"ON THE VERGE OF A FEVER" "Why do you smoke, Gégé?" "If I want to be respected, I've gotta smoke." "You have to smoke to be respected?" "Yeah, 'cause when I smoke I'm in control." "So you gotta smoke too to be in control." "If you don't, you're like a kid in a man's world." "Practice makes perfect, just like drinking rum." "I keep telling you, you gotta practice, otherwise you'll never be in control." "FRIDAY" "with this cursed typewriter." "It's hot!" "is unbearable." "I'm suffocating." "like a tiger in a cage." "beneath the water." "I lay still for a moment,  immobile." "I'm drowning." "I return to the foetal position,  ready to be born again." "the world will not disappear." "I sense her presence around me." "I'm bored." "I feel like a caged animal..." "of my cage." "I'm suffocating." "At school,   about their weekend adventures." "I'll have nothing to say." "Nothing ever happens to me." "Drink your milk." "It'll help you grow." " Mom?" " Yes, dear." "There's a great film playing at the Rex today..." "No, dear, it's too dangerous." "I'd die if anything ever happened to you." "But all my friends are going and nothing ever happens to them." "Your father left one day, and he never came back." "Better you stay and study for your exams." "If I had money, I'd send you away from this country." "Those girls have no self-respect!" "No better than prostitutes!" "My mom doesn't like them...  but I would die for them." "She's just like a princess from my dreams." "Her butt is so firm,  she could pounce like a tigress." "seduce you and repulse you." "She stretches like a Persian cat." "I don't even exist to them." "I love your house." "You mean the house of the Honourable François Rivière?" "If he lives here, where's his wife?" "He has four houses like this around town." "With women living in each?" "Aren't you jealous?" "Not at all." "He leaves me alone." "You only say that because you're not in love." "Give me strength, Lord." "I have to study for my exams,  but I can't stop thinking about the girls." "I have only one dream:" "to be over there, with them." "Fanfan, come on, it's lunchtime." "Thanks." "Mom, listen." "They say the poet Magloire-Saint-Aude preferred to spend his time with commoners rather than live in his wealthy family estate in the hills of Pétionville." "Listen: "The poet Saint-Aude" ""much preferred the company of the young prostitutes." ""He found them more sincere and spontaneous" ""than the high-society ladies of Port-au-Prince."" "Fanfan..." "It's written right here!" "He was a great poet, you know." " That's enough." " Attention!" "on this, the 21st of April 1971." "What's going on?" "Why doesn't he say something?" "François Duvalier,  the immortal soul...  the spiritual guide of Haiti," "of our nation's founding fathers," "of the third world,  father to us all," "at the presidential palace." "His son, Jean-Claude,   and becomes president for life." "Fanfan..." "I have to tell you something." "Your father is not in exile." "Duvalier had your father killed." "I already know." "How come?" "Someone told me." "Who?" "Gégé." "Didn't I tell you not to hang out with that hoodlum?" "You know, you look so much like your father." "You have his hands." "I love you, you know." "The dictator's death...  my father's disappearance...  my mother's pain...  all this prevents me from living." "I dream of only one thing." "Shit!" "It's only a song!" "You're just jealous." " Who's she jealous of?" " She's in love with the singer." "What are you doing?" "Let's go!" "My mom is sleeping!" "What are you afraid of?" "I'm coming." "Hang on." "One day, he picked up his hat,  and he said:" ""Madeleine, prepare a delicious supper." ""I'll be back at 8:00."" "He has a sweet tooth, so I prepared a sweet-potato pie." "By 10:00, he still wasn't home." "I finally went to bed at midnight." "Each car that passed,  I said, "Maybe that's him."" "I didn't sleep at all that night." "slept through the night since." "Are you crazy, Gégé?" "That's for the dead." "Why are you scared?" "It's food, I'm hungry." "He doesn't need it anymore." "Nothing will happen if you have no fear." "I'm not afraid." "I just respect those who are buried here." "Too late." "You didn't know them and they're dead." "Hey, Papa, how do you do it?" "Tell us your secret." "There is no secret." "Hey, this isn't a funeral home." "Turn it up!" "Louder!" "that time has no end..." "Everything has come to a stop." "The Tonton-Macoutes  like dogs with no master,  like bloodthirsty beasts." "That's enough." "You're gonna tell me who sent you or else I'll blow your brains out." " You think he's gonna shoot?" " Of course." "Who sent you?" "Anyone got anything to say?" "Keep quiet." "You're not going to tell me who sent you?" "Come here." "Let him go." "Come on." "It's a harsh country." "They'd have killed him if I hadn't intervened." "Nobody gets a free ride." "Nobody." "Once, there were the rich, the middle class and then us, the poor." "The poor came from the countryside, like my family." "Then we were hit by a horrible epidemic." "Since it was only the peasants who were dying, not one politician came to see us." "Not one." "Only Dr. Duvalier came." "He came and he cured us..." "for free." "That's how he came to be known as Papa Doc... because he's a doctor with heart." "When he came to power," "who were upset." "to come and defend his government." "Volunteer Corps." "the Tonton-Macoutes." "in the presence of many great..." "New World Radio." "It's 3:03 p.m." "New World Radio presents..." "Remote-Controlled Music!" "PRESIDENT FOR LIFE" " Want a cola?" " I don't want anything." "What do you learn in school?" "You don't know how to drink?" "At first, I couldn't drink rum either." "I drank it for 15 days straight." "I completely burned out my stomach." "But now rum is like water to me." "What good is rum if it tastes like water?" "It's resistance, Fanfan." "You have to be in control." "On the other hand, for sex it's different." "You can't control yourself." "The worst thing that can happen is premature ejaculation." "Do you understand?" "For you, any kind of ejaculation would be good." "I'm sure you have no idea how to control it." "I bet you never kissed a woman." " Who do you take me for?" " Not your cousin, a real woman." "There's a woman at Macaya Bar who charges for sex." "I know what a prostitute is, Gégé." "She pays me to kiss her." "That's a real kiss!" "You won't learn that in school." "For me, I find women more beautiful in my dreams." "Tigresses at rest." "stumbles into the gulf." "I must get out of this country." "There's no hope for me here." "Choupette can think what she wants,  but sex isn't real power." "a younger or sexier girl." "Papa's not even the best a girl can do here." "Anyway, you can't meet a man here to spend your life with." "They're either married or murderers." "sits gently down on the city." ""On the verge of a fever"" " Magloire-Saint-Aude" "I have to go home." "What's wrong?" "You scared?" "No, but my mom..." "Back to Mommy's apron?" "You're such a girl!" " It's just..." " Forget about it." "There they are." "Miki is there too." "Let's go then." "You're scared of the dead, and now girls?" "What's with you?" "Miki's cool, but not the others." " I'm going." " No, Gégé, don't!" "Gégé!" "What do you want?" "Are you selling something?" "Get home quick." "Your mom'll be worried." "Brat." "If I got you in a bedroom it wouldn't be long before you called for help." "What's going on?" " Choupette has found her equal." " The brat!" "You prefer old men?" "That's what you use to..." "Now that Duvalier is dead,  they show up...  always too late." "with music and dance," "dictatorships on the continent." "We want that table." "Can't you see it's taken?" "Girls!" "Idiot!" "I was sick, Marie-Erna." "I couldn't drive." "Find another excuse, moron!" "You're proud you pulled a fast one on me!" "It's true." "I was really sick." "See you tomorrow?" "I've got no time to waste on trash like you!" "See you tomorrow?" "I don't even know what time it is." "What is Gégé doing?" "My mom must be worried." "who pays Gégé to kiss her?" "for a kiss." "Hey, you kid, come here." "Come." "Would you like a drink?" "Get out of here!" "You're sending my guest away?" "I said, get out!" "Run!" "Run!" "I don't want to stay long." "I'm going to the beach tomorrow." "Stop your drama!" "Everyone's going tomorrow." " But I'm not going with you." " We're going with Papa." "I can't." "I'm taking my wife and kids to the park." "No way, you took them out three weeks ago." "You're getting old, Papa." "He's got no more lead in his pencil." "Hi, can I join you?" "How are you?" "Don't worry about us!" "We'll find another way to go tomorrow." "If you say so." "Yeah, we could always ask Peddy to take us." "The singer from Shleu Shleu?" "Peddy?" "Not him, because if he comes the whole band will follow." "They can't keep their hands off our breasts." "Fine, I'll take you to the beach tomorrow." "We're from  magazine." "We're doing a story on the cultural situation in Haiti." "There's been an explosion of talent." "I've got a few questions." "Can I record you?" "Excuse me, I have to use the washroom." "No, leave him." "He's just trying to provoke us to discredit the government." "What you're doing is dangerous." "For who?" "For you." "No, I don't think so." "It's funny, I've only been here a couple days... but it's blowing my mind!" "Does that happen to you very often?" "No, not really." "I'm usually a war photographer." "It comes with the regular neuroses:" "Paranoia, manic-depression, inflated ego." "That's what happens when you're around death too often." "If you're a war photographer... why were you sent here?" "You know, that's a good question." "I think I'm beginning to understand." "Now my mom is really going to be mad." "You can't run home now." "You don't know them." "If you don't act now, they'll come find you." "But he was too drunk to remember me." "And the prostitutes?" "They can remember a guy they saw for five seconds five years ago." " Did they see you?" " Yes." "So we have to settle this now or you'll always be in danger." "What should we do?" " Stay here." "I'll be back." " What are you going to do?" "THE TIGER PROWLS IN THE TROPICAL NIGHT" ""And the beasts are sated with blood"" " Magloire-Saint-Aude" "What did you do to the guy?" "I cut his balls off." "What?" "I cut his balls off while he drank his rum." "Are you crazy?" "There's no way!" "I have no pity for the pigs." "I can't believe you'd do that." "I'm keeping this." "I have to go now." "Where are you going?" "You can't leave me!" "They'll find us if we stay together." " I didn't do anything!" " Stop crying!" "You go your way, and I'll go mine." " Find a hide-out." " What's my mom going to say?" "If you don't go home, you won't know!" "If you go home, it's like going straight to jail." "It's the first place they'll look." "They'll arrest your mom too." " What will she think?" " Cut it out!" "You're not a baby!" "Find a hiding place." "I've gotta go." "Quickly!" "Search everywhere!" "You, go that way!" "Search every inch, behind every plant, quickly!" "He may have already gotten far." "What's going on?" "There's no time, lady, please go inside." "Something moved behind that car!" "No, you idiots, it's a chicken." "Keep searching!" "I'm going to check something out." " What?" " We're looking for someone." " So?" " We're searching all the houses." "Papa won't like it if I let you in alone." "It's for your own protection." "There's a dangerous terrorist killing everyone in his path." "Don't worry about me." "I can handle a terrorist." "I leave for two seconds and you let him get away." "Let's get back to Fort Dimanche." " Who's there?" " It's Fanfan." "It's you?" "What are you doing out at this hour?" "You're trembling!" "What's wrong?" "The Macoutes are after me." "Come in." "SATURDAY" "near the presidential palace." "will be severely punished." "Excuse me." "What are you doing here?" "Miki didn't tell you?" "Don't worry, Pasqua." "He's my neighbour." " He's staying here a while." " I don't care." "It's not my house." "What happened last night?" "Well..." "We were hanging out at the Macaya Bar and Gégé cut off the balls of a Macoute." "Say that again?" "I said, last night, at the Macaya Bar," "Gégé cut off the balls of a Macoute." "But if you didn't do it, why are you hiding?" "Because the Macoute was trying to shoot me." "Why'd he do it?" "Gégé is impulsive." "Hello?" "How did you get my number?" "This isn't my house." "To take pictures?" "Only pictures?" "Who are you?" "I'm Miki's little brother." "I never saw you before." "I've never been here before." "I got here last night." "So..." "There's a man here for you." "It's Frank." "Tell him to wait." "Miki?" "I told him I was your little brother." "That's fine." "She said she'd be right out." "Why do you wear those sunglasses inside, Frank?" "So we can't see he's scared." "What would I be scared of?" "People who don't wear sunglasses like you." "This morning we caught three kids." " They had materials for a bomb." " Spare us the details!" "Let's go, Pasqua." "You didn't kill them, though?" "No, we can't." "The president won't let us anymore." "Don't worry, little brother." "You're safer here than in an embassy." "Why are you going with him?" "be interrogated so willingly,  even if you know nothing?" "They'll see that you aren't lying." ""In the bard's tent lies the gold of my lamp"" ""In the bard's tent lies the gold of my lamp"" ""In the bard's tent lies the gold of my lamp"" "Pasqualine." "Marie-Erna." "Miki." "Strange place for a photo shoot." "I was wondering how to capture Haiti, and it came to me:" "A beautiful woman, a very beautiful woman, in an evening gown, in this kind of setting." "It's magical." "It's magical." "Look at the people starving, the dirt, how they live." "If North Americans tried living in these conditions, they'd end up like animals." "Watch what you're saying." "We may live in misery but we're not animals." "But that's exactly what I'm saying." "People are starving, but still make beautiful music." "Let's do it here." "Pretend you love me." "It's choking you." "Let's loosen it." "Look at me." "Turn a bit." "Smile." "You're not going to publish these photos?" "I'm doing a piece for a trendy magazine." "I'll show you the proofs before I send them off." "They all say that." "I'm serious." "I'd like to see you again." "I really want to see you again." "I bought a painting this morning." "It's a Garden of Eden piece with fruit and flowers... and colours like I've never seen before." "I tell you, where I'm from we have no sense of colour." "When I look at the painting, it brings me a kind of inner peace." "It was a good buy then." "You're making fun of me." "You're allowed." "THE RULES OF THE GAME" ""No god, no country"" " Magloire-Saint-Aude" "Mom, I'm just across the street." "Like a glass coffin,  I see everything,  but I can't speak." "What hurts the most, Mom,  is that I can't tell you what's going on." "what the Macoutes are capable of." "You're still sleeping?" " Hurry up, OK?" " Did you sleep well?" "Good evening." "Papa." "What a face." "Did you eat, Fanfan?" "Yes." "Hey, girls!" "Fanfan, dear, please bring my bag from the bookshelf." "Take that!" "Nice and creamy." "Take that!" "You'll swallow a fly." "It's not the first time you've seen a breast." "You know this is what we use to feed babies." "Instead of just standing there, be useful." "Here." "Wash my back." "What are you waiting for?" "Wash me!" "They're gonna drive me crazy." "I prefer dealing with terrorists." "And I don't like you." "I don't know what you're up to but you're not Miki's brother." "If you're up to something, I'm warning you," "I'll find where you're hiding and rip your head off!" "Understood?" "Understood?" "Yes." "I'll turn off the lights, so that you'll be safe." "After you, my lady." "All I want is to drink and dance and forget everything." " You just want to find Peddy." " We'll have a great time." "So now we kiss our little brother?" "Every night since he was a baby." "On the lips?" "It's a family tradition." "I don't believe he's your brother." "You can believe whatever you want, Frank." "There are terrorists around." "The area's being watched." "We're looking for someone his age." "He's 15!" "What can he do?" "They're the worst." " I'm glad you came." " I didn't come for you." "I'm happy anyway." "I'm happy for you." "Come on!" "Not here." "Go and wait for me in the backroom." "I'll go tell the girls I'm leaving because of my headache." "You think he'll come see you?" "Hey, sweetheart, where are you hiding?" "You're all mine now." "Excuse me, I didn't know anyone was here." " I'm waiting for a girl." " Me too." "Excuse me." "Drop your pants." "Why?" "Drop your pants!" "Tonight, you're the girl." "What's so funny?" "May the Virgin Mary protect you, wherever you are." "Mom..." "SUNDAY" "at the Port-au-Prince Cathedral," "His Excellence Jean-Claude Duvalier,  President for Life." "I told you I saw somebody." "Cuff him." "Papa!" "What's going on, Papa?" "I should be asking that." "We knew the house was empty and we saw the curtains move." "We assumed there was a burglar inside." "A burglar resting quietly on the couch?" "Let him go." "Let's go." "Idiot!" "You should send your so-called brother away." "He's starting to cause problems." "We can't defend him much longer." "Look me in the eyes and tell me you're not guilty of what they're accusing you of." "Guilty of what?" "You know what I'm talking about!" "Someone set off a bomb outside the palace last night." "I know nothing about that, I swear." "I swear!" "Don't give up on me." "He started caressing my breasts." "My breasts are so sensitive." "Mine too." "He caressed my thighs." "I struggled." "He held me with one hand and tried to undress me with the other." "I thought... since he was so excited he'd come right away." "And then?" "Instead of hurrying, he caressed me nice and slow all over." "All over." "I tried to get him to go faster." "As I turned around, he grabbed me solidly by the waist." "Anyway, he sure had me." "I'll say." "Now I'm hungry." "Coming, Pasqua?" "Go and eat." "I'm waiting for someone." "On the verge of a fever,  I descend, undecided,  softly, gently blessed to the edge of nowhere." "I descend, undecided,  softly, gently blessed...  to the edge of nowhere." "You're always reading." "What is it?" "It's Magloire-Saint-Aude, a poet." "I don't like poetry." "Me neither." "I only read him." "Why?" "I don't know." "When I read his poems, my temperature rises like I've got a fever." "I forgot my purse!" "Who'll pay for the taxi?" "Since when do we pay for taxis?" "Can't you see he's listening to us?" "I'm really turned on by eating while I'm making love." "Men hate it though." "They prefer to eat you." "Sometimes I make love while dreaming of dining in a grand hotel." "I like eating in hotels too, but not in the rooms." "That's for peasants." "I like to eat near the pool or at the bar." "Can't you stop gabbing for two minutes?" "Shit!" "I love going to a hotel with one guy, then going to another guy's room." "It's so funny to hear the guy looking for you all over the hotel while you're in bed with the other guy." "Here we are." "Thank you." "Hey, you haven't paid me yet." "Keep the change." "Are you waiting for someone?" "Why do you ask?" "You said you were waiting for someone." "You hear everything." "You watch everything." "You always look like you're learning something." "But I've got the feeling you know a lot." "Me?" "Stop playing the fool." "You can with the others, your mom, Gégé... but not with me." "Your skin is so soft." "Don't hurt me." "You're adorable." "Is it your first time?" "You're really sweet." "Don't forget, Fanfan!" "Control yourself, Fanfan!" "Think of Magloire-Saint-Aude." "The worst thing that can happen is premature ejaculation." "my mother can't save me." "What's the good of virtue if it can't help protect what is most dear to us?" "Mom, I can't see you suffer anymore." "MONDAY" ""To the exploits of a weary poet"" " Magloire-Saint-Aude" "Are you happy?" "Are you all right?" "Yes." "Yes?" "More pictures?" "I'll get dressed and be right there." "You mustn't think I'm always this easy." "If you say so." "if I have no fear." "I can't spend my life running away." "Have I seen you before?" "I don't think so." "I never go anywhere but... school." "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" "Thank the Lord!" "My prayers weren't lost!" "The Virgin Mary returned him to me." "Thank you, Mother Mary!" "My son is back!" " Fanfan..." " Mom..." "My son, my little boy!" "In the end," "by just crossing the street." "Now I'm back here," "all that goes on over there." "If you don't want to talk about it now..." "Drink your milk." "It's good for you." "Why not?" "When I want a glass of milk, I'll get it myself." "You've changed." "You've really changed!" "I don't know where you've been, I don't want to know." "Just know you almost killed your mother." "You can leave it there." "I'll drink it later." "It's good for you, full of calcium." "It's good for your bones." "There's a man in the house!" "whose balls you cut off?" "Who?" "The guy at the Macaya Bar whose balls you cut off last Friday." "That's why I haven't been home since Friday night." "Oh shit!" "What's the matter?" "What's going on?" "Haven't I played that trick on you?" " It's a joke." " What's a joke?" "You haven't been home since Friday?" "They're acorns with some ink." "It's silly." "Thanks anyway." "You're thanking me?" "No one can ever tell what you're thinking." "You pretend to know nothing, but in fact..." "Never judge a book by its cover, my friend." "And it's still true."