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13
men don’t cry
from the toilets, I saw Dounia
hastily put down a glass of wine
and pass a lit cigarette to one
of the Julies sitting around the
table. “Don’t make that face!”
she said, looking embarrassed.
Then she mimed ‘shhh!’ with
a finger to her lips, followed
by a conspiratorial wink. Aged
ten, I was shocked.
After leaving
La Cour des
Miracles
, I was silent in the
bus.
“Why aren’t you talking,
Mourad?”
“No reason.”
“Is it because you saw me
drinking?”
I feigned interest in what was
going on at the back of the
bus. I felt betrayed.
“Yes. And smoking too!”
“It’s your own fault, you pee
too fast… Anyway, don’t
mention it to anyone, hey?
Promise?”
“All right, promise, I won’t say
anything.”
“…”
“Dounia?”
“What?”
“D’you eat pork as well?”
“Pork? Are you out of your
mind? You’re sick!”
“Dounia?”
“What now?”
“Will you buy me my pair of
Stan Smiths?”
“OK, I get it. So the deal is,
don’t say a word to anyone
and we’ll go to the sports
shop next week!”
And then she gave me that
conspiratorial wink again,
which was starting to get on
my nerves.