Anthony stole his father's Yamaha without permission

Anthony Casati’s unauthorized ride on his father’s Yamaha YZ turns a cherished family possession into the means of a nighttime excursion. The trip with his cousin carries them from the garage to a party in Drimblois, linking Anthony’s long-standing attraction to motorcycling with the risks and social ambitions of the evening.

The Motorcycle and Its Place in the Family

The Yamaha is kept at the back of the garage, wedged behind an old ping-pong table and covered by a tarp. Anthony uncovers it carefully: it is a red-and-white 1982 Yamaha YZ marked with the number 16. His father had raced motorcycles in the past and sometimes lets Anthony ride the machine around the neighborhood when he is in a good mood. The bike therefore belongs to the household, but access to it is conditional rather than Anthony’s to claim.

Anthony’s attachment to riding is already established before he takes the motorcycle. He imagines having a bike of his own someday, and associates motorcycling with the seaside, sunsets, girls in bathing suits, and Aerosmith songs. He also believes that riding comes naturally to him, a conviction reinforced by his father’s view that he has motorcycling in his blood. The unauthorized trip grows out of this desire for independence and identification with the bike, not from any stated practical need.

Hélène Casati distrusts motorcycles because she sees their danger and does not want Anthony to become an accident statistic. That disagreement gives the act a family context: the same machine represents a shared interest between father and son, but also a risk that Anthony’s mother opposes. When Anthony rolls it toward the garage door, taking care not to hit his mother’s Opel, Hélène appears outside. The narrative records her catching him at the threshold, but does not establish that she approves his taking it.

The Ride with His Cousin

Once Anthony is at a safe distance, he kick-starts the YZ and rides away without a helmet. His cousin climbs on behind him, and they take highway D953 toward Drimblois. Anthony accelerates on the straight stretches and leans into the turns, while the speed draws tears from both riders’ eyes. The narration presents their confidence as youthful and precarious: they act as if accidents cannot happen, even though the cousin eventually asks Anthony to slow down.

The cousin’s request marks a limit within the shared excitement. Anthony is controlling the motorcycle and setting the pace, but the passenger is not entirely at ease with the speed. Their ride thus has two sides: it gives Anthony the freedom and exhilaration he seeks, while making the danger that Hélène worries about concrete. The scene does not describe a crash or other injury; its consequence here is a journey completed under conditions the riders have reason to recognize as unsafe.

Drimblois and the Hidden Bike

The destination is Drimblois, a small village of a church, farms along the departmental highway, newer houses, and an old dental-office building with a wrought-iron grill. It takes the cousins about twenty minutes to get there. They ride around before locating the party, which is being held at a modern house with extensive glass, lights in every room, a broad lawn, and a turquoise-lit swimming pool.

At the house, Anthony realizes that he has forgotten the antitheft lock. His cousin dismisses the risk and points to a farm building with closed shutters; cords of wood are stacked nearby for winter. Anthony hides the Yamaha behind the wood, but remains uneasy. The precaution does not undo the original decision to take the bike; instead, it extends the act into the party, since the motorcycle has been left out of sight without the protection Anthony intended to bring.

Before they go in, the cousins share rum and beer, taking turns drinking and leaving an empty beer can on the lawn. The party is already marked by social contrasts: the young people gather around a table of food and wine, while sharply dressed men from the swim club tend the barbecue and drink Sol beer. Anthony and his cousin arrive from the road on the motorcycle, then conceal it at the edge of this affluent setting before joining the gathering. The excursion therefore ends at the party, but not with the bike safely secured or Anthony’s unease settled.