“Okay mom, be right out.” When the boy arrived. He looked at me and shook my hand.
“Hello, nice to meet you, Dan. Your mom’s told me a lot about you.”
“Hello. You talk funny! Where are you from?”
“United Kingdom, ” I said. “England to be exact.”
“Oh cool! So are you going to be one of my uncles?” The kid was staring me down.
His mother interrupted with “Daniel! That was rude, apologize to Mr. Holmes at once! Mr. Holmes is a police office, and I work with him. Please pardon him, Nigel. He’s 10 and speaks his mind. He has no filter on the mouth!”
“Sorry, Sir, that just sort of slipped out.” Dan looked at me with a sheepish grin.
“No worries, me sister has a brood. You can call me Nigel. I don’t have a title. I haven’t been knighted as yet, and it’s highly unlikely that I ever will be at this rate.
“Knighted? What does that mean?”
“When the Queen deems someone has contributed a lot to society, politics, or the arts, like Paul McCartney or Elton John, she makes them a knight, and people call them Sir after that.”
Dan looked incredulous. “They knight politicians over there? Wow cool. Ours would be a bunch of liars and crooks hardly worthy, if you asked me. So you’re a cop, what are you doing in Canada?”
“I came over here to learn how to be a policeman in Canada and take the knowledge back home.”
“Well that’s good, but here’s a piece of advice. Don’t shoot people of another race or any crazies. People tend to get upset about that. They riot and then-then all you get is chaos, and it mucks up traffic!”
Kristen snorted and I suppressed a chuckle. Dan excused himself to go finish his homework. “Nice kid. You’re going to have to watch him, he’s quick on the uptake.”
Kristen chuckled and said, “Almost too quick. He listens to my brothers argue politics, about which of the candidates has the bigger assets, but agrees that the young one has the best hair.”
We chatted about different things until dinner was ready and Dan came out. “So Nigel,” he said while slurping the gravy from his stew, “What’s better soccer, rugby, or Aussie rules football?”
I answered quickly. “Well, I prefer regular football meself. Me home team is Manchester United. What sports do you like?” I was clearly enjoying the boy’s company.
“I like American football, hockey, basketball and I play baseball in the summer. I’m not getting much time on the field right now as I have to go to a tutor so I can go on from grade four. I kind of mucked things up last year. Mom wasn’t very happy with me. Now I can’t watch any sports until the homework is done, and only on weekends.”
“Well, that’s a good life lesson. Not much fun but you’re right, your mom wants you to get a good education. It is very important.”
The conversation carried on for a while until it was time to help clear the table. Dan and I helped Kristen stack the dishes. The young boy excused himself for his free hour of Xbox. Kristen and I studied the policing manual as well as a driver’s handbook. Soon it was nine o’clock and I had to head off. I walked up to the main street and caught the westbound streetcar which would take me to Queen and Roncesvalles where I shared a flat with three other blokes. It was a long trip from Scarborough to get home every night. But it was what I could afford for now. As soon as I entered my flat and flopped on the bed, it was lights out for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment