– You can explain to them without having to run away!
– Precisely, the problem is that I find it hard to express myself. It gets on my nerves and I want to smash things up.
– But why? What happened?
– On Sunday, I want to go to the soccer game and they want us to visit my grandmother in her retirement home. Talk about an outing!
– And that’s why you want to run away?
– Well yeah, self-defense!
– You’ve got it all mixed up. Self-defense is when you’re attacked, and that’s not your case. Your reaction is too strong: disproportionate!
– Easy! You’re cool. Nothing throws you off, not even a tsunami.
– And you’re like a bomb or a mine: as soon as someone touches you, you explode.
– I’ve always been like that.
– Maybe, but there’s nothing to stop you from changing. You decide.
– I don’t decide anything, I react to aggression and violence from others.
– Visiting your grandmother is not violence.
– You’re not going to lecture me too!
– And why not? I’m your buddy and I don’t work like you, so I’m trying to help you. Question: don’t you like your grandma?
– I do… I like her, even though she gives me money from time to time.
– What’s the problem?
– I don’t want to miss the game.
– Maybe there’s another way? In the morning, you go to see your grandmother on your own, so you can please your parents. Then… in the afternoon you go to the match.
– Ah, that’s cool! You’ve come up with a solution. I think the parents will agree to the deal.
– I keep telling you that you get worked up over nothing. Do what I do, take the time to talk things over.
– Me, I talk when I get angry. How do you keep the violence under control?
– I’m in control, man, I’m in control.
– How? Are you going to explain it to me? You see, you’ve got a problem too. You talk and talk and say nothing. It’s like you’ve got a secret, man.
– It’s simple: you disconnect, you unplug, you just calm down!
– And where’s the switch so you don’t freak out?
– In your head, man, in your tiny little head.
– Where are the instructions?
– To each his own, that’s personal, man. It’s up to you to find the method if you want to live happier. It’s better than winning the lottery.
– Nonsense! The lottery makes you rich.
– And isn’t the love of one’s parents and friends 24-carat gold?
– You’re right, mate, I’m going to look for the switch to my inner volcano.
– Right, and when you find it, send me his photo by mms.
Sketch written for Graines de Paix by Emilie Salamin-Amar.
2006 Emilie Salamin-Amar of Editions Planète Lilou.
All rights reserved. Reproduction strictly prohibited.