"A bag of potatoes, please." "Here you are." "Thank you." "Mother?" "Your hair's a mess." "I let the potatoes cook too long." "Don't read while you eat." "You'll have to wait a bit." "The meat and vegetables were on a very low flame." "Just another minute or two." "I could have made mashed potatoes, but we're having that tomorrow." "You must be hungry." "You had swimming this morning." "I didn't go." "Neither did Yan." "Why?" "Yan skipped it just to keep me company." "I said I had a headache, and we stayed in the nurse's office." "We had to pass our certification today." "I don't like you doing that." "I should write back to Aunt Fernande." "The potatoes should be done now." "Aren't we going to listen to the radio today?" "Yes." "Is something wrong?" "Maybe it's the radio." "Yes, it could be that singer." "No, I just don't know how to reply to their invitation." "Can we not go tonight?" "We ate so late." "We're going." "Come home early tomorrow if you like, and bring Yan along for a snack." "I think Yan's in love with the nurse." "He didn't catch the streetcar." "Said he had things to do." "But when I passed by later, he hadn't left." "He bought a book that explains lots of things about climaxes and orgasms." "He says we should be interested in women at our age, but he doesn't want some young girl." "He says a man's penis is like a sword." "The deeper you thrust it in, the better." "But I thought, "A sword hurts."" "He said, "True, but it's like fire."" "But then where's the pleasure?" "There's no point talking about these things." "He's the one who told me everything when I was 10." "I said, "What?" "Dad does that to Mom?"" "I hated Dad for months after that, and I wanted to die." "When he died, I thought it was punishment from God." "Now I don't even believe in God anymore." "Yan also said it wasn't just to make babies." "So I started having nightmares so you'd stay with me at night and Dad wouldn't have a chance to thrust inside you." "You shouldn't have worried." "It's late." "I'm turning out the light." "All right." "Mom?" "It's late, Sylvain." "Sleep well." "end of the second day" "Did you wash your hands?" "Your button." "Sylvain!" " All sold out?" " Is it empty?" "A small loaf, ma'am?" "Do you have a bag?" "You have a bag?" "Give me a new one." "That's 10 francs 50." " Thanks." " Good-bye." "What a beautiful little boy!" "What's this all about?" "Thanks." "Good-bye." "Oh, miss?" "Yes, ma'am." "Would you happen to have a button like this?" "I've looked, but I couldn't find any." " Maybe these?" " No, they're a bit too small." "Good-bye." "I know it's hard to match it perfectly, because my sister Fernande sent it from Canada." "She sent it years ago, but Sylvain's only wearing it now because it was too large." "When Sylvain was six, my sister came back to Belgium for three months." "He slept in our room - my husband was still alive." "And Fernande slept on the couch with Jonathan - "Jon" for short." "Jon was five, but he was taller and stouter than Sylvain." "So if I write her for one, it's quite possible that this style no longer exists." "Since people always say Europe is five years behind America," "I thought I might find one." "It's practically impossible to find the same thing." "Better just to change all the buttons." "It makes a garment look new." "Like going to the hairdresser's." "I've never seen buttons like that." "Try in the square." "You might find some there." "Isn't GiseIe here today?" "She gets off work at 4:00." "I see." "Coffee, please." "Here you are."