Page 39 - James Caan - The Real Deal

Chapter 4

Teenage Kicks

(1977–1978)

‘ I got paid every Friday, and there were many weeks when

I’d get to a Thursday – or even a Wednesday – and I would
have nothing but cornflakes until pay day. ’

had arranged to meet my mates at the flat in Kensington that
I evening. Everybody knew what had been going on, and I think
they were all excited because I was doing something none of them
had ever done. They thought it was cool to have a mate with his
own place; it made them feel grown up.
I had been so caught up in the celebrations – which club we
would go to, where we would eat – that I never stopped to
consider if I would actually be in the mood to party. Needless to
say I wasn’t, and they realised I was too upset to go out. I don’t
think they had really thought of what I was doing as anything
more than a game, and it hit them quite hard to realise that I had
really hurt my family, and in so doing had hurt myself.
We hung round the flat for a few hours, but most of them drifted
off. Only Bernie stayed all night, and it helped to be able to talk
things through with someone. It was after 2 a.m. when I finally

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