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Charles Pépin
11
I take out my keys on the
deserted road and out of
nowhere, there are four
of them. Immediately I
recognize the guy from the
parking garage with his silver
tooth and his name comes
back to me: Rédoine. He faces
me and the rest surround
me. I don’t have time to be
afraid; the first blow goes to
my stomach and I am already
on the ground trying to catch
my breath. I see some large
sneakers and something
shining on the sidewalk. I
figure out it’s my keychain,
but Rédoine knocks me out
and I have the time to tell
myself that afterward, when
this will be finished, I will not
be able to make it home. Only
Rédoine speaks. He speaks
and the others shut up. “Who
do you think you are? What
do you think? That you can do
whatever you want and then
go back to the protection of
the périph? I don’t think you
thought too hard about it.”
There is a moment when I
almost feel ok, it is when I
start breathing again, at this
precise moment, nothing else
exists, I am simply happy to
have a little less pain, and to
no longer be suffocating. I try
to get myself up but I don’t
have time, I believe that he
doesn’t strike, that he lets
the others to do it, I try to
curl up into a ball to protect
my head and my stomach but
a kick, stronger than all of the
others, turns me completely
around and right after, I feel
something smash intomy eye.
It’s strange, that hit didn’t
hurt, I see the blood oozing
but I don’t feel anything else.
“Whites like you, they just
take it and don’t give it back,
ok? They fare better in the
shelter of the périph and
when they leave, they keep