26 Jackie 1930–1962
talk with a man who, he often said, opened up to him more easily,
and who called on him to ‘witness the lack of understanding or the
indiff erence of other people’. But these trips were also an opportu-
nity for Jackie to make his fi rst discovery of the dazzling Algerian
landscape, especially Kabylia:
No name can ever be inscribed for me in the same series as
these Berber names [.. .]: Tizi Ouzou, Tigzirt, Djidjelli, Port
Gueydon – that was the itinerary our tour took – and then
Yakouren Forest. [.. .] I enjoyed so much driving on those
winding roads, but I was especially determined to help my
father, to demonstrate a sort of ‘political solidarity’ with him,
to share my concern for this ‘wretched of the earth’.^21The family did, however, show another face at times – that of an
extended and merry tribe of cousins male and female with whom
Jackie and his sister Janine enjoyed spending whole days on the
Plage de la Poudrière, travelling down to the beach in small groups
by bus, tram, or trolley bus. Micheline Lévy, who would remain
Derrida’s favourite girl cousin, still has a poignant memory of those
times that helped them to forget the war.
We had a code to arrange a meeting: you would let the phone
ring twice to let everyone know it was time to head off. We’d
go down to the beach in small groups, taking eggs and pastries
as a picnic. Jackie was very greedy; he was particularly fond
of almond cigars. He was a very strong swimmer, too; he’d
venture right out to sea. At one time we managed to rustle up
enough money to buy ourselves a yellow dinghy that we all just
loved. [.. .] When he was a teenager, Jackie didn’t much like
dancing; he preferred staying out on the beach until late in the
evening. We’d go for long walks together as night fell. With
most people he was reluctant to say more than the minimum,
but he was a bit chattier with me. Anyway, I managed to winkle
out a lot of his secrets and I told him all of mine. He was in
love with my best friend Lucienne, a very pretty girl. She was
his fi rst love, but as far as I know their relationship remained
platonic.^22In the evenings, on the way back up to El Biar, the little gang
would often stop off to see a fi lm. Many years later, Jackie would
nostalgically recite the names of the cinemas in Algiers: the Vox,
the Caméo, the Midi-Minuit, and the Olympia, not forgetting the
Majestic, the biggest cinema in North Africa... Jackie was an avid
movie-goer, and did not mind what fi lms he saw or where they came
from: