8:17 p.m. Darling Street Page #4

- On the contrary!

- How come?

A break-in. How do l investigate

a corrupted site?

- How'd they get in?

The fence is undone.

Any idea who did it?

I was sure

he had a secret hunch.

He needn't teII me.

I probabIy had the same one.

Yes?

- Tomato juice.

- With a straw?

No, thanks.

For 3 generations,

the DarIing Tavern has been the

finaI stop before Bordeaux jaiI.

Don't want MoIson, O'Keefe

or Labatt? Go eIsewhere.

SmaII bottIes?

They're for fags.

Don't order two, order 1 Iarge.

The waiter is sIuggish.

You know Franois Gravel?

Nope.

Brown hair.

Red Camaro.

Never heard of him.

Why?

We both lived on Darling.

l'm looking for him.

Keep looking.

Thanks, pal.

Finish your drink. Someone

wants to see you. Stay put.

You're familiar.

Why d'you want Gravel?

We lived on Darling.

You know that explosion?

l lent him $20 on that bus

and l need it.

- Are you friends?

- Neighbours. On the fire bus,

he was broke, l helped him out.

Haven't seen him since.

Where is he?

Obviously, l don't know.

Don't play smart with me, f***er!

Where is he?

l have no idea.

lf you see him,

come back and tell Pierrot.

The guy probabIy fronted

Franois some coke.

He used the fire as an out,

or eIse just went on a bender.

At times, you feeI Iike a fooI.

PIaying detective at my age,

out there freezing

at 1:
00 am.

What did I hope to find?

The meaning of Iife?

I wouIdn't find it

investigating 6 deaths.

You die when you die, and Iive

the best you can. Period.

You eat, sh*t, get Iaid

if you're Iucky, and sIeep.

Next day, you start over.

Then one day,

there is no next day.

Oh, Christ.

Hold on. l'll get you

out of there. Can you talk?

The exit was bIocked.

I was caught Iike a rat.

AII for nought.

He probabIy hid his coke here

and had come for it.

Damn great reason to die.

Goddamnit.

I tried doing the 10th step:

''We conducted

our personaI inventory,

and promptIy admitted

when we were wrong.''

Not exactIy a triumph.

So l got in sh*t.

l was wrong, OK?

l promise to be super-good,

super-sober, super-nice,

super-unimportant,

and survive until 90.

How's that,

God-as-we-understand-Him?

ls that your lofty will?

Damn servile mentality.

l'm no poodle, l'm a man!

When a man gets in sh*t,

he gets a grip,

stands up and gets out of it.

Why should l admit helplessness,

loss of control,

and let God lead me

back to reason?

l'm not sick, l'm furious!

Life is agony, people vile,

and You don't exist!

lf You do, we're just

cockroaches to You.

F*** it.

Stop yelling, you'll suffocate!

Get help, someone's dead!

There she was,

beside me,

in the car.

So damn IoveIy.

Burnished tan,

contours...

I hadn't touched her,

but I aIready feIt her warmth.

I drove for miIes

to proIong the pIeasure.

Restraint makes it better.

The taste of it fiIIed my mouth.

My constant burden was Iifted.

I feIt happy

for the first time in 7 months.

I was back home.

I Iike driving drunk.

Life sIows down.

I'm fine.

Everything flows aIong.

I Iike it.

Staying just drunk enough

is hard.

The bottIe caIIs out.

Near St-Jrme,

I had a great idea.

Finish the job.

A visitor, Mme Caron.

Hello.

What do you want?

l'm Grard Langlois.

l lived in the building

where your husband died.

Was he with you?

Did you know him?

You know why he was there?

What do you want?

l dunno.

You don't?

You barge in and do this

for no reason?

- Shall l show him out?

- No, leave us.

Why are you here?

l should have died, madam.

lt's only by chance l'm alive.

An untied shoelace.

lt delayed me long enough

to get into a car accident

with a Chinese,

which l wouldn't have had.

l was sober.

So, l wasn't home

when the house blew up.

lt's funny!

An undone shoelace.

Pardon me.

Mr Langlois?

Am l to understand

a shoelace saved you,

and you want to know

why my husband died?

- Sorry to bother you. l'll go.

- Stay.

Please, stay.

l can tell you why,

if you want to know:

He was making love

to another woman.

That's funny too, eh?

How trivial we are. l won't say

with whom, although l know.

He told me everything.

He loved me.

He made love to her

because l no longer could.

Would you care to know why not?

You want details, medical files?

Do the why's interest you?

There are no why's.

All that counts is how.

How you get had.

How to deal with suffering.

How the body gives out.

Want to know anything else?

No, madam.

Forgive me.

What shame...

If I were brave or impuIsive,

I'd have kiIIed myseIf.

How I ended up in Maniwaki,

I can't reaIIy say.

Took a Ieft at Grand Remous.

Seems I drank for 2 days.

The barmen carried me to bed.

Seems that hunting season

ended on the second day.

It was the AntIer FestivaI.

Seems I acted the fooI.

- Leave that poor deer alone.

- Whadya want?

Get lost!

- Don't talk to me that way!

- Sit down!

- Leave that alone, goddamnit!

- Let go!

- Christ!

- Kick him out!

Go to hell!

Among the things not to do

at Maniwaki's AntIer FestivaI,

steaIing antIers

probabIy ranks third,

right after cruising

the hunters'girIfriends,

and bothering Natives

on the reserve.

If anything,

a Iong, tormented Iife taught me

that tact dissoIves in aIcohoI.

That sonofabitch is back!

Guys, go out back.

The S.Q. drove me to town.

City cops wanted me in connection

with Franois's recent death.

Nothing Iike 300 k. in a cruiser

for brooding over absurdity.

The whoIe story hit me

Iike a ton of bricks.

The expIosion, IittIe Jose,

her dad dead over some coke,

the disabIed woman.

AII the sordid deaths,

and me, aIive.

I was questioned by 2 cops.

I mentioned aII but the tavern.

I wasn't the type to kiII a man

twice my size with a 16'beam.

I promised to stick around town,

so they set me Ioose.

I was a drowning man,

struggIing for air.

Except, my air...

was Scotch.

Every binge Iasts...

days, weeks, sometimes years,

depending on the suffering,

the void to be fiIIed,

the rage to sIake.

Sir!

Mister!

Are you OK?

Go call an ambulance!

Come here.

Hold on, help is coming.

''I've gone to Drunkard's HeII''

- my thought when I came to.

She came into focus sIowIy,

but there she was:

cute taupe bIazer, rust scarf,

ItaIian purse, subtIe perfume...

unnameabIe, yet so expensive.

Nice work, Grard.

You're too old for this!

l've better things to do

l thought this was over!

No more pity from me.

l've picked you up 20 times.

Grabbing cabs back and forth.

l'm fed up. Don't you get it?

It was over.

Some binges just stop.

The beast retreats,

and we return

to humanity and reason.

That night, she took me home.

She washed my cIothes

and made chicken soup.

Why she's so kind

to me, I don't know.

Guess I shouIdn't anaIyze,

just say thank you.

Then the hulks came.

l didn't even see it coming.

Ended up in Maniwaki jail.

The Maniwaki Antler Festival...

These things happen only to you.

Your ridiculous antics

make me remember

why l married you.

Why did you marry me?

Because you're impulsive.

You're unpredictable.

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