Texas Was You
Chapter 7
Lisette saw the text on her phone and took the elevator downstairs, seeing Josephine waiting for her with the truck. "This is the first real day of school, lucky we have Jazz History first", she said.
"Oui, Alex and Antoine already left for the airport", she replied.
"Lucky we stay in Texas, what the hell is there to do in Winnipeg except drink? At least Alberta has cowboys", said Josephine dismissively.
Lisette nodded a she followed Josephine into the music building and then to their classroom. A few of the students glanced in their direction as they found two seats near the front, a few more students trickling in. A tall, distinguished-looking middle-aged man entered the classroom as the students faced the front. "Good morning, everyone. I am Professor Armand Archaubault and I will be teaching here this semester. This class is about jazz histroy, we are going to start by introducing ourselves", he said.
Lisette's heart thumped furiously as one by one the students introduced themselves, her palms cold and clammy from nervousness. Josephine gave her a reassuring smile as she took a deep breath and smiled at the class. "Bonjour et bonne matin, my name is Lisette Roussel. I have only been in Dallas for one week, I live with my brother and his roommate. I am from Roublaix in France and I have been playing clarinet since I was seven, my favorite clarinetist is Artie Shaw", she said, hastily sitting back down.
"Very nice, Miss Roussel. I myself play clarinet and I've been playing since I was a kid too, it's good to get started early. And Shaw is one of my favorites, but Benny Goodman was better in my opinion", said Professor Archambault.
"If your brother is Antoine Roussel, he's a badass. It was great when he taunted Chicago after the penalty shot, showed them. And he kicked Bollig's ass too", said one of the male students as everyone laughed.
Lisette gave him a look. "Monsieur, my brother can do a lot more than just play the fool. He scored the go-ahead goal against les Blackhawks in the last game and he had an assist on Monsieur Whitney's goal", she retorted.
"True that", agreed Josephine.
"Settle down, everybody. Who's next?", asked Professor Archambault.
Josephine stood up and smiled confidently. "I'm Josephine O'Connor and I've been living in Big D my whole life, my daddy is Texan and my mom is Cajun. I am studying to be a choreographer and I used to take dance lessons until I was a teenager, damn teachers wanted me to go on a diet 'cause I had a growth spurt. No way I can diet, me being Texan and Cajun", she joked as the class laughed.
"Very interesting, Miss O'Connor. Do you listen to Cajun music?", he asked.
"Sometimes, but I love country music and show tunes, some 70's rock but nothing new, just a lot of crap. My favorite musical is 42nd Street and I know tap, reckon I know how to do the dance. And Lisette and I are going to see Jason Aldean in two weeks", she said proudly.
"Aldean sucks, all his fans are chicks", retorted a male student.
"That means a lot of ladies are gonna be there then, if you went to his shows you are gonna see a lot of sexy gals", she retorted with a smile.
The professor tried not to laugh as he discreetly coughed, getting everyone's attention. "That's an interesting observation, Miss O'Connor. Did you know that country music originated from traditional Irish and Scottish music?", he asked.
"Some of the bluegrass stuff is like that, reckon they sound alike. But I like country better, it' a Texas thing", said Josephine.
"In our class, we are going to learn about the history of jazz from the beginning in antelbellum and postwar New Orleans, to the different offshoots and up until the 50's, that's the second part of the class. As part of the class, we are taking a trip to New Orleans over the Thanksgiving break, we are going to town the historical jazz sights and see a concert, but we're not going to be partying on Bourbon Street", he said as several of the students groaned.
"Bourbon St. is overrated anyway, too many damn Yankee tourists and drunk frat boys", retorted Josephine.
"What is Bourbon St.?", asked Lisette as they left class.
"That's a street in New Orleans that's nothing but bars and titty clubs, all the Yankee tourists and drunk fratboys go there. The city isn't that great anyways, outside of the Quarter and the District is nothing but a giant slum. I prefer going to Cajun country, mom's folks are from the prairie and they got cowboys and the people still speak French, we don't do get the tourists like the swamps do. You could say I'm half coonass and half Texan", she joked.
Lisette nodded slowly as she tried to digest this information. "Ah, okay. How did French people get there? I know Louisiana was a French colony, but we only hear about how Napoleon sold it to Monsieur Jefferson", she said.
Josephine unlocked the doors and got in the driver's side, turning on the engine and backing out of the space. "France had a colony in Canada called Acadie, but the British took over and kicked them out. The lucky ones were dumped in Louisiana or in France and since they were country bumpkins, they preferred living on the swamps and prairies. If we got stuck in Canada, we'd be pale, eating crappy food and speaking like Canadians, we'd be paleasses and instead of coonasses", she joked.
"Tres mal, people in France don't like the British much. Especially those who pass through on the tunnel, many of them are just buying cheap alcohol and are usually drunk, they come to Paris to party", said Lisette distastefully.
"Have you been to Paris?", she asked.
"Only when we went to the airport, it is too big. Antoine used to go all the time for his hockey tournaments, but not us. I have been out more in Montreal, but I am just a country girl at heart, n'cest pas?", she chuckled.
"Then you gotta get around the Big D, Lisette. I ought to take you to Fort Worth, that's where all the cowboy suff is. Billy Bob's has got everything and Gilley's is where they filmed Urban Cowboy, you gotta go on the mechanical bull and show the folks back home", laughed Josephine.
"Non, that is dangerous", she replied.
"Your loss, that's a lot of fun. You gonna wach the game tomorrow?", she asked.
"Oui", she replied.
"Let's go to a bar and watch it, it's more fun that way. We'll go to one of the bars in Lower Greenville and watch it on TV, they always have good drink specials and we got no class the next day", suggested Josephine.
"Oui, but I have never been to a bar before", said Lisette as they started unloading their groceries.
"Just follow me, it's easy and it's going to be fun", said Josephine.
"Oui, Alex and Antoine already left for the airport", she replied.
"Lucky we stay in Texas, what the hell is there to do in Winnipeg except drink? At least Alberta has cowboys", said Josephine dismissively.
Lisette nodded a she followed Josephine into the music building and then to their classroom. A few of the students glanced in their direction as they found two seats near the front, a few more students trickling in. A tall, distinguished-looking middle-aged man entered the classroom as the students faced the front. "Good morning, everyone. I am Professor Armand Archaubault and I will be teaching here this semester. This class is about jazz histroy, we are going to start by introducing ourselves", he said.
Lisette's heart thumped furiously as one by one the students introduced themselves, her palms cold and clammy from nervousness. Josephine gave her a reassuring smile as she took a deep breath and smiled at the class. "Bonjour et bonne matin, my name is Lisette Roussel. I have only been in Dallas for one week, I live with my brother and his roommate. I am from Roublaix in France and I have been playing clarinet since I was seven, my favorite clarinetist is Artie Shaw", she said, hastily sitting back down.
"Very nice, Miss Roussel. I myself play clarinet and I've been playing since I was a kid too, it's good to get started early. And Shaw is one of my favorites, but Benny Goodman was better in my opinion", said Professor Archambault.
"If your brother is Antoine Roussel, he's a badass. It was great when he taunted Chicago after the penalty shot, showed them. And he kicked Bollig's ass too", said one of the male students as everyone laughed.
Lisette gave him a look. "Monsieur, my brother can do a lot more than just play the fool. He scored the go-ahead goal against les Blackhawks in the last game and he had an assist on Monsieur Whitney's goal", she retorted.
"True that", agreed Josephine.
"Settle down, everybody. Who's next?", asked Professor Archambault.
Josephine stood up and smiled confidently. "I'm Josephine O'Connor and I've been living in Big D my whole life, my daddy is Texan and my mom is Cajun. I am studying to be a choreographer and I used to take dance lessons until I was a teenager, damn teachers wanted me to go on a diet 'cause I had a growth spurt. No way I can diet, me being Texan and Cajun", she joked as the class laughed.
"Very interesting, Miss O'Connor. Do you listen to Cajun music?", he asked.
"Sometimes, but I love country music and show tunes, some 70's rock but nothing new, just a lot of crap. My favorite musical is 42nd Street and I know tap, reckon I know how to do the dance. And Lisette and I are going to see Jason Aldean in two weeks", she said proudly.
"Aldean sucks, all his fans are chicks", retorted a male student.
"That means a lot of ladies are gonna be there then, if you went to his shows you are gonna see a lot of sexy gals", she retorted with a smile.
The professor tried not to laugh as he discreetly coughed, getting everyone's attention. "That's an interesting observation, Miss O'Connor. Did you know that country music originated from traditional Irish and Scottish music?", he asked.
"Some of the bluegrass stuff is like that, reckon they sound alike. But I like country better, it' a Texas thing", said Josephine.
"In our class, we are going to learn about the history of jazz from the beginning in antelbellum and postwar New Orleans, to the different offshoots and up until the 50's, that's the second part of the class. As part of the class, we are taking a trip to New Orleans over the Thanksgiving break, we are going to town the historical jazz sights and see a concert, but we're not going to be partying on Bourbon Street", he said as several of the students groaned.
"Bourbon St. is overrated anyway, too many damn Yankee tourists and drunk frat boys", retorted Josephine.
"What is Bourbon St.?", asked Lisette as they left class.
"That's a street in New Orleans that's nothing but bars and titty clubs, all the Yankee tourists and drunk fratboys go there. The city isn't that great anyways, outside of the Quarter and the District is nothing but a giant slum. I prefer going to Cajun country, mom's folks are from the prairie and they got cowboys and the people still speak French, we don't do get the tourists like the swamps do. You could say I'm half coonass and half Texan", she joked.
Lisette nodded slowly as she tried to digest this information. "Ah, okay. How did French people get there? I know Louisiana was a French colony, but we only hear about how Napoleon sold it to Monsieur Jefferson", she said.
Josephine unlocked the doors and got in the driver's side, turning on the engine and backing out of the space. "France had a colony in Canada called Acadie, but the British took over and kicked them out. The lucky ones were dumped in Louisiana or in France and since they were country bumpkins, they preferred living on the swamps and prairies. If we got stuck in Canada, we'd be pale, eating crappy food and speaking like Canadians, we'd be paleasses and instead of coonasses", she joked.
"Tres mal, people in France don't like the British much. Especially those who pass through on the tunnel, many of them are just buying cheap alcohol and are usually drunk, they come to Paris to party", said Lisette distastefully.
"Have you been to Paris?", she asked.
"Only when we went to the airport, it is too big. Antoine used to go all the time for his hockey tournaments, but not us. I have been out more in Montreal, but I am just a country girl at heart, n'cest pas?", she chuckled.
"Then you gotta get around the Big D, Lisette. I ought to take you to Fort Worth, that's where all the cowboy suff is. Billy Bob's has got everything and Gilley's is where they filmed Urban Cowboy, you gotta go on the mechanical bull and show the folks back home", laughed Josephine.
"Non, that is dangerous", she replied.
"Your loss, that's a lot of fun. You gonna wach the game tomorrow?", she asked.
"Oui", she replied.
"Let's go to a bar and watch it, it's more fun that way. We'll go to one of the bars in Lower Greenville and watch it on TV, they always have good drink specials and we got no class the next day", suggested Josephine.
"Oui, but I have never been to a bar before", said Lisette as they started unloading their groceries.
"Just follow me, it's easy and it's going to be fun", said Josephine.