Tommy's Rose

Chapter 15: Fear

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet,” I spoke softly as  I read from my book. “Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy: thou art thyself, though not a Montague.”

“You read that book last week,” Tommy stated not looking up from his paperwork. “Why do you like that book?”

Tommy, Charlie and I were all sat in Tommy’s office; We hadn’t long finished dinner and Tommy wanted to spend time with us in his office, like always Tommy asked me to read out loud as Charlie played with his trains on the carpet.

“Shakespear is my favourite writer,” I told him. “Romeo and Juliet is just wonderful to read. It was the first adult book I ever read.”

“How old were you when you first read it?” Tommy asked.

I hummed in thought. “Well the first time I read it I did need help, I think I was about seven or eight,” I explained.

Tommy looked up from his paperwork.  “Seven or eight?” He asked.

I nodded then closed my book. “I know many quotes off by heart,” I said proudly. “Oh my favourite quote is ‘My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite’.”

“I had a chat with your head master the other day about your school work,” Tommy began. “He was very impressed with your knowledge and how good you are at memorising things.”

I thought back to the other day when I was sat in class. We were learning about Queen Victoria’s reign in the 1800’s and if I was being honest the class was very boring so I sort of day dreamed but I was still listening just staring off into the distance…

I looked up at Tommy who was puffing on a cigarette. “I’m going to ask you the same questions he did because I want to see how good you are,” He told me then cleared his throat. “When was Queen Victoria born?”

I closed my book and stood up. “Queen Victoria was born in Kensington Palace on the 24th May in 1819 and died in Osborne House on the isle of white on the 22nd January in 1901,” I stated as I made eye contact with Tommy.

Tommy frowned as he looked down at the piece of paper in front of him. “How many children did she have and what were their names?” He asked me.

I thought for a moment. “Victoria... Albert, Alice... Erm Alfred, Helena, louise, Arthur… Er Leopold and the last one is Beatrice!” I told him.

I was always rubbish with names of people, I have to put a face to a name so remembering Queen Victoria’s children’s names was something I was pretty proud of but yes I remembered all these things about Queen Victoria just by sitting and staring at a chalk board and listening to my teacher talk for a few minutes.

My mother used to say I was like a sponge, I just sucked up information and somehow it just stays in my head.

Tommy stood up and brought a map of Britain over to me but it was just black and white with no writing on it.

“You have a map of Britain in your classroom, you sit in front of it so now you will point to places on this map,” Tommy told me. “Point to London.”

I pointed to the lower part of the map. “There,” I mumbled.

“Point to Manchester,” Tommy told me.

I pointed half way up the map. “There,” I mumbled.

Tommy kept his eyes on the map. “Where is Belfast?” He asked.