The Juggler

Before Tom wanted to get off to check the scene, Mr. Morrison started the car again and left.

The blonde boy was looking at the car with a terrified face and was thinking to himself that maybe the person who sold him the car had deceived him.

But his fat friend didn't care about this and was sitting at the corner of the street like he always did while being stressed.

Tom was happy about this incident unlike them and was showing his happiness with a smile on his face. He believed that they deserved such a punishment.

Mr. Morrison's reaction to this incident was a little surprising. His forehead was sweating and there was fear in his eyes.

He seemed to be scared of something, but what? He would look at Tom every few seconds sneakily, it was like he was waiting for something special to happen but there was nothing to be seen than Tom's smile.

When they had gotten far away enough from those guys, Mr. Morrison brought out his handkerchiefs to wipe the sweat on his forehead. Along with these cold sweats, the fear also disappeared from his body.

Tom had become calmer; Mr. Morrison had also regained his always smiley face and it seemed he wasn't angry with Tom anymore. He started the conversation again:

"Tom, are you upset with me?"

"No," said Tom while lowering his head

"But I think you are, so let me explain… look, son, I know you have not broken that glass, and I know that you aren't someone to lie about a bad deed that you've done. I always have told you; you have a small problem and that's your angriness. This rage can hurt many because an angry person only sees the evils of others and it makes him even angrier,"

Mr. Morrison talked a lot until he finally managed to convince his son. Actually, Tom knew the reason behind Mr. Morrison's anger but couldn't accept it. Hearing his father's compassionate words made him accept his mistake and said:

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again,"

Mr. Morrison smiled and continued following the white lines of the road. He suddenly remembered something:

"Umm… I don't know how your teacher knows that you like circus. I think your classmates have told them. Anyway… he thinks that this interest is the reason for your academic failure and has asked me to not allow you to go to the circus for a month as a punishment. And I couldn't say no. do you have a problem with it?"

Tom was surprised but said anyway:

"It's ok,"

Tom was thinking to himself that a month would pass in a blink of an eye. What could even happen in a month? Nothing! He was thinking that I could go to the circus next month and while waiting I can focus on my studies.

"You sure? You know you can't go back on your promise," asked Mr. Morrison again.

"I am," said Tom confidently.

Ten days passed and Tom focused on his studies as he promised.

Saturday morning, around 10 AM, the bark of a yellow and short-legged puppy of the neighbor who was playing with Barney, the cute little son of the Steven family in their yard, woke Tom up.

He laid on the bed for a few minutes and stared at the ceiling. This was his habit. A moment later, he took off his mother's remembrance necklace and looked at it.

The necklace's cord was made of black and soft leather and its silver plate was like an olive tree's leaf and a letter "T" was engraved on one side.

His mother had made him this necklace but she couldn't give it to her son directly because she disappeared before his first birthday. 

Beside the plate, there was another remembrance of his mother. A black crystalized ring with blue fibers in the middle. Because of Mr. Morrison's insistence, Tom had to carry the necklace around his neck because they were the last memento of Martin's family for their son.

After a while, he wore the necklace again and went downstairs. Morrison's house was made of two floors, the first was where the kitchen and reception room were located and the second floor was for bedrooms and bathroom.

Downstairs, Mr. Morrison was sitting on the sofa and was reading the newspaper and sipping his coffee at the same time. There were tens of newspapers in front of him.

Helen was doing her homework on the dining table and Mrs. Morrison was rinsing the fruits and vegetables.

When Tom saw Helen, his curiosity got the better of him, and wanted to mess with her. When he came close, messed up her hair:

"What's up buzzy hair?"

Then went to the refrigerator with a smirk. Helen couldn't stand these jokes anymore.

"Did you hear what he said?!" said Helen to her mom angrily.

Mrs. Morrison looked at Tom first, then her husband. After seeing her husband's mischievous smile and Tom's unbearable laughter got mad:

"If I see you two mess with my daughter again, you can't have dinner again, understood?!"

"Honey, I didn't even say anything, Tom said it!" said Mr. Morrison cunningly.

Mr. Morrison smiled at Tom for a moment and returned to reading. Mrs. Morrison was smarter than he thought.

"In fact, these are all because of you Jeffry Morrison," said she to her husband, "You made jokes about my daughter's hair so much that it has become a normal thing in this house,"

It was Tom's turn to laugh at his uncle away from Aunt Linda's eyes. After a few seconds of laughing, drank a glass of water and returned to his room to do his homework.

He took the books he needed from the wooden closet located in the corner of the room. In this closet were also his clothes. He opened his biology book and started studying, he got so overwhelmed in studying that he didn't feel the passage of time until Helen opened the door:

"Lunch is ready, hurry up," 

Tom closed his books and left to Downstairs like lightning. He looked very hungry. Downstairs, everyone was sitting on their chairs and waiting for him. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison were in front of each other, and Helen was sitting on the right of the table. Tom sat on his own chair on the left.

Mrs. Morrison had made rice pudding. She was a wonderful chef and it's interesting to know that many years ago, she was hired as a head chef in one of the biggest restaurants in London but when Helen was born, she decided to spend her time raising Helen and Tom. 

Mr. Morrison was lucky to have a wife like her. He was a gourmet man and liked to taste different foods and Mrs. Morrison was exactly the kind of wife that he had always dreamed of. A beautiful housewife with amazing cooking skills. 

Mr. Morrison got ready to eat, after smelling the food. What none of the family members knew was that he didn't start eating before his wife and always pretended to eat, because she was the person who worked for hours to prepare the food. So, the least the man of the house should have done was to wait for his wife to take the first bite of food. This isn't for getting attention but a sign of respect. And this respect is more romantic than buying expensive gifts and saying romantic words.

Five o'clock in the morning, the whole Morrison family went to the town for shopping but Tom said that he wanted to do his math homework. He stayed at home alone.

Tom and Helen's room was shared because there were only two rooms in the whole house. One for Mr. and Mrs. Morrison and another for the children. 

Tom put his books on the table and started looking for a black pen in his bag. Unfortunately, his pen ran out of ink after a few lines of writing. 

Mr. Jones, the math teacher, insisted on writing with black pen and wouldn't accept writings with any other colors.

Tom looked through his entire bag but didn't find anything. Suddenly he remembered that there was always a black pen next to Mr. Morrison's newspapers which he underlined the important things according to his weird habit. 

The Young boy left to downstairs again and was flipping through the newspapers when he saw one of the headlines of a newspaper accidently: "England's greatest magician known as The Juggler will perform at the Circus of Wallace on Saturday night."

Tom couldn't believe it. He loved The Juggler infinitely. Actually, the reason why he became interested in the circus was The Juggler. He was reading happily and saying to himself: "I'll definitely go to the circus tonight, Helen will love The Juggler for sure and…"

He wishes he hadn't said that. Tom remembered his promise to Mr. Morrison and fell down from the palace of dreams to the valley of despair and the smile ran from his face.

He had completely forgotten about his punishment. 

The Juggler had come here after many years and if Tom had not gone to his show, he might not have such an opportunity until years later. 

These kinds of thoughts encouraged him to go to the circus more.

After a while, he decided to convince Mr. Morrison at any cost to see his favorite magician's show closely.