Please read “About this project and the Author” for more information on my project. In this excerpt, Daryl describes his arrival at Ville Joie…
“So we drive for a while or at least long enough for darkness to settle outside and when we finally arrive at Ville-Joie, it’s not at all what I expected. The man in the suit told me we were going to a home. But this is a big building. He grabs my suitcase and takes me through the large and heavy doors in the front entrance where people are waiting to greet me. They all seem nice enough and they take turns introducing themselves while smiling at me. I’m not really used to it since the adults in my neighborhood never smile. Those in charge at Ville-Joie are known as “educators”. Luke, Linda, Carol, Denise, Giles, Andy, they all present their hand to shake mine which is something I have never done before. In the place I just left, if an adult extends a hand anywhere near a child, the rule is to duck to avoid the slap and run as fast as you can although, more often than not, it is more a threat of a slap than a slap itself, not as much because of a lack of will as it is a lack of interest. Somehow I have a feeling It doesn’t work like this here.
Since it is night already, there isn’t much time to talk and no time at all for a tour so this will have to wait until morning. Carol offers to walk me to the dormitory but asks me to try and keep as quiet as possible because the other kids are already asleep. She points to a bed at the very end of the large room, near the back wall and whispers that this one is just for me. We walk as quietly as possible, I sit down on my new bed and stare silently at wall in front of me. After pulling out my pajamas, Carol slides my suitcase under my bed and sits next to me. She looks at me for a short moment and then gently puts two fingers under my chin to motion my head in her direction and smiles at me as if to say that everything will be fine. Some smiles, as well intended as they are, have nothing reassuring about them. That’s how I am introduced to irony; one genuine smile for a thousand tears to come. I have yet to say a word since I sat in the car back home. Maybe I’ll talk tomorrow. I haven’t cried either since I’m still not sure what is really going on and where I come from, you better know why you’re crying because if you don’t, there’s always someone close by to threaten to give you a reason. I lay in bed facing the wall with my eyes wide opened until I can no longer stay awake and I fall asleep for exhaustion…”
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Contact: steve.marchand@rogers.com
This project is entirely written on an iPad…
