Out of the Big Apple we were…

Probably not wanting all that much to head home, we wandered a little bit in the subburbs, turnin left or right as we felt it, leaving Google’s good advices and our still brand new map on the backseat.

And we got our gas money’s worth of sights as we rode around, loosing our two silly Frenchy selves in the streets.

Do you remember when we turned on this random road and found ourselves surrounded only by Hasidic Jews walking in their long black coats and tall black hats, with curly strands of hair? I don’t recall seeing any woman on the sidewalk, but men were many, just going by, in pairs or little groups, talking, probably about Jew stuff of some sort.

The sight was stunning… Not that I hadn’t seen Hasidic Jews in the past, but where we came from, people don’t live in such clear ghettoes. We have our Chinese or Italian neighbourhoods, even a gay one, but never that clearly reserved for a certain nationality or religion… The uniformity was so clear it was almost frightening. The men looked like clones from a Stephen King’s story, waiting for lost youngsters from up North to enroll them and wrap them in black clothing and curl their hair by any force needed!

We kept driving, and hunger got us to start searching for any banner offering food that would be yummy-yummy in the belly. We were turning around in a neighbourhood very Afro-American. The looks we got from the pedestrians shouted “whut’s you two whitteys doing in the hood?” But we were hungry, and we were’t racist, and we thought “Hey! This is 2001 after all!”

You pulled in the parking lot of an Applebee restaurant. Applebees’ banners always look welcoming, and it didn’t say “Blacks only” on the door, so we got in and left my Foxy baby blue car behind, to seek our longed for meal.

Inside, there was a sport match of some sort, probably football, and the eyes of all the customers and waiters were turned toward the huge tv screens on the walls. We waited by the sign offering us to wait for a waiter to asign us a place. And waited… and decided we wouldn’t disturb anybody. We chose a strategic place, assuring us to be clearly spotted by any look dropping from one of the tvs.

In vain. We spent almost an hour, hoping for a glass of water to help up swallow the shreds of napkins and paper place mats we were considering eating… But we never had a chance to hear so much as a waiter’s voice. We clearly weren’t welcome. So we got up, made sure to keep our backs against the walls and got out of the not so friendly Applebee.

We hit the road again, with frustrated stomachs screaming for anything sustaining. You made sure we’d stop in a white-skin friendly neighbourhood this time.

You had the idea to stop for some McDonald’s. What screams “U.S” more than Ronald’s burgers?? It was the perfect meal to satisfy our starving tummies. It was back when the “super-size” craze was starting to spread. We had heard about it in Canada, but it hadn’t reached us. All the super size talking sounded like a legend brought back by an old worn out globetrotter, back from a trip far far away… So we had to try it!

We chose to go for the drive in, which is more a drive “by” since you don’t really drive “in” the restaurant… We didn’t want to take a chance to be ignored again because of skin color, religion or sexual preferences, you know? We ordered our meals, and drove to the little window to wait for our loot. When I saw the bag the lady was preparing, my heart skipped a beat. Would my car chucks make it?

We ate what we could of the burger, shitload of french fries and drank our bucket of soft drink…

• Americans are crazy!

Well, in French that was, but I agreed, feeling as if my stomach was about to explode. You took the wheel, but we were both drowsy from over eating. So after an hour or two of driving with loud music on to try to keep you awake, we decided to stop and nap in a rest area.

A Volkswagen Fox 1998 wasn’t the best place to spend the night, but it was good for our low budget, and it made it super easy to wake up early. So we stretched and yawned, and got on the highway starting to miss home, or maybe just our comfortable beds…

Without much problem, we reached the border once again. My window was already down, and I was getting prepared to get questionned by the custom lady who was walking to our car. This time, it would be easier, it was the Canadian border, the talking would be in French, and everything would go well…

Where we had gone, where we were going, all good! But then, things got bad again…

• How many days were you out of the country?
• 3, madam! (easy one)
• How many nights did you spend at the hotel?
• 1!

Canadian custom lady eyes rolling, reminding me of Sir American custom agent. She tried a second time (those people are more patient than you would have imagined) and I seemed to fail once again, putting our trip back home in jeopardy! Until my brain remembered what it was there for…

• Oh, but wait! We spent 3 days in and around New York City, but we only spent a night in a hotel, because we slept in the car yesterday evening!

Sigh of discouragement… I could feel she just felt like pressing her thumb and finger in the shape of an “L” on her forehead, but she kept professional.

• Do you have any bought goods to declare?

At that question, I decided to leave words out of the matter… I reached to the backseat, grabbed my tall felt hat, planted it on my head and smiled.

(not me, obviously, but the hat is pretty much the same)

The lady looked at you, giving you an “I am sorry for you” look, and showed us the way across the border.

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Back home, I couldn’t wait to have my roll of film developed. I had thought about that picture of a plane between the two WTC towers, and I was just dying to see it.

I opened my camera… !

The film had blocked… No picture to develop. Disapointment!

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A week later, I was back in Québec city, and you in Sherbrooke.

I was just barely back from my graveyard shift, and about to go to bed. Just before 9h00, the phone rang. It was my mom.

• Turn on the tv!!
• Hi mom! What’s wrong… What channel??
• Any one…

It was September 11th, 2001.