Authors: Francis Chalifour
After (17 page)
When Luc turned eight, I taught him how to play poker. We made quite a ceremony of it. Maman cleared off the kitchen table, and we cracked open a new deck of cards.
“Fish is for kids. Now it’s time to show you how the grown-ups play.” I fanned the cards out expertly.
He watched, wordless, his cheeks full of popcorn. I could see myself in him, sitting at the table with Papa.
“Always hold your cards close to you, close to your heart. If you don’t, the others can see them. If you get a good hand, tell yourself that you’re lucky, but don’t brag about it. It’s what you do with your cards that counts.”
I wanted to show Luc how to play his cards well, to tell him that cheating is never worth it, that life is beautiful, and royal straight flushes are rare, but exist for real. That life’s a game, and enjoying it is okay. Laughing is just as important as being serious. Card games never last very long anyway. Nothing lasts forever, either.
I would like to thank Tundra Books for their confidence: especially Kathy Lowinger, for her generosity and judicious advice.
Thanks to Michael Levine, who believes in me, and in my ideas. Thanks to Patrick Watson, for taking the time to read my manuscript, and also for his wise words that helped me to find a new perspective. Thanks to John Fraser for providing me a quiet place at Massey College for my writing. Thanks to Maxine Quigley for her patience and her smile.
Thanks to Ginette Chalifour, my mother, who’s a model of courage, love, and integrity. Thanks to Mario Rondeau, my stepfather, for his patience and wisdom. Thanks to Yvonne Cantara, my aunt, for her kindness and her open-mindedness. Thanks to Mark Prior, and Luc Bernard for welcoming me into their family and for their generosity. Thanks to Julie Héroux, my friend since grade one, in whom I have the deepest confidence. Thanks to Françoise Pelletier for the help she provided me in my first years of teaching and Michelle Marcelin for the intelligence of her words and her wise advice.
I love you.
Text copyright © 2005 by Francis Chalifour
Published in Canada by Tundra Books, 75 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario M5A 2P9
Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York, P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901
Library of Congress Control Number: 2004117246
All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Chalifour, Francis
After / Francis Chalifour.
eISBN: 978-1-77049-054-3
I. Title.
PS8555.H2758A75 2005 jc813’.6 C2004-904141-X
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada. Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
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