Chico picked up one of the bottles, shook it gently and held it up to examine its contents in the light from the room’s window.
“Dis ’ere was a wee bit damp when I gathered it up. ’Twas rainin’ an’ de folks next door was puttin’ up a fence.”
Étienne cast an eye over the other bottles lined up in the box, finally daring to pick one up.
“Dat one’s de cupboards up in de attic. Go ahead and take a sniff, why don’t ya.”
992.113.1
Collections
Chico unscrewed the cap and placed the bottle under Étienne’s nose. And yes, it did smell slightly of something.
In other words, I conceal, therefore I am.
993.136.9
The Unavowed
The customers came in and out of the Babar at a regular rhythm.
“Awh, geez, not ’er.”
Zed and Terry glanced discretely in the direction Pomme was looking, and saw a young woman they didn’t know.
“She’s after buyin’ a loft. Must be fifteen times she’s asked me ’bout it. She contact you yet?”
Zed wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think so.
“Geez, I hopes she don’t see me.”
Zed watched the woman make her way across the room.
“She’s sittin’ down wid Zipper an’ dem. Where she longs at?”
Pomme spoke without enthusiasm:
“She’s Okey-Dokey’s sister, only just come back from some years in Montréal.”
994.102.3
The Trio
. . .
. . .
“An wot about Okey-Dokey? She still in Toronto, den?”
There is no direct way.
995.136.10
The Unavowed
Looking for something else in his cupboard, Chico moved a glass jug containing twisted wires.
Étienne cried out:
“Wot’s dat?!”
Chico almost fell over.
“It’s only some old busted guitar strings. Every time me dad busted one he’d give it to me. Ee said ee’d be famous one day.”
Conflicting ideas jostled for position in Étienne’s mind.
“Grandad give me de jug. Ee was usin’ it fer gas fer de lawnmower.”
Étienne couldn’t tear his gaze away from the jug full of broken guitar strings. He’d never seen anything like it.
“Der’s twenty-seven of dem. I hasn’t put none in since he’s in jail.”
This detail brought Étienne back to reality:
“Was he breakin’ dem on purpose?”
Chico laughed:
“Course not! Dey breaks all on der own!”
“Awh.”
996.113.3
Collections
Regarding Zed’s expression “Where she longs at?,” the original French “D’yoùsqu’a d’vient?” leaves open the question of whether Zed was asking whence she came or where she was from, or where she’d been. The author apologizes for this brief lack of vigilance. The translator, who has fallen back on the Newfoundlandese expression “Where she longs at?,” has no excuse.
997.86.4
Apologies
When Chico raised the cover on the box he’d dug out of the back of the cupboard, Étienne was agreably surprised at the diversity of its contents.
“Dis ’ere’s stuff I doesn’t know wot to do wid.”
Étienne contemplated the bric-a-brac, but was unable to identify anything.
“Why den do you keep dem?”
“Dunno.”
Chico picked up an object, examining it from different angles, then put it back and did the same with another.
“Wot’s dat?”
“Comes from a door knob dat me grandad took apart.”
The steel square shaft threaded at each end was unquestionably attractive.
“I knows where everyting ’ere’s from.”
And Chico closed and replaced the box in the same place, at the very back of the cupboard. Étienne had never imagined it could be useful or interesting to know the provenance of the slightest trifle.
“I put it all de way back in ’ere, on account of Granny almost trew ’er in de trash last year.”
998.113.5
Collections
Recapitulation. All things considered, the unavowable is the real. The unavowable kills. Hence the relative importance of the confession. To admit to someone or to oneself is equally difficult. The paradox is that, even to admit something to oneself, one must go through the Other. Because the real is the Other. Is that to say that the ego is not part of the real? Simple answer: The ego is to the real what clothing is to the body: appearance, surface. The ego covers, protects, hides, and the ego’s language does the same. Language conceals more than it reveals. And this is what makes the confession so difficult, and objectivity impossible. In other words, I conceal therefore I am. There is no direct way.
999.136.11
The Unavowed
“Hallo, Pomme! How’s you gettin’ on?”
“Awh, hallo! . . .”
Ginette “Okey-Dokey” LeBlanc’s sister looked over the other guys at the table. Terry and Zed nodded a polite greeting. Pomme did the introductions.
“Terry . . . Zed . . . um . . . Sorry, I knows yer Ginette’s sister, only I’s fergot yer name.”
“Simonne, only folks calls me Sam.”
Again, Terry and Zed nodded.
“I’m Terry.”
“Zed.”
A slightly embarassed silence followed, and Pomme felt obliged to revive the conversation:
“Sam’s tinking she’d like to be buyin’ a loft ’ere.”
Terry took the bait:
“Sure, dis ’ere’s a fine place. Only I expect de waitin’ list’s awful long, eh Zed?”
Zed nodded but, as he was not partial to brutality:
“Still, sometimes folks gets tired o’ waitin’ an’ dey buys someting else instead. So even doh de waitin’ list is someting long, she’s still movin’.”
Pomme added:
“’Twould be good to ’ave more buildings like dis one ’ere in Moncton.”
But Sam said:
“’Tisn’t only de building, doh. ’Tis de folks around as well. All de artists an dat. Me, I designs clothes. Wot I’d like is to have me own store.”
Pomme’s curiousity was tweaked:
“Wot sort of clothes?”
The young woman opened her coat, did a slow pirouette. The three guys agreed that her outfit was sharp:
“Dat looks alright.”
She put her hand on the back of an empty chair:
“Mind if I sit meself down?”
1000.102.4
The Trio
12. Who would you most like to meet in a copse of trees on a golf course?
a) The Dalai-Lama
b) Queen Latifa
c) A rabbit
d) Nobody
e) Other: _______________
1001.69.12
Survey/Women
“An’ wot about Riopelle in all dat?”
“Well, ee was more part of de Art Informel dat got started in France after de war. Wasn’t a real tight group. Dey had a whole lot o’ different styles, wid Soulages an’ a couple of udders; still dey was apart from de udders, de Italians an’ de Spanish for sure, an’ from de Abstract Expressionists an Cobra an’ de like.”
“An’ what about Pollock, den?”
“Pollock, De Kooning, Rothko, Motherwell, Reinhardt . . . dose were de Abstract Expressionists. All dat was pretty much goin’ in New York in de ’40s. Dat’s wot led to de Action Painting in de ’50s.”
“So where does Zablonski fit in all dat, I’d l
ike to know?”
“Der’s a group in France, in de late ’60s, dey’s called Support-Surface. De name tells ya wot was eatin’ at dem. Zablonski hails from der, only now ee’s gone way far beyond. Ee started by bustin’ de surface, den ee busted de support.”
?
!
“I don’t see ’im ever comin’ back from der.”
!!
1002.102.5
The Trio
Marianne is dreaming. Marianne dreams that she’s lying on her back and Carmen is coming toward her, coming to change her diaper. And then it’s not Carmen, but Zablonski who’s there. He’s tickling her with onion sprouts. It’s funny. It’s warm. It tickles. The tickling is coming from all sides, overflowing. Flowing over. Warm. Everywhere. Marianne made peepee.
1003.38.6
Onions
Carmen looked in fine form.
“Geez, you’re lookin’ not a bad bit nice!”
“Tanks!”
We’d agreed to meet at the Roux, the Fox Creek golf course restaurant.
“Dat was a right smart idea you ‘ad to give us each a day off like dat. It’s done us a world o’ good.”
The waitress brought the menu, asked us if we wanted a drink.
“Were you wantin’ to eat?”
“I only want de fries. Dey’re supposed to be good ’ere. Dey do ’em wid yams.”
“Is dat so?”
“’Tis, and good ting Terry can’t hear me sayin’ yams. Seems I let meself go wid de English words when ee’s not around.”
“Well, you sometimes use English words when he’s around as well.”
“I knows it, and each time I’m afeared I’m just encouragin’ him to do de same.”
“Is ee all dat fragile? Linguistically, I mean . . .”
“I don’t always comprehend wot’s goin’ on in ’is ’ead. Nor in ’is mout’. Days go by an’ ’is French is just fine, den all of a sudden, it’s as doh English was lyin’ in wait down de road to trip ’im up.”
“Lying in wait. I like that.”
“Yer de one taught it to me!”
The waitress brought us our glasses. And our fries. Carmen liked what she knew of For Sure; she felt as though she were collaborating in working out the plot:
“’Ave ya decided wot we’ll be doin’ wid de diamond yet?”
“No. I often think about the diamond thing, but never when I’m actually writing.”
She seemed disconcerted by my reply. Was she disappointed?
“I’ve got other ideas. I don’t think it’s necessary to backtrack on everything.”
1004.101.7
Duos
List of post-WWII to early-1970s artistic movements: Abstract Expressionism (New York School), 1940–55; Art informel, France, 1945–60; Lettrism, France, 1946; Madi, Buenos Aires, 1946; Art Brut (called Lumpen Art in New York and rebaptized Outsider Art by Roger Cardinal in 1972); Spatialism, Italy (Milan), 1947–52; COBRA, COpenhagen, BRussels, and Amsterdam, 1948–51; Dau al Set, Barcelona, 1948–53; Subjects of the Artists, U.S.A., 1948–55; Kinetic Art, 1950; Funk Art, San Francisco Bay Area, 1950; Concrete Poetry, 1950; Sound Poetry, 1950; Happenings, U.S.A., 1950; Action Painting, U.S.A., 1951; Exat 51, Yugoslavia, 1951; Independent Group, London, 1952–57; Neo-dada, U.S.A., 1953–55; Gutai, Japan, 1955–72; Pop’ Art, U.K. and U.S.A., 1955; Zero Group, Federal Republic of Germany (Dusseldorf), 1957–60; El Paso, Spain (Madrid), 1957–60; Situationist International, France, Italy, and Scandinavia, 1957–72; Hard Edge, New York, late 1950s; Gruppo T, Italy (Milan), 1959–66; Shaped Canvas, U.S.A., 1960; Minimal Art, U.S.A., 1960; Video Art, U.S.A., Europe, 1960; Computer Art, U.S.A., Europe, 1960; New Realism, France, 1960–63; Gruppo Enne (or N), Italy (Padua), 1960–64; G.R.A.V., France, 1960–68; New Figuration, France, 1960–79; Nul Groep, Netherlands, 1961; Fluxus, U.S.A., 1961; Panic, France, 1962; Colorfield, U.S.A., 1962; Copy Art, U.S.A., 1962; Mail Art, 1962; Eat Art, 1963; Zebra Group, Federal Republic of Germany, 1964; Body Art, 1964; Post Painterly Abstraction, U.S.A., 1964; Equipo Cronica, Spain (Valencia), 1964–81; Conceptual Art, U.S.A., Europe, 1965; Op Art, U.S.A., 1965; Mec’ Art, Europe, 1965–69; Superealism, U.S.A., 1965–70; E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology), USA (New York), 1966; B.M.P.T. (Buren, Mosset, Parmentier, and Toroni), France, 1966–67; Arte Povera (Poor Art), Italy, late 1960s; Sky Art, U.S.A., 1969; Mono Ha (Thing School), Japan, 1969–70; Support-Surface, France, 1969–72; Land Art, late 1960s in the U.S.A., early 1970s in Europe.
1005.99.6
Names
“Some words’re spelled de way dey are purely fer technical reasons.”
. . .
“Take, fer example, de word fer “oyster”: huître. In de beginnin’ it came from de Greek, den it went into de Latin, an’ afterwards into French spelled uistre, u-i-s-t-r-e, wid no h.”
. . .
“De h was only put der on account of folks was confusin’ de u wid a v, so dat dey was reading vistre — which is almost vitre or “glass” — instead of uitre. Could be printing was too . . . like . . . primitive at de time, so de letters was not so clear. Anyhow, bottom line, de spelling wid an h was invented so folks wouldn’t confuse an oyster wid a piece o’ glass. Dat’s wot I means by technical, wot’s got nuttin’ to do wid the roots of de word.”
. . .
“I hope I isn’t borin’ you too much?”
. . .
. . .
“Let’s just say dat I doesn’t figure I’ll be playin’ wid you all dat often once I gets better at de game.”
“Hahaha! Dat’s wot I likes about you, a person always knows where you stand.”
1006.126.12
Techniques
For example, possible ways to write and say the verb to see: ouère, ouaire, wère, wouère, vouère, ouare, ware, and voir. And for sees as in “he sees”: oua, wa, woua, oueille, woueille, weille, ouèye, wouèye, wèye, voueille, vouèye, vouaille, and voit.
1007.30.9
Chiac
“Holy Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, you didn’t go an’ say dat!”
Pomme’s concern was all too real:
“Aren’t ya afraid dey’ll tink yer warped sometimes?”
“Well, you know de way it goes . . . when you see de words about to come out, only you can’t stop ’em in time.”
Zed put two and two together:
“Now I knows how come Chico was askin’ me if I’s afraid me parents was goin’ to die when I was a boy.”
Pomme too wanted to know:
“Well den? Were ya afraid?”
“Not really. Der was times I was almost hopin’ ’twould happen. So’s I could be a real orphan.”
“G’wan!”
Terry shared Pomme’s surprise:
“I tawt you missed yer real dad . . .”
Zed shrugged.
“Don’t know really. Not so much as dat, I tink. I don’t really know anymore.”
1008.102.6
The Trio
CHAPTER 8
we speak English
we speak French
we speak
all languages
fluidently
1009.144.8
Epigraphs
Patrice Desbiens,
désâmé (de-souled), Prise de parole, 2005
“Yer not afeard o’ turnin’ ’im off?”
There he’d said it. Pomme felt that sometimes Terry was too demanding with his son.
“Well, I try to make it fun fer ’im at de same time.”
“A person might tink you was wantin’ to turn de boy into a jack of all trades.”
“Not so much. I just want fer ’im to be curious, to like learnin’ how life’s workin’.”
Zed chimed in:
“I know wot
yer sayin’. Dat’s wot I’d like fer Chico as well.”
. . .
. . .
“Well dat could be . . . As fer me, when I’s a boy, I learned stuff by meself mostly. An’ I haven’t changed, far as dat’s concerned. I gets bored wid other folks’ explainin’.”
Pomme’s idea did not go unappreciated.
“Eh boy! I was just de same. I liked to figure tings out meself. So, maybe I oughtn’t to be all de time explainin’ everyting to Étienne . . .”
. . .
“Ting is you don’t always know if yer doin’ de right ting or not, do ya? Yer always figurin’ it out as you go.”
Zed could relate to that:
“Me, I’s only really learnin’ a ting when I’m doin’ dat ting. Den tings open up fer me.”
“Me, I gotta ’ave it all in me head afore I start.”
For Zed, it all made perfect sense:
“Dat’s wot I been saying, yer an intellectual.”
The three friends ordered another round.
“Nowadays in school, dey don’t call dem problems no more. Nowadays dey’re challenges. Chico shows me his lessons, an’ den ee explains de challenges. I suppose it’s kinda clever, when ya tink about it.”
Pomme was still not used to hearing Zed talk as Chico’s father.
“De word ‘problem’ was too overweight I suppose. Challenge is more marketweight.”
“Ya mean a challenge rattles us less dan a problem?”
1010.102.7
The Trio
The tilde serves to distinguish words pronounced as in English from those pronounced as in French. Hence jãck õf ãll trãdes and rãttle. It Latinizes English. As for the acute accent on the end of a verb pronounced as in English, it indicates that the end of the word should be pronounced as in French. Hence tũrnér õff. This is a common form of Chiacification.
1011.7.1
Useful Details
“Look, Mum, de pumpkins!”
“Wow!”
Indeed, Carmen had never seen a field so full of big, beautiful, perfectly orange pumpkins. She slowed down so that Étienne and she could admire the sight a little longer.
For Sure Page 42
