by Saxon Andrew
“Thanks, Heinrik, I will.”
“Mom.”
“Yes.”
“Could you help me with this for a moment.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I’ve found a math problem in the back of the book and in trying to solve this simple equation and I’m missing something.”
I thought I told you to start at the first chapter!”
“You did but they were too easy. This problem was an example of problems I would have to solve in higher grades.”
“Is that the only problem you’ve had a problem with?”
“Yes.”
Candice went over and looked over Jimmy’s shoulder. “Ummm, you know that if you change something on one side of the equals sign, you have to do the same thing to the other side?”
“Mom, come on. I’m not dumb.”
“Well, what’s throwing you, then.”
“It’s the square of the letter ‘C’.”
“Then how would you remove the square on one side?”
Jimmy stared at the formula, looked up, and asked with doubt in his voice, “Find the square root of both sides?”
“VERY GOOD!” Jimmy nodded and went back to the problem. Candice smiled and knew all the hours of teaching him were worth it.
A week later, Candice handed Jimmy an Ancient History Book and Jimmy opened it and began rapidly turning pages. Five minutes later he closed it and sat back. Candice watched him and lowered her eyes. Jimmy saw her and said, “Mom, there was a lot of information in the book we’ve never discussed when we went to the middle-east.”
Candice’s eyes flew wide open, “Jimmy, don’t sit there and tell me you read that book!”
Jimmy tilted his head and raised his shoulders, “But I did.”
Candice picked up the book and said, “What is chapter twenty about?”
“The Phoenicians and how they were the earliest naval power in the ancient world. On the first page, there is a picture of one of the ships that was found and recovered from the Mediterranean.”
Candice fell back in her chair. “I’ve never seen you read a book that fast.”
“I think I’ve been reading faster. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything. I usually just listen to you and remember what you say.”
Candice had no experience with other children; Jimmy was her only child and she avoided making close relationships in fear of her father finding them and doing them harm. She didn’t realize that Jimmy didn’t act, talk, or express himself like other children his age. This latest discovery made her realize that Jimmy’s talents were growing as he grew up. She would need to discuss keeping them hidden. She prayed she was doing the right thing going back to America.
Chapter Three
The professor met Candice and Jimmy in a large office and said, “Ms. Caspari, you will need to remain here while we speak with James.” Jimmy looked up at her and she smiled and nodded.
Jimmy followed the professor through a door and the Professor closed it behind him. “How old are you, James?”
“I had my eighth birthday a week ago, Sir.”
The professor smiled and led him up to a table where two other men were waiting. “This James Caspari,” the professor stated.
One of the men at the table said, “Welcome to Dalton, James.”
The professor that brought him in said, “James just turned eight last week and his mother told my assistant that he has never attended formal school. This might be a waste of our time.”
The tall professor smiled, “James, who has been teaching you?”
Jimmy looked at the professor, “My mother.”
The third professor smiled, “I’d still like to question him. I’ve taken the time to be here and I’m curious about what he’s been able to learn while being home schooled in Europe.” The professor who led him into the room shrugged and moved around to sit at the table with the other two.
A tall man smiled, “James, sit down and try to be calm. Can you do that?”
Jimmy nodded, “I’ll try, Sir.”
“Just call us professor.”
“Yes, Sir…I mean, Professor.”
“Stan, why don’t you start this.”
The professor who brought Jimmy into the room looked at him and asked, “What caused the Roman Empire to fall?” The other two professors looked at him and he said, “You want to know how we stack up.”
“But that’s not covered until the fifth grade.”
Stan smiled and looked Jimmy, “Do you have an answer to my question, James?”
The three professors looked at James and he shrugged, “There are many reasons why it fell. It didn’t fall over a short time but gradually rotted away at the core.”
Stan’s eyes closed slightly, “What do you mean, rotted away?”
“They lost the values that made them great. The thing that caused the most damage to them was hiring mercenaries to do their fighting for them. When they removed the duty of their citizens to defend them, and placed power in the hands of foreign warriors, it was only a matter of time until they turned on them. It was those mercenaries who weren’t paid on time that sacked Rome.”
“What about removing the democratic Senate?” Stan asked.
“Rome could have still survived with the Senate but their Legions were only loyal to the one that commanded them. The citizens became little more than mobs demanding more and more from the wealth brought to Rome from their conquests. Even the Senate would have failed if they chose to use mercenaries.”
One of the other professors asked, “If you had to use one or two words for what happened to them, what would it be?”
Jimmy remembered what his mother had told him while they lived in Rome and stared at Triumph Ave, “Lust for power. That’s three words and I can’t think of a better way to say it.”
Stan looked at the other two and smiled as he said, “Do you think Julius Caesar becoming emperor is what really caused the downfall?”
Jimmy looked at Stan and shrugged, “Julius Caesar refused the title of Emperor, even though the mobs yelled for him to take it. Even his adopted son, Augustus, refused to be called Emperor. It was later rulers that chose to be called Emperor.”
Stan smiled and looked at the other two, “Your turn. He’s absolutely right.” Stan looked at James, “You appear to really know your history.”
Jimmy smiled, “My mother and I lived where most of it happened.”
The tall professor handed a sheet of paper to Jimmy and said, “Solve these problems as quickly as possible. You have thirty minutes.”
Jimmy took the sheet of paper and stared at the ten math problems. He saw the professors staring at him and he said, “I need a pencil, I don’t think I can do all of these in my head.”
“Can you do any of them in your head, James?” Stan asked.
“I can do numbers four, seven, and eight in my head but I do need a pencil to do the others.”
The tall professor smiled, “Sorry, I forgot to give you one with the quiz. Your thirty-minutes starts now.”
Jimmy took the pencil and lifted his head as he thought. He wrote an answer down and looked up again. He wrote another answer down and Stan asked, “What are you doing?”
“Answering the ones I can do in my head first.” Stan nodded and sat back.
Fifteen minutes later, Jimmy looked up, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do the last problem.”
The two professors looked at the tall professor and he raised his shoulders, “I gave a math problem from each grade starting with the third grade. The last one is a college level problem.”
Jimmy looked at the problems and shook his head, “I think the answer lies in an image of some sort but I don’t know how to find out what it is.”
The tall professor was shocked. The other two stared at him and he said, “If he knew calculus, he would be able to diagram the shape of a butterfly with the values of X and Y.”
Jimmy’s eyes opened wide as he looked up, “Do you mean that X and Y can h
ave different values?” The professor nodded. “Well, can I try again?” The professor passed the paper back to Jimmy and he looked up, “Do you have a piece of graph paper?” The professor took the single piece of paper from in front of him and passed it to Jimmy. Jimmy began putting points on it as he inserted values in the equation and six minutes after the time had expired his eyes went wide open. He looked at the professor with an open mouth and said, “IT DOES MAKE A BUTTERFLY!”
“May I see your papers.”
Jimmy passed them to the professor and he looked at them before raising his head and saying to the other two, “He’s miles ahead of even tenth grade students.”
The third professor smiled, “I think I’ve seen enough.” He turned to Jimmy, “Do you speak a second language?”
“No, Professor.” The professor shrugged as Jimmy said, “I can speak six different languages but I don’t believe I have a second. I pretty much speak them all the same.”
The Professor quickly asked in German, “What do you think about German culture.”
Jimmy answered in perfect German, “I really like it. They know how to celebrate.”
“What about French Cuisine?” the professor asked in French.”
Jimmy said in French, “Ugh. I know most people say it’s good but I hate it.”
The professor shook his head and sat back in his chair, “It appears we are still behind European education.”
Stan looked at Jimmy, “If we accept you into our school, you will be in classes with students that are somewhat behind your ability. Do you think you can be comfortable with that?”
Jimmy tilted his head, “Is there a reason I wouldn’t be?”
The professor smiled, “No, I guess there isn’t a reason.” The professor looked at the other two and said, “I am going to recommend that he start his math class at tenth grade.” The professor turned to Jimmy, “You may step outside and join your mother.” Jimmy smiled and ran to the door. He opened it and rushed out.
“He’s just never been taught with other students around him. That concerns me. And if you put him in classes with tenth graders in math, that could cause an issue.” Stan said to the other two professors.
The tall professor smiled, “The classes he’ll attend will only have between five and ten students in them. The teachers should be able to prevent any harassment.”
“But that’s only in class. I’m concerned about after class,” Stan responded. “You know how competitive it is here.”
“It’s my understanding that he will be going home each day after class until he’s a little older. This young boy is going to be something special in math,” the tall professor stated.
The other two looked at him and Stan said to the Office Assistant sitting at his desk next to the door, “Please call them in.”
• • •
Candice left the office thrilled at how good Jimmy had done. But she felt some concern about him being bullied by older students. She drove toward apartment she was renting in Manhattan and wondered how to talk to him about standing up for himself. She wasn’t a very good teacher in that department; her parents had run rough shod over her through her entire life until she was thrown out. She turned a corner and saw a brightly lit sign. She stopped and got yelled at by the car behind her but she waved her around and she pulled in front of the building. She opened her car door and said to Jimmy, “Come with me.” Jimmy stepped out and followed his mother into the entrance to the small building.
Candice waited and watched as a young Asian man led a group of people of all ages. Some looked to be younger than Jimmy and some were older than her. The leader of the group saw her standing at the entrance and bowed to the group. They returned his bow and sat down on the floor. He walked over and smiled, “Can I help you?”
“I hope so. The sign out front says you teach Karate and martial arts.”
“That is part of what we do.”
“What’s the other part?”
The young man smiled, “We teach when it is appropriate to use what I teach.”
“I’d like to enroll my son, Jimmy, into your class.”
The young man looked at Jimmy, who was staring at his mother totally confused about what was going on. The teacher saw it and said, “I see that this is something you want done but your son doesn’t understand your reasons.”
Candice looked at Jimmy and turned back to him, “He will before he comes to class. When is your next class and what do we need to bring?”
“I haven’t agreed to accept him into my class.” The man looked at Jimmy and asked, “How old are you?”
Jimmy looked at his mother and then turned to the man and said, “I just turned eight.”
“You’re rather big for an eight-year old.”
Jimmy smiled, “Thank you but I think I’m just taller.”
The man smiled that the kid knew the difference. He looked at Candice, “I do not train bullies here.”
“Do you train how to handle bullies?” The man’s head went back slightly and he nodded. “My son is going to be placed in a class where all the other students might be resentful if he’s successful. Do you think you can help him understand how to survive successfully in that environment?”
The man smiled, “Avoiding them would be the best way to handle it.”
Candice smiled, “If avoiding bullies was so simple, you wouldn’t be in business.” The man’s eyes narrowed and Candice said, “Would you?”
Jimmy listened to his mother and knew what was going on. The man looked at him and asked, “How many fights have you ever been involved in.”
Jimmy shrugged, “None.”
“None?”
“None, Sir.”
Candice smiled, “I’ve been overly protective but no one has ever shown my son any anger. I’ve made him a momma’s boy.” She looked at the instructor, “That’s why I’m here.”
The man continued to stare at him and Jimmy shrugged, “Just lucky to have avoided them, I guess.”
The man smiled, “I’ll accept your son. We have classes every night but the beginner’s classes are every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night starting at seven P.M.”
Candice saw the students were all wearing white uniforms and she turned back to the man, “Mr…”
“Park.”
“Mr. Park, do I need to purchase a uniform from somewhere?”
“No, we sell them here. You can pay for it when you come back.”
Candice smiled, “You don’t expect me to come back, do you?”
Ahn smiled, “Many don’t.”
“See you Monday!” Candice said as she turned and left the building.
Ahn watched her go and smiled, “I imagine you will.”
• • •
“Mom, what was that about?”
“You need to learn how to defend yourself.”
“Why?”
Candice was going to give a flippant response but she saw the confusion in Jimmy’s eyes. She sighed and said, “You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?”
“Mom, I’ve seen Kung Fu and karate movies and all they do is hurt others.”
“Why did the Roman Empire fall, Jimmy?”
Jimmy shook his head, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Answer me.”
“They hired out mercenaries to fight for them.”
“They didn’t do it themselves,” Candice replied. Jimmy nodded. “Do you not think there is a valuable lesson in what happened to Rome that you should pay attention to?”
“Mom, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
Candice looked around and saw a grocery store. She pulled the car into the parking lot and stopped it. She turned off the engine and turned to Jimmy. “Your body is like an empire that only you rule. You are the Emperor of your body and responsible for defending it. You have arms,be legs, feet, hands, and other weapons to use in its defense or you can simply allow others to defend you.” Jimmy stared at her and she said, “The prob
lem with depending on others to protect you is that they may not be around when you need them. An outside enemy may suddenly attack without warning and unless you learn how to use the weapons available to you, they may harm you and escape before anyone could intervene.”
“Are there evil people like that in the world, Mom.”
“You said you’ve watched those silly Karate and Kung Fu movies, have you not watched the news channels?” Jimmy nodded sheepishly. “And you have to ask if there are evil people in the world?” Jimmy sighed and Candice smiled, “Jimmy, your empire may never have to be defended.”
Jimmy looked at her and said, “But…”
Candice tilted her head and smiled, “But you just never know and it’s better to have enough tools in your tool box to take care of yourself if you’re forced to do it.”
Jimmy smiled, “Mom, I’ve always wanted to yell and use my hand to break a board, or brick, or stick, or…”
“Alright! So, you’ll go to class and give it your best effort?”
“Ok.”
Candice smiled and started the car. She and Jimmy were there the next Monday evening and Jimmy discovered a whole new world he never knew existed.
• • •
The first day of class was an eye-opening experience for Jimmy. He spoke with a Swiss accent and deliberately made some grammatical errors, like his mother suggested, and found that the other students stared at him when he was introduced and then ignored him completely. The only open seat was in the rear of the classroom; all the front seats were taken and considered valuable. There were only three rows with three or four students in each so he wasn’t so far away from the teacher.
His first class was ancient history and they were discussing the rise and fall of the many civilizations before the Roman Empire. A young girl sitting in the front desk in the center row asked, “Why were there so many civilizations that rose and fell? Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians; it’s so hard to keep them separated.”
The teacher smiled, “That’s a good question Catelyn. Does anyone want to give it a guess as to why they rose and fell after such short periods?” No one spoke and the teacher looked at Jimmy, “James, do you have any idea why?”
Jimmy’s face turned red and he saw everyone one was turned around staring at him. “They were all victims of an arms race.”