it as the second one they had bought for Kenny in as many months. When she turned around she saw him – red-faced and braking at the sight of her – tall and skinny, hair in need of a cut, pants that were too short, and no mittens. He came up to her, took the hat, and said quietly, “Thanks.”
“Where are your mittens?”
He reached inside his coat into one of the deep inner pockets that were among the greatest joys of his life and pulled out lined leather mittens, inherited from his dad. Then, “Bye,” he said, and ran to join the other boys, some of whom were huge and others quite small in the varied way of adolescence, but none of whom looked at her. She thought, Did they take his hat and throwit, making mean sport of him? It was his first year at this school.
Kenny caught sight of her looking with concern, and turned his back. He wanted her to move on, and she did.
Into her mind as she walked to the fruit store came sad-eyed Buster Keaton, who wore the clothes of an old man “and always felt old,” even when he was a boy. And no wonder. By all accounts his dad was a lout and their vaudeville routines were extraordinarily violent, starring Buster the human mop. As a grown man he hated quarrelling of any sort, at the first sign of conflict muttering, “No debates, no debates …” She hadn’t been able to get his films in Ottawa, apart from
The General
. Yet on the strength of Pauline’s capsule reviews, she felt she almost knew him. That morning she had looked up every entry under his name. Then her eye kept going, from movie to movie, and an hour had passed before she’d raised her head. It was like eating chocolates on a treadmill.
You’re very tough. I have to hear pleasant and unpleasant things about my favourite actors. In general, though, we like the same ones and some of your phrases I know by heart: Cary Grant’s “hooded eyes,” Sean Connery’s “virile manner.”
In the afternoon, when Kenny got home, she asked him how school went and he gave her his customary high-pitched
great?
Then he brushed aside any farther questions. But at least she managed to pin him down on the matter of his haircut.
“You have hair like Harold Ross,” she said, getting him to sit on a stool with a raincoat over his shoulders.
“What movie was he in?”
“He wasn’t. He was a famous editor at
The New Yorker
. Ina Claire, the actress who married John Gilbert after Garbo ditched him – I’m talking about the 1920s – Ina Claire said she wanted to take off her shoes and walk barefoot through his hair. Everybodythinks Dorothy Parker said that, but it was Ina Claire. His hair stood straight up.”
“Ouch!”
“Like yours. I want your hair.”
“And my brains.”
He squirmed and complained so vigorously that out of desperation she began to ask him questions. “What’s the funniest movie of all time?”
“The Life of Brian,”
he answered promptly. “Keep going. I like this. Ask me what’s the saddest movie.” Suddenly he was perfectly intent and still.
“What’s the saddest movie?”
“The movie that overall depressed me was
My Life as a Dog
. That’s my favourite foreign film. Saddest ending?
Cinema Paradiso
. Poor Alfredo. It isn’t the best movie but the ending was so sad I cried.”
For once movies and movie talk were serving a practical purpose. She was cutting his hair rapidly now. “What was the ending?”
“You don’t remember?” He was incredulous.
Jane sang out from the living room, “
West Side Story’s
a pretty sad movie.” By this time she was home too.
Kenny said, “When he put together all the kisses he had to censor from the movies.”
“I remember. Well, I always thought Alfredo was just a vehicle for a lousy filmmaker’s vanity and sentimentality. What’s the most romantic movie?”
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,”
he said. “And
The Russia House
. That’s a thinking person’s spy movie.” Competitive and serious, and not to be derailed by his
“Where are your mittens?”
He reached inside his coat into one of the deep inner pockets that were among the greatest joys of his life and pulled out lined leather mittens, inherited from his dad. Then, “Bye,” he said, and ran to join the other boys, some of whom were huge and others quite small in the varied way of adolescence, but none of whom looked at her. She thought, Did they take his hat and throwit, making mean sport of him? It was his first year at this school.
Kenny caught sight of her looking with concern, and turned his back. He wanted her to move on, and she did.
Into her mind as she walked to the fruit store came sad-eyed Buster Keaton, who wore the clothes of an old man “and always felt old,” even when he was a boy. And no wonder. By all accounts his dad was a lout and their vaudeville routines were extraordinarily violent, starring Buster the human mop. As a grown man he hated quarrelling of any sort, at the first sign of conflict muttering, “No debates, no debates …” She hadn’t been able to get his films in Ottawa, apart from
The General
. Yet on the strength of Pauline’s capsule reviews, she felt she almost knew him. That morning she had looked up every entry under his name. Then her eye kept going, from movie to movie, and an hour had passed before she’d raised her head. It was like eating chocolates on a treadmill.
You’re very tough. I have to hear pleasant and unpleasant things about my favourite actors. In general, though, we like the same ones and some of your phrases I know by heart: Cary Grant’s “hooded eyes,” Sean Connery’s “virile manner.”
In the afternoon, when Kenny got home, she asked him how school went and he gave her his customary high-pitched
great?
Then he brushed aside any farther questions. But at least she managed to pin him down on the matter of his haircut.
“You have hair like Harold Ross,” she said, getting him to sit on a stool with a raincoat over his shoulders.
“What movie was he in?”
“He wasn’t. He was a famous editor at
The New Yorker
. Ina Claire, the actress who married John Gilbert after Garbo ditched him – I’m talking about the 1920s – Ina Claire said she wanted to take off her shoes and walk barefoot through his hair. Everybodythinks Dorothy Parker said that, but it was Ina Claire. His hair stood straight up.”
“Ouch!”
“Like yours. I want your hair.”
“And my brains.”
He squirmed and complained so vigorously that out of desperation she began to ask him questions. “What’s the funniest movie of all time?”
“The Life of Brian,”
he answered promptly. “Keep going. I like this. Ask me what’s the saddest movie.” Suddenly he was perfectly intent and still.
“What’s the saddest movie?”
“The movie that overall depressed me was
My Life as a Dog
. That’s my favourite foreign film. Saddest ending?
Cinema Paradiso
. Poor Alfredo. It isn’t the best movie but the ending was so sad I cried.”
For once movies and movie talk were serving a practical purpose. She was cutting his hair rapidly now. “What was the ending?”
“You don’t remember?” He was incredulous.
Jane sang out from the living room, “
West Side Story’s
a pretty sad movie.” By this time she was home too.
Kenny said, “When he put together all the kisses he had to censor from the movies.”
“I remember. Well, I always thought Alfredo was just a vehicle for a lousy filmmaker’s vanity and sentimentality. What’s the most romantic movie?”
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,”
he said. “And
The Russia House
. That’s a thinking person’s spy movie.” Competitive and serious, and not to be derailed by his
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