Pink Asparagus

After Armand Aubigny discovered that it was his blood and not Désirée’s that made the baby look less white than his racism would’ve liked, he immediately burned the letter. It was racism. He couldn’t accept that he was similar to his slaves because that would mean they might deserve the things he had, like freedom and respect. He just went on, pretending to be completely white, buying skin whitening soaps and aggressively eating bland mashed potatoes and steak. But after a while, when his skin developed several rashes from whatever is in those soaps and he missed complaining to someone about his days, he decided to contact Désirée again. He thought that raising his child and being with a beautiful woman seemed better than endless brooding. He wrote her a letter requesting to meet with her.

Scene 1.

Madame Valmondé: (Holds a handwritten letter.) How will I tell Désirée about this?

(Madame Valmondé paces around a completely purple room, with mauve walls and lilac vases, awaiting Désirée. She looks out the large, majestic window at the center of the room, and slightly gasps when she sees Désirée approaching.)

(Desiree enters. She looks beautiful and satisfied.)

Désirée: Hello mother! I had the most spectacular walk! (She notices her mother’s unsettled expression and sees the letter. She recognizes the stationary.)

Madame Valmondé: I read it already. I needed to know what he wanted what.

Désirée: Well, what does he want?

Madame Valmondé: To see you. The letter is very … apologetic…

Désirée: Apologetic!

Madame Valmondé: I’m not saying you should forgive him, but maybe that you should see him.

Désirée: Does he sound lonely? Mother, he’s just gotten bored, and he likely expects that I’ve been sitting here waiting for him to make me feel unimportant again.

Madame Valmondé: Désirée… he is still the father of your child. He deserves punishment for what he did but…

Désirée: He deserves silence. Nothing. (She raises her voice here to what would be considered a violent pitch for a woman).

Madame Valmondé: I think it may be good to meet with him still. You also shouldn’t hold any grudges; grudges usually snowball into revenge plots, and we wouldn’t want that for the father of your child.

Désirée: I would never consider violence as the answer. It’s just, he asked me and my child to leave his house and didn’t arrange a safe way for me to get home. He didn’t care for me anymore. Our love broke because he found out something about my past… some love.

Madame Valmondé: I think you should meet with him at least, to hear what he has to say…

Désirée: (Gets silent. She is likely picturing how lovely her marriage was at one point and likely hopes to return to that point. According to her character arc in Chopin’s short, she is probably considering going back to him.) You know what, fine, I guess it wouldn’t hurt me to meet with him.

Madame Valmondé: I think that’s a very good idea. I think you should meet with him alone in the house. I will take the little one and I can even dismiss the maids if you want privacy.

Désirée: I’ll set the date with Armand for next week. He can come for tea in the afternoon, and I’ll make the biscuits I made him in our early days of marriage.

Scene 2.

Armand Aubigny: (Approaches Désirée’s door with confidence and knocks obnoxiously. Désirée opens the door.) Hello Désirée. You seem well.

Désirée: I am well.

(The two walk into a completely pink room with pastel salmon walls and fuchsia tableware. There is a large magenta chandelier over the table. They sit down at the table.)

Armand Aubigny: I see you made our love scones: the scones we’d eat after we made love.

Désirée: (She is shocked at how quickly he managed to bring up lovemaking to her. It must’ve been some kind of record. She tries to hide her surprise.) I made them because I knew you would like them. It’s good to eat something you like after a journey. You’ve come a long way. I know it because I walked the route once in the cold, with an infant in my arms. It’s a very long journey. Did you walk?

Armand Aubigny: No, I did not walk. (Sighs.) I wish we could forget the past and instead discuss the present. How have you been?

Désirée: I feel very good these days. I love watching the little one play in my garden. He’s so fascinated by everything around him. Three is such a good age for a child; three-year-olds want to grab all of life with their tiny little hands. It’s so refreshing. I’ve been doing well; I’ve started making brightly coloured furniture. I want everything to create excitement, especially things like furniture which are the most overwhelming parts of a room usually.

Armand Aubigny: Woodworking? I’ve taken that up myself too. I’ve started–

Désirée: (Interrupts) I’m sure every woodworker’s journey is the same, and since I know you so well, I’ll likely find yours especially unexciting. Let us instead discuss the matter at hand. Why have you reached out?

Armand Aubigny: Well as I outlined in my letter–

Désirée: (Interrupts) I didn’t read your letter. I think you should just tell me in simple terms. Usually when men like you speak for 3 pages, what you had to say could’ve been said in a single sentence.

Armand Aubigny: I want my family to join me at home again. I always think of you and the little one.

Désirée: That warms my heart. Would you like to know if I’ve thought of you?

Armand Aubigny: I would love to.

Désirée: I do think of you and what you’ve done for me. You gave me my lovely child and you showed me how incredible I am. Once I got home to my mother, I started humming in the mornings again. I made fluffy pastries. I realized that I didn’t like that I couldn’t ask you what was wrong when you were being unpleasant. I realized I deserved to be noticed.

Armand Aubigny: Why are you bringing up the past again, I think we should talk of our present and our future. We should–

Désirée: (Interrupts) We. Your love for me was once so intense. When you saw me, it was as if you’d been shot by a pistol, as if an avalanche of emotion had buried you. Your passion burned like a prairie fire. But then, the bullet was removed, the avalanche non-existent, the prairie-fire put out. You stopped loving me because of an unconscious injury you accused me of bringing upon your home and your name.

Armand Aubigny: Things have changed. I feel differently now. I apologize for what–

Désirée: (Interrupts) Did you ever find the letter, Armand?

Armand Aubigny: (He’s terrible at lying.) I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.

Désirée: Remember that afternoon when I held my wrist against yours? I told you I was paler than you and I didn’t even know at the time. When you asked me to leave, I wanted to leave. If all it took was my disgracing your name for your love to fade, then I didn’t want that love.

Armand Aubigny: I’m still not sure–

Désirée: (Interrupts) Your love used to be like an avalanche of affection. (Gets up from the chair and walks to a pink rope hanging next to one of the walls).

Armand Aubigny: I still love–

Désirée: (Pulls the rope and the chandelier opens, allowing for 15 frozen lamb chops to fall onto his head.) An avalanche. (She walks over to him and checks his pulse. He’s as dead as the lamb chops.)

(Désirée quickly defrosts the lamb chops and rubs them with oil, salt, herbs and garlic. She hums. While the lamb chops brown, she goes back into the pink room. She pulls the pink rope again, to close the chandelier. She hums. She carefully sits Armand in his chair. She cleans the table and replaces the tablecloth. When the lamb chops are done, she lays them out on a platter and garnishes them with fresh basil. Then, she hears the front door open and runs to it dramatically.)

Madame Valmondé: (Walks in with the little one sleeping in her arms.) He fell asleep in the park. (She takes the little one upstairs and comes back downstairs to Désirée.)

Désirée: (Dramatically.) Oh, the most terrible thing happened. I was talking to Armand and he just fell over on the table. He’s dead!

Madame Valmondé: (Dramatically.) Oh, that is terrible! We must alert the authorities immediately! (She sends for a few officers.)

Désirée: I wonder what could’ve happened. He walked in with all these bruises all over him, and he kept touching the back of his head as if he’d been hit!

Madame Valmondé: (Smirks.) Perhaps he got into a fight before he arrived here; that is the most likely theory!

(The officers arrive and the two ladies explain what happened and point them in Armand’s direction. The two ladies and the officers stand in the room together.)

Désirée: (Dramatically.) I wonder what happened to him! I made him such a lovely dinner and came back to him dead with his head down on the table.

(The officers remove the body.)

Officer 1: Well ladies, I’m not sure what’s happened but it’s such a shame. He seemed like a nice respectable man.

Madame Valmondé: (Dramatically.) It’s such a shame! Désirée had made him all this food, but we are both too stunned to eat! Would you like some dinner before you go?

(The officers accept and sit at the table, eating the lamb chops. The ladies sit with them, watching them. Madame Valmondé takes a small piece of the lamb to taste if it’s well done.)

Madame Valmondé: It’s so strange how lovely lamb chops taste when they’re cooked. When they’re raw, well, they could just kill you!

(Désirée smiles and the officers keep eating. They don’t notice what Madame Valmondé has said.)

Works Consulted

Moreland, Sean. “Intellect and Sentiment: Chopin and James” English 2104 American Literature 2. The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario. Course lecture.

Chopin, Kate. “Short Stories: Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin.” East of the Web, http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/DesiBaby.shtml.