Free 21 Days in October by Magali Favre

boy doesn’t want to deny himself this pleasure. A good snack in front of a children’s show is always a special treat.

    The boys have just opened their notebooks on the kitchen table to start their homework when their father’s voice rings out.
    â€œMan alive! It’s good to be back home!”
    The whole family comes to surround him.
    His wife, who has come in with him, smiles broadly when she sees the notebooks on the table. She hugs Gaétan and thanks him for taking care of his brothers.
    â€œYou might not be so happy when you see that the cookie box is empty.”
    â€œI’ll make more. You can see they didn’t keep him too long. I bet they’d had enough of him!”
    â€œIt’s unbelievable, arresting people like that!” exclaims Gaétan’s father.
    Before his son’s sceptical gaze, he recounts the events surrounding his arrest while Gaétan’s mother begins preparing the evening meal.
    â€œI wanted to make sure people weren’t cheating at the polls. I was positive that the big guy with the brown hair wasn’t Mr. Gosselin. I’ve seen Mr. Gosselin before, thought he was a little tubby guy, an’ what’s more, he died last spring. I said as much to the election officer, but he didn’t wanna hear it. I got mad and they had to call the police to come take me outta there.”
    Gaétan smiles, imagining the heap of abuse the police must have taken.
    â€œLaugh if you want, but I know I was right. So I’m being charged for insulting police officers. I gotta appear in court in a month. You call that justice, arresting the guy who saw someone cheating and letting the cheater off the hook? Those damned cops, can’t find the guys setting off bombs and kidnapping a minister, but they sure can give us regular folks a hard time!”
    â€œSpaghetti’s ready! Time to eat!”
    They all gather around as the mother fills their plates, happy to be together again.

15
Thursday, October 29
    H e pushes the café door open. A thick cloud of smoke envelops him. Charlebois’
La Marche du président
is playing softly. In every corner, the young and the old with their long hair and scruffy beards are smoking and drinking, talking loudly and lustily. A little unnerved, Gaétan sweeps the room with his eyes. Eventually he can make out a shadow with short hair, the shortest of the room, boys and girls combined. Louise is bent over a notebook, surrounded by several volumes. He sits down in front of her, his eyes already red from the smoke.
    â€œHow can you work in this place?”
    â€œI feel less alone than in my room. I like it. So, what happened to you the other day?”
    Since waking up that morning, Gaétan has been searching for a way to avoid telling her about Paul. But he can’t lie.
    â€œI have a friend who has a friend…”
    â€œWhat?”
    He has to start from the beginning. As he moves through the explanation, Louise is listening to him with increasing attention and maybe even a hint of admiration. At the end of his story, she exclaims, “Wow! I didn’t know you hung around with guys in the FLQ!”
    â€œIt’s not what you think—and don’t talk so loud! Luc’s been my friend since forever. He’s a good worker. He only wants to improve the conditions on the job, and Paul offered to help him. I don’t really know him. But Luc’s not a ‘revolutionary’ like you say, let alone a member of the FLQ. He knows that killing a minister won’t ever make things better.”
    â€œObviously if we do nothing, we don’t risk a thing!”
    â€œBut when we do too much, we give our enemies the ammunition they need to scare everyone.”
    â€œAnd you say you don’t understand politics at all.”
    â€œFactory workers can understand things, too. My father’s an active member of a citizens’ committee to get rid of Mayor Drapeau,