Ferdinand is a worn-out, seemingly harmless man. Shoulders hunched, he struggles to move, walks hobbling. Buried in a dark winter coat, her hesitant figure exudes fear-panic. Then he is allowed to sit down to answer his judges. At 76 years old, Ferdinand appears in court for the first time in his life and it is not a cakewalk. He listens, stunned and dazed, as the president outlines in broad strokes the facts with which she is accused. And little by little his face freezes.
It's at Christmas that everything is at stake, that everything explodes. Cursed Christmas Day, without a truce, without a miracle, the kind that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth and your morale in the abyss. On December 25, a fight broke out between grandpa Ferdinand and grandma Jacqueline, his partner of 47 years. A final domestic scene, one more, one too many. Not a squabble quickly forgotten. No, a fierce altercation. It will be the last. Until now, Grandma had resigned herself to grief, to his presence, to the point of accepting it without flinching. This time the cup will overflow and nothing will be able to stop the tsunami of resentments suppressed for too long, of rage tamed for too long with self-sacrifice and silence. At that moment Ferdinand does not suspect it, but his life is going to change. The breaking point has arrived.
So, the couple returns from a family lunch shared with their son when Jacqueline realizes that she has forgotten her phone at the subsidiary's home. She wants to go get him, but it's the spark that will set things on fire. Ferdinand loses his temper, forbids him from going out and hits him. He hits. Photos show Jacqueline pretty banged up with bruises everywhere. All that for that? Yes. It's not the first time, it's just a classic if the kids are to be believed. “One day I will crash you, and it won’t be a single blow, you know me,” the defendant even shouted, according to his partner. She calls for a measure of protection from the police called to the rescue.
“Please, Madam, I want to go home”
In reality, this spiral began a very long time ago with irritations in the couple, unpleasant mood swings, to continue with screams and slaps, and end in violence and the pain of a nose. broken and with a black eye. There were quarrels “ten to twenty times a day,” grandpa admits. Without seeing the harm in it. So used to this routine!
There immediately, forced into silence, Ferdinand clenches his fists and shakes his head sharply in frustration and annoyance. No matter, determined to burst the abscess, his son will drive the point home. “He is jealous, possessive, he treats our mother like a slave and she never said anything,” he explains. Slowly but surely the portrait of Ferdinand painted by those close to him looks like a bad guy, not very friendly. But he still has a response, especially in adversity when he is stung. It's simple, Ferdinand denies everything outright. “It’s all fake, it’s not true, Madam President. They’re all mad at me,” he burst out with increased energy, determined to defend himself.
In police custody, however, he confessed everything, he recognizes it and gets bogged down a little in the quicksand of his story. He wanted to get out of this impasse quickly, that's all. “What is true is that we often argue over nothing. How many times has she already done this phone thing to me! », he gets angry. Before continuing: “I didn’t push her, she left and she tripped. They all agreed, they want me dead. » Alone against everyone.
However, Ferdinand will eventually understand that he is in the middle of a shipwreck. Jacqueline has reached the point of no return, she has filed a complaint, wants to separate, to put an end to these 46 years of living together. “This will never happen again, never again, never again, all these shouting matches. I can’t live alone,” Grandpa complains with shortness of breath. Abruptly, he implores as if he has finally felt the evil wind rising. “Please Madam, for pity’s sake, I want to go home.” » His children don't want him anymore either. Ferdinand will no longer grow old with his family. It's over.
He received a four-month suspended prison sentence, a ban on contact and appearing at the marital home for 18 months.
