Little Scout
Jeremy grew up speaking French, given his father raised him in his home country. Over time with his occupation, it became harder for Remi to watch over his son. Often times Jeremy would be at home awaiting for his father to return to only fall asleep before his father even opened the door. Remi felt bad for this, and suggested to his mother that she take him in instead. She agreed, however there was only one challenge left; the language barrier. Jeremy could say a few words in English and maybe construct simple sentences, but he would need more that just that to get by. Remi decided it was time Jeremy learn English.
It started out simple. Jeremy was given a picture book in English to help increase his vocabulary. Among the many pictures Jeremy looked at and read aloud, he tended to often go over the sports section. The sport, baseball, intrigued him a lot.
"You've already read those words enough times." Remi grumbled, watching over his shoulder. Jeremy smiled.
"They're my favorite! Baseball! Bat! Play ball!" he grinned, showing his teeth. His father chuckled seeing his buck teeth. Remi patted him on the head softly.
"Oui, tres bien. But you should memorize other words." After Jeremy gained a slightly larger vocabulary, Remi began to teach him phonetics and grammar. Sometimes it was very easy for the young boy. He could easily say and read simple lines such as,'He sees the ball. He runs with the ball.' Other times, he struggled with pronunciations and especially the grammar.
"I don't get it! Why are there words that sound the same but are spelled differently?!" the blond whined. He pouted and stomped his foot. Remi tried to search for an answer, but even he could not answer his question.
"I don't know. Americans are weird." the Frenchman shrugged. "We'll make flash cards
for those words you struggle with. Don't give up." The pouting child was picked up gently. While Jeremy was pretty enthusiastic with learning English, there were times he would give up easily when it became difficult and throw a temper tantrum. The only way to resolve this was to put the child to sleep until he would wake up with refreshed energy to try again. To encourage him to keep trying to learn English, Remi would get him to listen to audio tapes that helped taught English.
Jeremy's favorite tape was one full of American children songs. He thought they had odd stories, but nevertheless he enjoyed them. Soon enough during times when Remi would cook meals for them or bring him around town, Jeremy would sing aloud the songs from the tape. Passerbys loved the singing of the boy and clapped for him when he sang. Remi himself got praised for his son's skill in English.
The day before Jeremy was to fly to America and live with his mother was the day Remi decided he would sit and listen to Jeremy's favorite English song one last time.
"Now recite the alphabet." Remi asked.
"A, B, C, D…" The little scout began. It broke Remi's heart to know he wouldn't see his son for a long time, but he knew it was for the best. Being a spy was hard, but raising a child and being a father was much harder. He knew in his heart that Jeremy would grow to hate him when he got older due to his absence, but it was more so for his safety. Remi's worst fear was losing his family, especially his beloved son. A day or two ago, he came across some kind of baseball cap and purchased it for his son. He knew that Jeremy had come to grow a love for baseball after having seen it in his picture book. Jeremy was given the hat the day before they had to part and was sitting on his very head right now. By the time the boy finished, Remi praised him on his great singing and work. The Frenchman picked up his son for the last time and tucked him into bed, kissing him on the forehead for once.