"nineteen eighty one for my mother, my father, my sister..." "Northern Italy 1944" "My father was born in 1937 or '38." "I never remember." "Anyway, it's not important." "What's important is, my dad grew up during WWII." "When everyone was poor and in B W." "Before the war his family was loaded." "But one day, for some reason no one remembers, the Krauts burned down their inn." "They lost everything." "Cause of that, my dad couldn't buy himself stuff." "It was no big deal, since in his village nobody could buy stuff." "Then one day, maybe somebody was tired of not having colors or buying stuff, and pulled one on the Krauts." "It seems that someone in your gang stole our radio transmitter." "I know the Krauts must have spoken German, but... the way Dad told it, everyone spoke French." "We'll settle this fast." "I have his name here." "If the guilty party steps forward now, the rest can go." "Or we'll shoot someone at random every five minutes." "Till we find our man." "Which one of you is named Benito?" "Whoever's named Benito, step forward right now." "Dammitall!" "I'll ask one last time." "Benito better shake his butt and step forward or the old cow gets whacked." "Jesus Christ!" "Don't take me for an idiot." "They didn't take him for an idiot, but back then the leader of Italy was named Benito." "Benito Mussolini was their leader." "If you named your son Benito, you got a cheque for $ 1." "People were so poor, it worked." "And?" "And nothing." "There were lots of Benitos." "But the radio?" "What about it?" "The thief." "Who was it?" "An older kid, I think." "Did they kill him?" "Who?" "The real Benito, who stole the radio." "I can't remember." "Come on, you can't remember?" "It's been 40 years." "You forget things." "You never remember where you left your shoes." "That's so random." "At your age I'd never have dared ask my dad for a $400 watch." "It was the war." "Nobody ever asked for anything." "One Christmas, know what my present was?" "Soup, you told me." "A small bowl of soup." "Dad came up with a story every time I asked him to buy me something." "Without fail." "Mom would tell you I was always reading this." "I sometimes leafed through it, just for fun." "I always checked out the same stuff." "Calculator watches, p. 61." "Electric racing cars, p. 63." "Hockey net, that was p. 75." "Motocross bikes, I forget which page." "Besides, everybody read it." "Consumer's Distributors was big." "I n '81, my neatest stuff was Uncle André's hockey gear, my Star Wars bedspread," "a 3-speed with useless brakes..." "Ricardo!" "Sonic soccer shoes with spikes, the new album by Kiss, Dynasty, two Bédard Movers caps," "Ricardo!" "What?" "And a Swiss Army knife I wasn't allowed to touch." "I had no more toys, I'd pitched'em out." "I was changing." "Getting interested in girls, except Sis." "I needed some flashy stuff." "I needed a sound system with giant speakers, a stroboscope for parties, to dance robot style, moon boots, but not this color, the new Intellivision game, cause Atari graphics sucked, the new Cooper SK2001 hockey helmet" "with a face guard like Drolet had, an in-ground pool, and a Rubik's Cube for the school bus." "I knew we were Middle Class, just barely." "We'd nearly been rejected." "Cause my dad didn't go to university." "He didn't work in an office." "With his job, he never had meetings." "The one time he came back from one it was 4 a." "M." "And Mom didn't believe him." "Mom didn't have a degree either." "Grandpa was a logger." "All I know about Gran is, she liked potatoes." "At one point Mom realized she was stuck in a poor family." "So she left the boonies and moved to Québec City." "She soon landed a job in a Chinese restaurant and could buy all the smokes she wanted." "Other stuff too, but she went through lots of smokes." "Mom says she left the North Shore cause of all the black flies, but nobody believes her." "My sister had just got a retainer so we couldn't understand her." "To cheer her up, Mom brought her a cat from a client who was getting divorced." "All she thinks about now is her Caramel." "Oh yeah, she always answered the phone." "It's long distance!" "What's St-Exupéry?" "The school's name." "Here it is." "Come on." "Hello." "Yes?" "It's my kids' first day." "Your name?" "Benito Trogi." "Wait outside." "I'll tell Mr Dagenais." "Nice here, huh?" "Dad hadn't gone to university cause of the war." "The Krauts also burned down his school." "He didn't finish grade 3." "So he couldn't help me much with my homework." "He was good in math, but grammar..." "Forget it!" "Still, he was smart." "He could easily have been a lawyer." "You should apply to be a judge." "I don't like long hours." "I prefer to take my son shopping." "Check this, counsellor!" "A calculator watch?" "I bought the same one for Ricardo." "Christ, he's loaded!" "Hello, children." "Hello, sir." "Michel Dagenais, the principal." "Benito Trogi." "Mr Trogi." "Class, as I told you last week..." "If you wondered why Dad enunciated like that, you'll see." "His name is Ricardo Troggy." "It's Trogi." "Trodgy, with a d?" "No, you just pronounce it that way." "I see." "Alright, everyone, say hello to Ricardo Trogi." "Hello..." "Ricardo just moved here, and that's always hard." "He'll need help getting to know the school and class." "Now, to get to know him a bit, who'd like to ask Ricardo a question?" "Nobody's curious?" "Then I have a question for you." "What is the origin of the name" "Ricardo?" ""Origin" means, where it's from." "Which country." "Nobody wants to guess?" "Ricardo, tell us where your name's from." "My dad is Italian." "Italian, that must be neat!" "Do you speak Italian?" "No, cause Mom's from here." "So, his name comes from Italy." "I think that'd be a great new word." "Ricardo, take some chalk and write your name in the box." "It'll help us remember." "Aline?" "I have a way to remember his name." "You do?" "It's like Ricardo Crunchy!" "Think you're funny?" "Apologize right now." "It was a joke." "Apologize right now!" " I'm sorry." " Stand up." " Aline!" " Up, I don't have all day!" "I'm sorry." "Anybody else have a funny joke?" "Open your math books to page 31, division." "I know it was just a joke, but I'd heard that one about Ricardo Crunchy so often." "I was used to it." "The whole family had heard it." "Someone had told it in 1942." "Someone else in 1912." "It went back all the way to 1894." "Plus, there are no other Trogis." "Someone tried to do our family tree but they got nowhere." "There were no concentrations of us, even in Italy." "And that meant we descended from Gypsies." "And back then, Gypsies didn't keep track." "They didn't use family names much." "The first Trogi wasn't even a Trogi." "He was some accordionist, and suddenly it vanished from his head." "He couldn't remember his family name." "He must've tried, but it never came back." "He took any old word." "Trogi!" "And that word was Trogi." "What's going on?" "Beat it, go play with your class." "I don't know anybody." "Neither do I." "You know me, silly." "That doesn't count." "OK, I overdid it, but put yourself in my shoes." "In 6th grade, who wants to hang out with immigrants?" "Screw you!" "You too!" "After recess, it started to click." "I wasn't sure, but it seemed kids in this school had dough." "Maybe not millions, but more than me." "Lots had mechanical pencils like my old teacher, and they cost a mint." "They had leather pencil cases." "It seemed obligatory." "Nobody had a plastic one like mine." "It might seem like a detail, but that's just the start." "I'm sure lots of 'em had in-ground swimming pools." "I could sense it." "They all wore sweatshirts and white turtlenecks." "It was the fashion." "Ricardo, would you come up here, please?" "Bring your book with you." "I hope you don't call that a book." "I didn't know we were reading." "Take this." "At St-Ex School everyone's read The Little Prince." "I've already read it." "It'll have to do for today." "Did your teacher give dictations?" "Not too often, no." "We do it every morning." "Really?" "Do you know longhand?" "Yes." "Perfect." "Go sit down." "No, you can have it back at the end of the day." "Aline, about the catalog..." "Forget the catalog." "Go sit down." "I can't write longhand." "You can't?" "At my old school we were going to start." "Why so late?" "How do I know?" " Tomorrow I have dictation." " Tomorrow?" "It's OK, I'll teach you." "I'm not working tonight." "Very funny!" "What?" "Your French is lousy." "We use the same letters." "Of the 100 Polish immigrants..." "Their damn school reform is to blame." " What's that?" " It's the new way they teach kids." "That's why you can't read or write." " I can read." " Oh yeah?" "I only see you with your darn catalog." "I read at school." " Yeah, what?" " Lots of stuff." "You don't read either." " Yes I do!" " What?" "All the books here are mine." "Sure, they're all cookbooks." "What?" "I read biographies." "What are biographies?" "You'd know that if you read." "So what's the school reform all about?" "I was working the night they explained." "All those meetings are at night." "They figure nobody works nights." " What'll I do?" " Tell your teacher that for a few weeks you'll write in block letters." "She said no." " What do you mean?" " I asked her." "What a tight-ass." "It takes time to learn." "Can't she give you till next Monday?" "I dunno, I didn't ask." "Some nutcase." "I'll call her tomorrow." "Don't start!" "Gimme a kiss goodbye." "Benito?" "Call to see if there's newspaper delivery here." "Yeah, yeah." "Mom, can you buy food for Caramel?" "Of course, sweetie." "Gimme a kiss." "G'night!" "Bye!" " Ricardo?" " What?" "Get your schoolbooks." "Why?" "Why?" "Cause for my dad, who grew up during WWII, nothing was impossible." "I could learn to write in longhand between supper and the 10 pm news." "I'm falling asleep." "I think I'd gotten as far as X by the time" "Mom got home from work." "Why's he still up?" "Guess." "Here." "Another one?" "Maurice gave it to me." "It's the third one." "I know, but he's a drunk, he never remembers." "I don't say a word." "Where'd you get that Coke?" "From me." "He worked all evening." "It's his reward." "Wow, those letters sure are something." "He'll get a great report card!" "Look at me." "You're too gorgeous!" " Stop it!" " Shh, your sister's sleeping." "Don't be stingy with your mom." "So why don't you buy any?" "It ruins your teeth." "You'll have dentures like me." "So?" "People with dentures don't go to university." "Caramel!" "On days we had dictation" "I thought everybody else was luckier than me, even Caramel." "With my writing, I'd have traded places with him." "He keeps getting fatter." "Know many people who'd rather eat Miss Mew than do a dictation test?" ""The cookies are made of gingerbread..."" ""The cookies are made of gingerbread" comma..." "I n case you hadn't noticed," "I was quite smart for my age." "I got it from my dad." "We were both fast learners." "Longhand was no big deal." "He learned longhand in one night?" "Up to X. He learns faster than others." "At 5 he could put together his race track all by himself." " Are you serious?" " Yup." "Crunchy!" "Ricardo?" "Come here please." "Are you sure you can write in longhand?" "Yes." "You're sure?" "Yeah, sure." "Look." "What is this?" "So many mistakes you get 0." "I got the date wrong?" "In dictation we use letters, not numbers." "Are you sure you learned longhand?" "Why had I told Aline that?" "Sometimes I couldn't help it." "Better to lie than look dumb." "Why not tell me?" "It's the school reform, I guess." "They didn't teach us right." "Good Lord." "The school reform." "Poor you!" "I won't count this." "I'll give you another chance." "We'll forget this, you'll do it over tomorrow." "Thanks." "Anne, come here." " Would you help me?" " Yes?" "Help Ricardo practise his longhand during recess this afternoon." "OK." "I asked you because you're our top student." "Thanks, Aline." "Back to your seats." "Anne's desk was in front so I'd only seen her back." "Seems she never got less than 90." "She was a brainiac, but without the glasses." "And she was damn pretty." "I didn't know the expression yet, but it was definitely love at first sight." "Aline?" "I n '81 the furthest I'd gone was a french kiss with..." "None of your business!" "A girl last year." "Mom said I had Italian hair, and girls like that." "As a barmaid, she knew about flirting." "S he had it down pat." "Plus, she knew fashion." "For me, fashion meant a neat part down the middle equal on both sides." "It looked great when I wet my hair." "So cool!" "Only thing, my bum was a bit fat, so I always pulled down my sweater." "Try not to lift your pencil." "Like this." "I mean, you can, but I find it looks neater." "I know." "So far we'd just talked longhand, but I started to wonder if," "Anne Tremblay, even though she didn't wear glasses, was maybe like all the other brainiacs, a PhD," "Pure, hard-working, devout..." "Except that, believe it or not..." "She pretended to get down to work and held her arm right against mine, darn it." "I could feel a french kiss coming." "S he sure was weird, Anne Tremblay." "Believe it or not, for the rest of the day, I swear, she ignored me." "She acted like nothing had happened." "Even worse, the next day, she kept it up." "And all the rest of the week." "What was it with girls there?" "The week after, it got so that's all I thought about." "All the time." "The longer she kept it up, the harder I fell for her." "I felt like Candy running after that bastard Grandchester." "When we played dodge ball," "I tried to get hit quick." "Kids thought I sucked, but all I wanted was to stare at Anne Tremblay." "I don't know if you've tried, but when you look at someone that much," "you get to know their clothes." "I still remember the day she got her K-Way." "It's a jacket with no zipper." "Get the wheelbarrow." "It's a K-Way." "All the kids have them." "Ricardo!" " What?" " There's no newspaper delivery here." " So?" " So you could do it." "Don't let someone else beat you to it." "It pays well, good tips." "Yeah." "Your dad and I can't support you all your life." "Yeah, yeah." "Your cousin delivers papers." "He bought himself a motocross bike." "I know, I saw it." "Benito?" "Why not ask Jean-Marie to help build the deck." "That's his job." "Sure, he'll build it in a day." "He says it makes no sense building it in the fall." "Why, what's the problem?" "You must be doing it wrong if it's taking so long." "What's the rush?" "Your mother!" "Know what's great about a K-Way?" "Dad?" "Dad?" "Benito, answer him!" " What?" " How much do you earn a week?" " Why are you asking?" " Butt out!" " Dad?" " What?" "Don't answer!" "I have the right to know!" " Mom!" " Not your business!" "I can't know how much my parents earn?" "Talk about dumb!" "$300 a week." "$300 a week." "Enough to buy a K-Way!" " Don't tell him!" " Why not?" "He'll think we're rich, ask for more stuff." "That's not why I asked!" "Where's Caramel?" "It's bath time!" "Upstairs!" "I can't find him." "We'll look after your bath." "If I wanted to ask for something, I needed a plan." "Dad?" "You know, about the K-Way..." "I think I have an idea." "Instead of you and Mom buying it for me," "I could buy it myself, like Renato and his motocross." "Where'll you get the money?" "That's it..." "I thought that maybe you and Mom could pay me every week." "Lots of parents do that." "At my old school lots of parents did." "Pay you?" "Yeah." "That way I could save up till I have enough in my account." "Like Normand Drolet." "His dad gives him 3 bucks every week." "On Fridays, I think." " Fridays." "He gave him 3 bucks, that's it." "He couldn't ask for more." "How will you earn the money?" "I just told you." "You'd give me the money and I couldn't ask you for more." "What's wrong?" "So you want a salary every week on Friday?" "Well, Friday..." "Maybe Saturday." "I'll tell you." "Saturday's good." "No, Friday!" "So you want a salary every Friday. $3." "Well, with Normand it was $3." "Normand's Normand." "You're you." "With $3 you can't do anything." "You need at least $5." "Yeah, I dunno." "Maybe." "Think it over, cause you can't ask for more later." "No no, 5 bucks." "So we agree?" "You get a salary every Friday." "5 bucks?" "Like for a job?" "Your job is you won't ask for more." " Right." " We agree?" "I don't know." "Why not?" "Your friend Normand..." "He costs $3." "For the same job you cost $5." "So it makes more sense for me to hire Normand." "How did he always manage to outfox me?" "It was dumb cause I knew I'd get the money later, in university." "Mom told me after Scouts once." "You draw well, right?" "You'll study that in university." "You'll be an architect one day." "No, sorry." "It was driving home from hockey." "You draw well, right?" "You'll study that in university." "You'll be an architect one day." "I still had a long way till I became an architect." "Anyway..." "I know Anne Tremblay brushed my arm on purpose." "You can tell these things." "Get dressed, it's time." "Let's go." "Your retainer!" "If Caramel's lost, won't we look for him?" "He'll come back." "There's two kinds of people." "Those who read their horoscope, like Mom." "And who read their horoscope in secret, like me." "Just in case." "But one day it was right." "It mentioned Anne Tremblay!" "It said," ""Communication with your loved one will succeed."" "At recess I was wondering if I would be more successful if I spoke to her, or her to me, when a damn 2nd grader showed up with the most amazing gadget I'd ever seen." "Didn't I tell you it was a school for rich kids?" "So it seems the father of Marc..." "Marc something... worked for Sony." "And on his birthday he'd given him their latest invention." "What's that?" "It's a Walkman." "A what?" "A mini tape deck." "You can play tapes on it." "Didn't you see the ad on TV?" "No." "I'm gonna ask for one for my next birthday." "You just had it, stupid." "My next one, dumbo!" "What did you say?" " My next one." " No, after?" "Even if that jerk was with them - the kid who called me Crunchy..." "I wanted to join them, the red K-Way gang." "Besides, Mom wouldn't let me join the Kodiak gang." "They looked like bums." "And forget about those rejects..." "Two people aren't a gang." "But these guys, yes!" "They looked so flashy in their red K-Ways." "I just had to find a way that would make them want to be friends with me." "Something hot." "Something they needed." "And I found it!" "Do you guys have any" "Playboy magazines?" " Playboy?" " Yeah." "Playboy, with the naked girls?" "Yeah, do you have any?" "Why, do you?" "Yeah, lots." "If you want, I can bring a few." "I can still see their dumb faces." "I knew I'd won." "They looked just like I did when my cousin told me the same fib." "On the stairs, I said to myself being the new kid was perfect for me." "Nobody knew who I was, about my crush on Anne Tremblay, that I was a chicken, that I thought I was chubby..." "Nobody knew nothing!" "It was great!" "No joke." "I was sure as shit to join the gang." "I just had to buy my red K-Way and I'd be in." "Anne, 100." "Sylvie, also 100!" "Congratulations, dear!" "Jean, 96." "You're improving!" "Valérie, 94." "Keep up the good work, dear." "So what if she kept ignoring me?" "S he probably didn't want others to know she liked me." "Same as me." "It was just that, in 6th grade, back then, most kids were single." "So everybody was after everybody else." "Nobody said so, so nobody knew." "It was pretty dumb, really." ""Communication with your loved one will succeed."" "Good work, Frédéric." "Ricardo?" "Sharp, yet?" "Yeah, it's sharp." "OK." ""Communication with your loved one will succeed."" "It must mean I could talk to her first." "Ask her a question." "What would it hurt?" "Which line aren't you supposed to go over?" "Which line?" "In your notebook, when you're writing in longhand..." "Isn't there a line you can't go over?" "What would it hurt?" "Only that, as I recall, it was the dumbest question I ever asked." "Which line?" "Anne?" "Excuse me?" "On top of all, I asked it twice." "You know, the notebook, when I was learning longhand..." "Sometimes when things go wrong, you're out of luck." "I never should've asked that damn question!" "As soon as I got home I threw out the horoscope!" "Hey, Crunchy?" "How'd you get Playboy?" "I can't say." "Why not?" "Because." "Because why?" "Shut up!" "If he can't say, he can't." "But... will you have them tonight?" "It depends." "Depends on what?" "I'll need cash." " Shit!" " You have to pay?" "Yeah, sometimes." "Come on, Crunchy!" "Anybody can get 'em, even me." "You?" "Yes, me." "Yeah, sure!" "I just have to ask my brother to buy it." "He's not 18." "He still looks it." "He's still in high school." "No way!" "He repeated a year, bozo!" "So?" "He doesn't look that old." "He started shaving." "He even bought beer." " He wouldn't lend you his skateboard." " He did so!" " As if!" " It's just, my mom..." "OK, OK!" "Break it up!" "Lemme see." "Maybe I can cop a few for free." "Are we good?" "What do you mean, 5%?" "The mortgage is going up 5%." "I got that, but how much does that make?" "How much per month?" "$250." "But only starting in March." "We should've signed for 5 years." "You never know." "The lady at the bank warned you!" "What can I say?" "It's never jumped this much." "With the dentist too..." "$4000 for a retainer!" "Why isn't it covered by medicare?" "We're not a bank!" "$250!" "A guy at the mall offered me a job Saturdays." "It's not a problem!" "We'll find a way." "$250!" "Where are you going?" " Biking by the river." " What river?" " There's a river?" " Who with?" " Kids from school." " Are they bums?" " No." " What about your homework?" "Don't have any." "Some school." "And you had to learn longhand overnight!" "Can't wait to see your marks!" "Your new pals better not smoke!" "8 o'clock, no later." "It's already 7!" "Yeah, time flies." "Your dad's gonna see that March comes damn quick!" " 9 o'clock!" " 8.30 and not a minute later!" "Now are you gonna call Jean-Marie?" "Guys, never stop hitting the trail of life." "Makes your problems vanish." "I forgot all about my dumb question." "What is it, Crunchy?" "Anne Tremblay smokes?" "Isn't she the class wiz?" "She's a little slut." "Last summer she played spin the bottle with Minville." "Minville even slipped her the finger." " Minville?" " Yeah!" " He fingered her?" " Yeah." "Her and Nathalie Grandbois!" "He fingered 'em both?" "Yeah." " At the same time." " No, you idiot!" "Where'd you hear that?" "I was there." " I played it with them." " Sure." "Spin the bottle with them?" "I guessed as much." "Why?" "What were you doing while he fingered her?" "Fingering the bottle!" "Fuck you, Marchand!" "Fingering's no big deal." "No big deal?" "I thought about stuff at night in bed." "First of all," "I'd have to ask my cousin what fingering a girl meant." "I knew the guys would bring it up." "I kind of knew where it happened." "But it was all a little vague." "And which finger did you use?" "Ricardo, call the man about a paper route tomorrow." "I've told you 10 times." "Still, the damn Playboys were the real priority." "I didn't tell you, but... they kept bringing it up." "I didn't know what to dream up." "Finally I promised to deliver for Halloween." "I was sure they'd forget by then." "But it was me who forgot." "So I promised them for Saturday behind the store." "But Saturday it poured." "So I said the next Saturday." "The next Saturday, the guys wanted to look at Walkmans." "So we put it off another week." "If I sensed they were going to ask, I changed subject." "You have to go home?" "My Mom always insists that I be back for 8:30 about." "Deep down," "I didn't care about the Playboys." "I had a way bigger problem." "If you played bottle with Anne Tremblay, why didn't she say hi in the park?" "Why didn't she say hi?" "Yeah." "Because." "Because why?" "Cause I didn't say hi either, dimwit!" "At school does she ever say hi?" "He was getting on my nerves!" "When you're a liar, you recognize other liars fast." "Especially beginners." "And he sure wasn't hard to spot." "Why are you asking?" "No reason." "Just curious." "Curious about what?" "Nothing." "At my last school we didn't do that." "Things were different." "What things were different?" "When you played spin the bottle..." "Say you frenched, and then met, like two days later, or the year after, you at least said hi." "You did?" "Yeah." "Everyone?" "Yeah, it's normal." "If you french someone, you become friends with them." "Maybe not at your school, but that's what we did." "We didn't pretend nothing happened." "That's just dumb." "I don't believe you." " How could you be sure?" " About what?" "About those who'd done it?" "That everyone said hi?" "No, that everyone who said hi had frenched." "Look, it's as if at your old school, everyone who said hi had frenched." "It's impossible." "No, when I say everyone, I mean in my class or my grade." "Not the whole school." "It's still impossible." "Did you say hi just to girls from your grade you'd frenched?" "You couldn't say hi to others?" "No, I mean people who'd played bottle and who said hi after frenching." "Didn't those who hadn't frenched say hi too?" " Sure." " You see, it doesn't work!" "How could you tell if they'd frenched or not if those who hadn't also said hi?" "Because we knew who'd frenched and who hadn't." "But how could those who hadn't played be sure?" "Just forget it." "See, I told you, it doesn't hold!" "I explained it badly." "Anyway, I think it's weird." "I'm having one more." " You?" " No." "If I tell you something, promise not to blab?" "See," "Anne Tremblay doesn't talk to me because of this summer." "I didn't want to go steady." "She's been mad ever since." "That's all." "She wanted to go steady?" "Yeah, but..." "I didn't." "Why didn't you want to?" "It was boring." "All she did was roller-skate." "Every Sunday she asked me to go with her." "I didn't want to." "Why not?" "I just didn't." "Oh no?" "Well, if he didn't want to go roller-skating," "I knew somebody who did." "Stop it, you're so handsome." "My little playboy!" "You look real sexy in that outfit." "The girls will be all over you!" "You know, I'm a bit jealous." "You'll come get me at 5 when it ends?" "Yeah." "Can you even skate?" "Easy, I've done it before." "Done it before, my ass!" "If I'd skated before, I wouldn't have listened to Mom." "I wouldn't have worn my confirmation shirt or my skin-tight pants." "I would've had my own skates, not these clunkers, or had to practise for an hour in the john." "But it didn't really matter." "Anne Tremblay wasn't there." "Or the week after." "Or the week after that." "But after a month, pow!" "S he came... dressed exactly like me." "You won't believe it, but as soon as I spotted her, I went over and..." "Not true, she didn't come." "The week after, ask her..." "Cause I stopped going." "Caramel!" "Mom?" "I have to bring an object that means something to me." "For show and tell in class." "Your closet's full of stuff." "Not old junk, it has to be something important." "What do you want me to say?" "I don't know." "Take your new cap." "No way!" "Who's asking, the crazy longhand lady?" " Damn!" " What did you say?" "Darn!" "Nadia?" "Are you ready?" "What's your object?" " There's nothing." " You, Mr Packrat?" "Can we leave food outside in case Caramel comes back?" "There's nothing in your room?" "I bet if I look, I'll find lots of stuff!" "It has to be interesting, not just anything." "Like, if I had a Walkman, that would..." "Give your Oneman a rest!" "We're not buying you one!" "But this counts towards my mark." "They cost more than a car." "You don't have to pay $300 to get a good mark." "Nadia's braces cost $4000!" "What?" "It's true!" "You should be ashamed!" "We didn't buy them for fun!" "You were whining you couldn't buy a microwave because of it." "I was not." "I heard you say that on the phone." "No, I said we couldn't buy a microwave till we paid for Nadia's braces." " What's the difference?" " I dunno, I don't care!" "You're going to need braces too." "We'll have to fork out again, and we'll never get a microwave." "So forget your Oneman!" " Walkman!" " You still won't get it." "So how can I buy myself stuff?" "Work!" "I told you 100 times to call about delivering papers." "OK." "Nadia, slowly." "I can't understand." "Caramel's not used to here." "We should look for him." "He'll be OK." "You should get ready." "Here." "Take this." "What do you mean?" "Renato gave you them." "Your cousin's important, right?" "But I'll look dumb with marbles." "What will other kids bring?" "I dunno, but it's for marks." "Here, you can take this!" "You can say that the most important thing in your life is that catalog!" "You can be sure you'll be original with your catalog!" "Will you help me look for Caramel after school?" "No, I can't." "Why not?" "Because." "Because why?" "Because because." "Damn Germans!" "If I'd been there when they torched Dad's school," "I'd have explained they were making a mistake and that others would suffer as a result." "Hello, Ricardo Trogi, Consumer's Distributors." "Yes?" "This is a Walkman." "It's really cool." " Wow." " Come on." "They'd have understood." "Guys love gadgets." "This is my sister's." "Your sister's?" "Alright." "And why is it important to you?" "Well, it's real expensive." "It's expensive." "Is that all?" "I mean, it did cost $9000." "$9000?" "You sure?" "I think that's what my mom said." "But we bought it new." "It's always more expensive new." "But you, Ricardo?" "You couldn't find anything important to you?" "That represents something unique for you, even if it's not expensive?" "Well, yeah, but, we just moved so I couldn't find one." "Describe it, at least." "No?" "Sorry." "Go sit down, it'll come to you." "Anne, please..." "Can you present your object?" "Dammit!" "I brought this." " What is it?" " A marble." "Why's it important?" "S hit!" "My cousin gave it to me just before he died." "Goodness!" "How old was your cousin?" "My age." "He had cancer." "You poor dear." "When I miss him, I hold it in my hand, and it's like he's there." "We always played marbles in the hospital." "But at one point he got too weak..." "I'm sure your cousin can see you now and he's very happy to see how much you care about that marble." "He was really nice." "Can I borrow your marble?" "Go sit down." "You see, class," "Anne had the best example of what I wanted to get across." "It's not the dollar value that makes an object important." "It's not that." "It's not about money." "It's the sentimental value." "It's the object's story, the story that it represents and makes it unique." "This marble is unique." "What does the Little Prince say at the end?" "What does he say?" " He says..." " Not you, Anne." "Someone else." "Jeez, don't you ever listen?" "He says," ""Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."" ""Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."" "I'm not exactly sure why I did it, but I knew it would help me get closer to Anne Tremblay." "Even if the essential wasn't in the marble, at least I had a tiny bit of it, it seemed." "Dad?" "What thing... would you leave me if you died?" "What thing?" "I mean, if you died, is there a memento you'd like me to keep?" "Like what?" "Something that you'd give me and I'd keep." "Something special." "You want money?" "That's not it." "Just forget it." "Here he is." "What?" "This is Mr Vermette, from the newspaper." "Hi there, Ricardo!" "Hello." "You're a big guy." "Yeah." "Caramel!" "Hello, would you like home delivery of the Sun?" "No thank you." "Damn!" " What did you say?" " Darn!" "I knew that would happen." "That's why I didn't call." "And also cause..." "I'm embarrassed to say this." "Don't spread it around, but I didn't have to work." "When I needed cash," "I'd just ask Mom while she was on the phone." "You shoulda seen his face!" "Mom, can I have a buck to go to the store?" "It's in my purse." "S he'd always say yes." "There you are." "Did you come home with Nadia?" "Why?" "Did you, yes or no?" "I think so, yeah." " Think so or know so?" " What's wrong?" "Some neighbors just brought her home." " She got lost looking for Caramel." " Caramel!" "Listen, bud!" "It's time you start thinking of others." "What if she'd been hurt?" "Relax." "Or a maniac had found her?" "What maniacs?" "She asked you to go." "She never asked me to..." "Don't start lying to my face now!" "She asked but you refused." "You thought only of yourself." "No, I tried to find damn customers for your damn newspaper!" "Leave the newspapers out of it." "You rang at two doors, then bought candy." "It's all over your face." "It was to reward myself." "While you were stuffing your face with rewards, she got lost." "You made me deliver papers!" "So what?" "You'd have found another excuse not to go." "You want me to deliver papers so you get your horoscope." "Wash up and go to your room." "No Bionic Woman." "You wanted to move into a big house." "There were no woods before." "It's your fault!" "What did you say?" "Dad said we shouldn't have moved here." "You're making us live beyond our means." "We can never buy anything here." "What?" "You wanted a big house, but your jobs aren't good enough." "You live beyond our means." "I live beyond our means?" "That's right." "You're telling me I live beyond our means?" "That's a good one!" "You're so wrapped up in yourself, you're blind." "Have you ever wanted for anything?" "Answer me!" " My hockey..." " You've never wanted for anything!" "You've never gone hungry either." "You've loads of clothes, a Star Wars bedspread, another new bike." "First baseball, now Scouts." "Anything you want, you bug us till we give in." "You always get what you want!" "It's never enough." "The next day you start again." ""I want this." "Why can he have one and I can't?"" "Do you know how sick you make us, always asking for stuff?" "You're like a robot programmed to ask over and over." "It's never enough." "How long will you keep it up?" "The bad mom who lives beyond her means wants to know if she has to get another job to pay." "You think we work just to buy you more goddamn stuff." "We slave away, but who notices?" "You're the only one who counts." "Alright." "Open your ears and listen good." "From this night on," "I'm thinking of myself." "You want something?" "Buy it with your paper money." "I won't buy you another thing." "Don't ask me or your dad." "We won't pay." "Your Oneman, mountain bike, K-Way... all the crap from your goddamn catalog..." "You want something?" "You buy it!" "You're absolutely right." "I'm done living beyond our means." "I'll take your advice." "I'm not finished!" "Save your first pay, cause if the cat doesn't come back you'll buy your sister another one." "Caramel!" "I thought Mom would apologize for what she'd said." "But she didn't come down." "Why'd I think that?" "S he never ever apologized." "S he was like me." "HONESTY" "Alright." "There's something we have to settle." "While discussing important objects," "I put Anne's marble on my desk." "When I went to give it back to her, it wasn't there anymore." "So if somebody took it, even as a joke, well, it's not funny!" "I know a marble doesn't mean much to you." "But for her it represents a lot." "And you all know why." "So if someone knows where the marble is, tell me right now." "I'm waiting." "Alright." "Open your desks everybody." "If no one confesses," "I'll shoot someone at random every five minutes." "Can we go?" "Wait." "For what?" "The price to drop?" "What about the Playboys?" "Any day." " What's the snag?" " It's been forever." "They're at home in a closet next to the kitchen, so I have to be alone." "Just get up before everyone else." "I want to be alone." "I knew your story about the Playboys wasn't true, Crunchy." "Still think it's funny to call me that?" "Crunchy!" "Think you're the first?" "Calm down." "Do I make fun of your name, Bernatchez?" "Go ahead, I don't care." "You don't care?" "You don't care if I make fun of you?" "I don't give a shit." "Alright then." "From now on..." "From now on I'm gonna call you," "Berna-shit!" "There, real funny, huh?" "Plante came up with that." "In first grade." " Shut down!" " No way." " You are so shut down." " I am not." "If you're not shut down, then answer." "If anyone's shut down, it's you." "You're the one shut down, Crunchy." "I could say you're always broke." "At the store, we always have to lend you money." "You don't even have ten cents for a can of pop." "I'll pay you back." "No you won't." "I'll pay you back." "How will you pay us?" "How?" "Your dad's on welfare." "You're such a blabbermouth." "I knew too." "Everybody knows." "If you don't have the Playboys, tell us." "Stop stringing us along." "Why would I make it up?" "Then bring them to school Monday." "To school?" "Are you nuts?" "You always have an excuse." "Look." "I'll bring 'em to the store tomorrow." "But you bring our cash." "Or no Playboys." "I have cash." "Dad's not on welfare now." "He's working up north." "I have cash." "I'll pay you back." "Wait." "Crunchy, that guy nodded at you." "Crunchy?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "Mom never let us eat that." "If he'd bought it, it must be because he'd seen me run away." "He's weird sometimes." "It's like he knew I felt bad, and he was sorry." "Once when I'd just started hockey," "I scored on our own goalie, and he still cheered." "I wasn't really hungry." "I'd just scarfed four Mr Freezes." "But I couldn't waste fried chicken." "I grabbed the honey, and my appetite came back." "Mom sure could set me off!" "Seems someone in your class is ashamed of his dad's job." "Who is Ricardo Troggy?" "Say what?" "Not Troggy." "It's Trogi." "Know him?" "He's my brother." "Where is he?" "There." "What's with you?" "He's always mean." "Ashamed of your sister too?" "Lie again and it'll be the last lie you ever tell, understand?" "Sure." "But I'm not ashamed of Dad." "Marchand?" "His dad said hi and he ran away." "Blabbermouth!" "Why'd you say it?" "We gave him a Walkman." "I had no choice." "You'd have done the same." "You're so shut down, Crunchy." "Get him over there." " We don't have all day." " Wait!" "Wait!" "Can I speak to you in private please?" "I'll give you 10 seconds." "With guys like him..." "What?" "I figured only one thing could save me." "Do you Nazis have Playboy?" "Playboy?" "I've got lots." "I have enough for your whole gang." "Where are they?" "Not far." "Where, not far?" "Well, at home." "If only I'd known..." "What?" "We burned down the entire street." "Nothing's left." "Sorry, kiddo." "Are you going to kill me for real?" "Sure, this is war." "Everyone suffers." "Right, Crunchy?" "Seriously?" "Can I tell my dad something?" "I wish I could, but time's running out and stores close at 5." "The guys want to buy calculator watches." "Damn." "What was that?" "Darn." "Ready." "Aim." "Fire!" "I don't believe it." "Mom was right." "I was blind." "Go to hell!" "Who had fried chicken?" "There's a box in the trash." "I did." "You know I don't like it." "They've found rats in it." "Where's Dad?" "Working, why?" "What's wrong?" "I have something to tell you." " Have you been smoking?" " No." "I wanted to say I'm sorry." "I'm sorry for bugging you about the stuff in the catalog and the K-Way" "and all the other stuff too." "I'll never ask you to buy me anything." "Except for birthdays and Christmas." "That's all." "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "I'm tired, that's all." "I'm just tired." "I'll go do my homework." "I didn't want to tell you." "Whenever I had to say something serious, to tell the truth," "I don't know why, but my throat got tight." "I felt like I was going to cry." "Just like when I listened to ABBA sing The Winner Takes It All." "My throat got so tight, I couldn't finish." "I needed a glass of water." "The next morning I wanted to apologize as soon as Dad got up." "If I said it fast," "I could finish before I started crying." "I had a glass of water ready, but..." "I wanted to try without." "Your dad and I are going to see Starmania tonight with Uncle Vasco and Aunt Wilma." "They're driving in." "You'll mind Nadia." "Is Renato coming too?" "No." "Speaking of him..." "Wilma said you called Renato to ask what fingering a girl means." "Next time, save us the long distance call and ask me." "I think I know as much as a 13-year-old." "Dad?" "Yesterday at the mall," "it was... it was..." "It's OK." "We're selling the house." "We just moved in." "It's too expensive." "We can't manage it." "Don't tell your sister." "Not till she finds her cat." "The urge to cry wasn't an illness, it was in the family's genes." "I was stuck with it for life." "Come on, Crunchy!" "Wait up!" "What's going on?" "Shit!" "Godammitall!" "Fuck!" "I don't know when I can pay you back." "I'm so pissed off." "I'll tell you something true." "And in return, you'll tell me something true." "Like what?" "Those Playboys..." "I don't have them." "Dammitall!" "It was my way to make friends." "Will you be able to get some later?" "I don't think so." "My parents won't buy me a K-Way either." "Maybe for my birthday." "I don't have anything like that to say." "Know who could get us some?" "Christ, Marchand!" "Never seen a naked broad?" "Shut up, you're a pain!" "Did you spin the bottle with Anne?" "Yeah." "For real?" "Yeah, sure." "In her garden shed?" "You have a crush on her." "Why not admit it?" "Because." "Say it." "I just did." "Well I don't believe" "Plante's ever frenched." "Same for you." "We've never seen your sexy cousin." "If you frenched, why don't you ever say hi?" " Because." " Because why?" "He's lying." "He's got a crush too." "What's the diff?" "Why not say it?" "I don't have a crush on her." "You can't even keep a secret!" "We said we'd say stuff that's true, and that's true." "But that's personal." "So?" "If you want to get personal, talk about yourself." "I don't have a cousin in Montréal." "When I go to Montréal, it's..." "It's to see my dad." "He's in prison." "He said he'd be getting out after Christmas." "But it won't be for 5 more years." "I'll be in grade..." "I'll be finishing high school." "I didn't spin the bottle with her." "I just spied on her." "I have a crush on Anne Tremblay." "And... my parents are getting divorced." "OK, you don't have to invent stuff." "Mom moved out three months ago." "Dad makes my lunches." "They're gross." "And Mom doesn't make me be home for 8:30." "It's me, I'm scared of biking in the dark." "It's true." "Are you joking?" "No, don't make fun of me." "Come on, lay off." " That's mean." " I'm scared!" "Screw you, Plante!" "I think that's how it happened." "I can't really remember the rest." "I didn't tell 'em I was moving." "But I wanted to tell Anne." "Just her." "Yes, sonny?" "Is this Anne Tremblay's house?" "Funny, I thought I'd bought it." "You're soaked." "Yeah, I know." "Anne's gone roller-skating." "I'm getting her at 7." "Come back later." "It's just..." "Can you give her this for me?" "It's from Ricardo." "You have it?" "Just tell her..." "I'm sorry." "Don't apologize, we've got tons of 'em." "Fucking hell!" "It happened 26 years ago and I still obsess about it." "What was I thinking?" "The damn truth only works if everyone's telling it." "If it's only you, it's useless." "Mom?" "Ricardo, come downstairs!" "Easy now." "Caramel's a girl!" "She has kittens!" "The man who gave it to me said it was a male." "Even if we weren't sitting exactly like that, all smiling together, that's how it happened, I swear." "Caramel reappeared the same night as what's essential." "As I lay in bed I asked myself why Anne Tremblay made that up." "I never asked her." "I kept on hoping till the end of the year, but she never looked at me." "That may sound sad, but it isn't." "I know that in 1981," "Anne Tremblay rubbed her arm against mine on purpose."