Chapter 2: Summertime Boredom
My mother was not able to enroll me in a private school until the following year as it was almost summer time. I spent my summer with my Nanny Alicia who dragged me to play dates with other children my age, even though it was more for her than it was for me. Most of the children did not like me for some reason. I wasn't sure why. Then again maybe it was because they were in the kindergarten class that I had blown up a frog in… I thought it was cool. I guess they didn't. In any case I spent most of those play dates playing on my own until I finally threw a fit and Alicia stopped making me go. By the time August rolled around I was bored out of my mind. I had almost lit the apartment on fire three times and Alicia quit. She told my mother that she couldn't handle me anymore. Since I was almost 8, and my mother could not find anyone else to take me, she left me home alone more often than not when she went to work. I was told not to leave the apartment for any reason, and my mother left me with a phone to reach her if I needed anything. She asked the next door neighbor Helen to watch out for me, Helen only agreeing because she had just moved in and not yet heard about me. I usually was pretty good for that month, besides painting my room and staying up much too late watching shows on Netflix.
On August 7th I turned 8. I received a violin from my father. Always as before it was nicely wrapped with a red ribbon and the letters SH signed on a small card. This time though, I knew what the letters stood for, and I knew why he sent me a violin. He played violin. I knew this because on those long nights when mum was at work, I would spend hours poring over his website. When I had read everything possible and even figured out the answer to two of the secret codes he had placed up, I found Dr. John Watson's website. He was my father's friend who had lived with him for quite some time. He always wrote of the most interesting adventures and I always looked forward to any new posts that he would write. It made me feel like I actually knew something of my father.
When I opened the violin I fingered the strings and looked it over carefully. "It's beautiful." I said looking up to my mother. "Will I ever get to meet my dad?" I asked her, knowing that she would of course try to change the subject, but hoping now that I was older, she'd tell me for once.
My mother sighed. "Honey, we've been through this. You not knowing him, it's for your safety. It really is. Now, how about we go out for some ice cream to celebrate?"