Page 30 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

breaking in, and there was no way I was going to do that. So I
went to go and sleep in the car, which was unlocked because this
was the 1970s, and, remarkable as it sounds now, you really could
leave your car unlocked all night back then.
Needless to say, I didn’t sleep all that well. At 6.30, the car door
opened. It was my dad. He looked at me, and I was petrified. But
he just handed me a blanket and went back to the house! I couldn’t
understand why he hadn’t just given me a lecture. Now I was
really scared.
I had school to get to, so at around 7.30 I knocked on the front
door so that I could get my things and have breakfast. I was
standing there not knowing what to expect: the silent treatment or
a row. When my father opened the door, I didn’t have to wait long
to find out which one.
‘What do you think you are doing? Where have you been? Who
have you been with?’
I didn’t get a chance to answer, and nothing I could say would
have made any difference anyway.
‘What’s wrong with you? Why are behaving like that?’
I had rarely seen him so angry and all I could do was stand there
and take it. He gave me a lecture about going to clubs, told me he
hadn’t brought me up to behave like that: I got the whole ‘You’ve
let me down’ speech.
‘What kind of example are you setting to the younger ones?
You’re supposed to be better than that. What will people say?’
Not only was I letting him down, but I was showing him up. My
dad was very much a law-abiding figure; he was respected in the
community, and there was always this issue of what other people
would think.
Eventually the tirade subsided and I was allowed to get ready
for school. I think it was probably that morning that made me
realise that I couldn’t stay. The tension between us was too great.
I was going to have to leave home.

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