks at Laurent then at Bambi.
"Who is she?" The girl asks, and Bambi closes her eyes.
"Answer the damn question!" She says loudly, and Larry moves closer to her, moving his brother out of the way and pulling her back.
"Bambi, calm down." He mutters and Laurent moves over.
"Bambi, she not my girlfriend." He says, and Mama B slaps the back of his head. "Maman!"
"You idiot." She says, pushing him. "What you do with this girl?"
"Who is that girl?"
"That is Laurent's fiancee." Lazare tells the singer, whose mouth opens
"She's the deer?" The girl asks, taking a step forward. "Deer?" She says, moving in between everyone, who stopped.
"Yes. She's Bambi." Laurent says, nodding and keeping his hands on Bambi's arms. Mama B looks at the girl, a huge frown on her face.
"Move Laurent." The singer says, pushing him aside and looking at Bambi. She leans forward, kissing Bambi's cheeks and pulls away. "You speak french?" She asks, her eyes wide and hopeful. Bambi looks at the girl confused.
"A... A little. I understand it more than-"
"I am Urilla. Laurent asked me to sing with him, a love song about his deer, Bambi. He always talk about you and I never ever see you before, but you are so beautiful. I know why he loves you so much. At first I thought you were someone else and I was going to get mad at him for cheating but-"
"Wh-what?"
"You not understand? I try to speak-"
"No, no. What?" Bambi says, pulling away from the girl. "What?" She looks at Laurent.
"We try and make a song together. For you." He mutters. "None of you listen to me at all. I come here to ask for help. I not know you were here." Mama B blinks, then slaps Laurent once more.
"Why you not tell us?" She asks as he clutches his head.
"It was last minute. I not mean for this to happen." He groans. Bambi takes a deep breath, looking at the wall.
"Sorry." She says, looking at Laurent. "I'm sorry." He looks up at her and sighs.
"Is okay."
Bambi looks at the girl. "Sorry."
"No problem Deer." She says, giving her a smile.
-
Bambi sits at the table, tapping her foot. She still didn't feel right, despite things becoming 'clear' for her. Urilla and Laurent's relationship with each other wasn't helping her suspicions. "Bambi, calm down." Mama B orders, her voice slightly harsh. Bambi lets out a breath and nods, stopping her foot.
"Sorry." She mutters, keeping her eyes trained on the book as Mama B walks over to her.
"What's wrong?" She asks and Bambi looks up.
"Nothing." She says, shaking her head.
"Bambi, what's wrong?"
"Everything. Do you think Laurent wants Urilla?" She whispers, hoping not to be heard.
"I... I not know." She mutters, sitting down next to her. "But I tell you this, I not like Urilla. I know I not know her for long, but she up to no good."
"I don't wanna lose Laurent." Bambi mutters, closing the book. "Not again."
"Again?"
"Yeah..." She mutters. "In high school-"
"Who that girl out there with Lau, Maman?" Laure asks, storming into the room with two twin girls. Laure looks at Bambi and gives her a small smile. "Hey Bi."
"Hey Laure. Hi Leonie and Luce." Bambi says, giving her a smile. Leonie frowns. "That's Urilla." She says, giving the girls a look.
"Why he not with you, Bi? What's going on?" Leonie asks quietly, her words making Bambi close her eyes.
"She's a singer. She helping Laurent make a song about Bambi, his deer." Mama B says, her hushed voice filled with spite. "She's trying to steal my son away from Bambi, I can feel it."
Luce shakes her head, crossing her arms. "I'm going to talk to them." She says, not caring how loud her voice was and turning on her heels and Bambi shoots up.
"No!" She exclaims loudly. "Don't say anything." She quietly says. "I don't want trouble. Just... sit."
"But-"
"Luce, this not your business." Mama B says, keeping her eyes on Bambi. "Bambi say sit, so you sit."
Luce's frown deepens but she listens.
"Let's cook something!" Leonie says, hoping to take the frowns off of people's faces.
"Good idea. We need to make dinner." Mama B says and Luce gets up, moving to walk out. "All of us, Luce."
-
Leonie looks around, taking in the frowns. Luce was frowning, Laure had a frown, Mama B had a frown, Larry looked troubled and so did Lazare. Bambi kept her eyes lowered, Laurent was seeking out Bambi's eyes, and Urilla was fidgeting due to all the tension.
Leonie clears her throat. "So, wanna hear a joke?" She asks, looking around. All eyes fall on her, even Bambi's, and she immediately looks down. "Sorry."
"I wanna hear it, Leo." Bambi says, wincing at her choppy french.
"Uhm... well... I didn't really... have one." She says, awkwardly laughing. Bambi nods, looking back down at her food. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Bambi mutters. Mama B rolls her eyes.
"Eat." She orders, looking around the table. "Us girls didn't just cook all this for you to waste." Lazare picks up his fork, stabbing some of the vegetables. Larry picks up one of the rolls, tearing it apart and slowly eating it. Laure sighs, drinking some of her water, and Luce shakes her head, keeping her eyes on Laurent.
Laurent meets the disapproving gaze of Luce and frowns. "What?"
"You're stupid."
"No I not."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No-"
"Shut up!" Larry groans, looking at the two.
"She started it." He says and Urilla giggles, causing all eyes to fall on her.
"Why are you laughing?" Luce asks, her glare growing more intense.
"N-no reason-"
"What's funny? Laurent? Is he funny to you?"
"What? You guys are child-"
"You know what's not funny? The fact that you're still here. Why he got you here? What's the purpose of you being here? Who are-"
"Luce!" Leonie and Bambi exclaim, stopping her rant.
"I'm telling her the truth, Bambi. Is she here to meet Maman, like she's his girl?"
"Luce, that not true! I needed help for the-"
"Then why is she still here? She's been here all day, like she's apart of the family. She's not. Unless you replacing her for Bambi."
"You mean replacing me for her." Bambi mutters, correcting her. Luce frowns, shaking her head a bit. She always got mixed up, despite her english being good.
"It doesn't matter." Luce says. "I don't care for all that. I don't like how she's here and Laurent pays more attention to her and not you. He stays with her while you studying french for him. So you can go places with him! I don't get that."
"Luce, calm down." Mama B says and Luce shakes her head.
"Why I gotta calm down? Bambi is now my sister, and I care about her. So why this girl still here? She my sister now?" Luce looks at Urilla. "Are you taking Bambi's place as my sister and as Laurent's wife?"
"No! Why would I do that? I like Bambi."
"Obviously not enough to let her have her husband back. You stay with him all day when he could have been with his wife."
"They aren't even married!" Urilla says, frowning. Luce's frown deepens and she gets up, causing the table to shake.
"Why does it matter? He put a ring on her finger! They gonna get married. Why do you care about small shit like that?"
"Luce, please!" Leonie says, getting up and grabbing her twin sister's hand. "Calm down!"
"Why are you letting her say things like that Laurent? You not care for Bambi anymore? Is that why?" Laurent keeps his head down, not speaking. Luce's frown turns into a look of disgust. "I'm leaving." She says, shaking her head. Bambi looks up, meeting eyes with Luce.
"Why? I didn't... what's wrong?" She asks, looking around. She didn't catch everything that was said. Luce was talking to fast and things were getting lost on her.
"Come on." Luce says to her, and Bambi looks at Laure, who had gotten up.
"I going too. I can no be around this." Laure says, walking over to them. Bambi gets up, and the girls walk out.
Mama B watches them before looking down and shaking her head. Mama B slowly stands up and walks down the hall into her room, leaving the rest. Larry looks at his twin and sighs, closing his eyes. "Please leave, Urilla." He says.
Urilla looks at him, frowning. "I didn't do anything-"
"Urilla, get out!" Laurent shouts, looking at her. Urilla jumps and gets up, scrambling to leave.