The Art of Life (66 page)

               
I interject, “So, you picked the
violin?”

               
“Yes, to me that was one of the
most beautiful sounding instruments that I knew of.
 
So, she started to teach me how to play and
because of how awesome I am, I picked up on it quickly.”
 
Jeremy smiles at me, and I laugh
lightly.
 
“Toward the end of that summer,
Henrietta, my foster mother, decided she was going to send me to a music camp
for a week.
 
I was horrified.
 
I did not want to go, but in the end there
wasn’t an option.

               
So, off I went to music
camp.
 
To say the least, I did not fit in
well.
 
I was the kid who played sports
and acted all crazy.
 
I was not the type
to sit and play music all day long, but I gave in and tried.
 
I was behind everyone else, so I would stay
later than the rest of the kids and practice.
 
I got very frustrated with myself.
 
I wanted to be the best in everything.

               
Well, one evening, I got really
aggravated and started to swear like a sailor, which is not surprising coming
from me.
 
Suddenly, there was this light
voice saying, ‘Did your parents not tell you, it’s not nice to curse?’

               
I looked up and saw this
girl.
 
She was my age.
 
She had short black hair and glasses.
 
What everyone would call dorky.
 
I stuttered and stammered, and said, ‘Sorry,
I didn’t realize anyone else was here.’

               
‘I heard you playing.
 
You are getting better in just these few
days,’ she stated.

               
‘You have been watching me?’ I
asked.

               
She blushed and nodded her
head.
 
‘My name is Kaitlin.’

               
‘I am Jeremy,’ I responded.
 
‘So, why have you been watching me?’

               
Shrugging, she bashfully looked
away.
 
‘I don’t know.
 
I can help you though.’

               
‘How?’
I asked.

               
‘I will show you how to place
your fingers correctly, that is where you are messing up.
 
Here, I will show you.’
 
Kaitlin walked over and started to move my
fingers.
 
Her touch was gentle and soft,
I remember that much.
 
We spent the rest
of the evening with her helping me, and in the end, I was better.

               
For the rest of camp, we were
inseparable.
 
Kaitlin was so innocent and
sweet.
 
I made her laugh, and she said
she didn’t do that often.
 
We really
didn’t talk much about our lives.
 
There
was no need for questions.
 
When camp
came to an end, we stood there waiting for our rides.
 
Kaitlin held out her hand and gave me a piece
of paper. ‘What is this?’ I asked.

               
‘It is my address and phone
number,’ she whispered.
 
Kaitlin couldn’t
meet my eyes.
 
‘I don’t have many
friends, but I bet you have a lot of them, so I would understand if you didn’t
contact me.’

               
I smiled and said, ‘No, I will
definitely stay in touch.’

               
That made her smile.
 
‘Great!
 
I am starting a new school this year and am nervous about not having any
friends.’

               
‘What school?’ I inquire.

               
‘
Riverwood
Middle School,’ she replied.

               
Exclaiming, I said, ‘That’s
where I go!’

               
Kaitlin grinned broadly.
 
‘Will you talk to me?’

               
A little shocked I said, ‘Of
course, I will.
 
Why wouldn’t I?’

               
‘I don’t know,’ she whispered,
looking away.

               
Then, suddenly, a very sleek
black car pulled up in front of us.
 
A
chauffer got out of the car and looked at Kaitlin.
 
He nodded and said, ‘Miss.
Billings,
are you ready?’

               
She bowed her head.
 
‘Yes, Phillip, I am.’

               
He bent down and picked up her
bag.
 
Walking over, he opened up the back
door for her.
 
By this time, I was a
little bit in shock.
 
Kaitlin only smiled
and said, ‘I have to go.
 
My parents will
be waiting to have dinner.’

               
‘Yeah,’ I slowly drew out.
 
‘I will call you this week.’

               
‘Bye Jeremy.’
 
She got up on her toes and lightly kissed me on
the cheek.
 
With that, Kaitlin left.
 
I went back to my foster home and everything
went back to normal.
 
I tried to call her
the next day and got a….butler.
 
He said
she was gone but as soon as she got back, he would have her call me.
          

               
So, I patiently waited.
 
The next morning, she finally called me
back.
 
We made plans for me to come over
to her house on the weekend.
 
We talked
every day for hours.
 
I had never been
able to hold a conversation with anyone, the way I did with her.
 
So, Saturday came around and she said someone
would come and pick me up.

               
When a limo pulled up to get me,
my foster parents and I kind of stood there staring at it.
 
The chauffer just waited patiently with the
door open.
 
Feeling rather awkward, I
went and got into the car.
 
Not to my
surprise, we drove to the
most wealthy
neighborhood I
knew of.
 
When we pulled up to Kaitlin’s
house, I looked out the window and saw a mansion.
 
I had never really seen one before, so I was
a little awestruck.

               
Kaitlin of course came bounding
out the front door.
 
I got out
to meet
her.
 
She
jumped into my arms and gave me the biggest hug ever.
 
‘I am so happy you are here,’ she
squealed.
 
‘Come on, I have so much to show
you.
 
My parents are dying to meet you.’

               
I followed her up the stone
steps and into the massive front doors.
 
We entered a parlor almost as big as the house I was living in.
 
Kaitlin grabbed my hand and pulled me through
the house.
 
She showed me the sitting
room, the library, the ball room, their giant kitchen and finally the living
room.
 
Her parents were sitting inside of
it.
 
They were the epitome of high
class.
 
She was dressed in a fashionable,
simplistic dress and he had on suit pants and a vest.
 

               
Running over to her father,
Kaitlin said, ‘Papa, this is Jeremy.’

               
Her father smiled at me.
 
‘We have heard of nothing but of you for the
last week.
 
It is nice to meet you,
Jeremy.
 
My name is Richard and this is
my wife Lillian.”

               
Nervously, I mumbled, “Hi.”

               
Let me tell you, they were the
nicest people I had ever met.
 
They took
me in and made me feel so welcome.
 
Kaitlin showed me her room, with her mother escorting us, of course.
 
They were extremely old fashioned and it was
not proper for a boy to be in her room unattended.
 
I didn’t mind.
 
Actually, I thought it was pretty cool.
 
We spent the day talking and walking around
her yard.
 
When we walked around to the
garage, I saw what would become my new fascination.
 
There were a line of old sports cars.
 

               
‘How cool!’
I exclaimed.

               
‘They are
father’s
,’
Kaitlin replied.
 
‘He likes to rebuild
them himself.’

               
Suddenly, we heard, ‘Yes, I
do.
 
Are you interested in cars?’
 
I spun around to see Kaitlin’s dad.

               
‘I have never been around
anything as awesome as those,’ I responded.

               
‘Well then, let me show them to
you,’ Richard declared, and he did.
 
They
were so beyond anything I could have experienced normally.
 
Her father popped the hood and explained the
engine to me.
 
I ate up every word.

               
Finally, Kaitlin got bored, and
whined, “Papa, I want to do something.’

               
Her father just laughed.
 
He looked at me, and said, ‘If you are
interested, I can teach you all about cars.
 
That is, if Kaitlin will let me.’

               
I eagerly said I wanted to, of
course, but Kaitlin dragged me away and we went and created a ruckus.
 
After that, I spent nearly every day at their
house.
 
Her parents let us camp out in
the backyard and they took me to the coolest places.

               
School started and we were still
inseparable.
 
I think it helped her.
 
People picked on her, and I had to defend
her.
 
I actually punched a guy in the
face, because he was teasing her so badly.
 
I got suspended from school and grounded for two months.
 
They let me talk to Kaitlin on the phone, but
I wasn’t allowed to leave the house.”

               
I suddenly interrupt
Jeremy.
 
“So, she was who I reminded you
of, because I was dorky and got picked on.”

               
“Yeah,” Jeremy sighs.
 
“That is why I did what I did.”
 
That makes me quiet.
 
“So, we can fast forward through the
years.
 
I started to take violin lessons
with Kaitlin and we both got good, exceptionally talented.
 
Her father also explained to me about cars,
how to rebuild engines.
 
Richard taught
me everything I know.

               
We were in high school about
that point.
 
We both started to
change.
 
I became….well…better looking
and suddenly got a lot of attention from girls.
 
Kaitlin only grew more timid.
 
To
me, she was beautiful, but she did not see herself that way.
 
Then at the beginning of our junior year, she
started to not feel well.
 
She grew
lethargic and got sick a lot.
 
Kaitlin
started to get these bruises out of nowhere.

               
Her parents quickly took her to
the doctor.
 
She….they found
out…..Kaitlin had cancer.
 
It was stage
3.
 
We all were devastated.
 
They started her on chemo and radiation.
 
I stayed by her every step.
 
I went to her appointments with her, her treatments.
 
The more time that passed, the weaker she
got.
 
Her parents started to home school
her.

               
That was hard.
 
I was still going to our high school, but all
I could think about was her.
 
My grades
started to suffer.
 
Kaitlin found out and
gave me a thorough verbal butt whooping.
 
So, I would bring my homework to her house and we would do it
together.
 
Toward the end of our junior
year, she grew very weak.
 
She was a
fighter though.
 
Prom was coming up and I
told her we were going to go together.