My next door neighbor was also in my class all those years I went to Vista Heights. His name was Jason Ashton. Ashton had two younger sisters named Jodi, and Jenny. Jenny was the youngest.
Ashton and I lived side-by-side in town houses on Windwood Drive. Our bedrooms were separated by the adjoining wall. That wall was thin enough that we could hear each other knocking if we knocked loud enough. We had our own set of secret knocks. One for ‘good morning’ another for ‘goodnight’, yet another for ‘go to the window so we can talk’.
We waited at the same bus stop each morning and we would bring each other homework assignments on the days we were sick from school. I had asthma growing up so I was sick a lot and missed a lot of school. I liked playing sports, but Ashton was not very athletic so we didn’t always play together at school. Having your next door neighbor in your class did have its perks though.
One day Ashton told me about a movie he had seen. It was a James Bond film. He loved James Bond. He thought Roger Moore was the best James Bond and he wanted to play spies at recess. I would have preferred football or British Bulldog, but I agreed to play spies anyway. We needed someone to spy on, so we decided to spy on Suzy Merk. This was in grade 1.
Merk was skipping rope with some of the other girls in our class. They were on the tarmac near the western most side of the school. Ashton and I hid behind trees, bushes, and various other hiding spots. We ran around spying on Merk as she skipped rope.
In the end, we were not very good spies. The girls noticed us and Eugenie Fitzgerald walked away from the group. I saw her when she walked away, but I didn’t pay much thought as to where she was going. After all, we were spying on Merk.
A few minutes later Ashton and I were standing behind a post.
“What are you guys doing?”
We spun around just then and there was Fitzgerald standing right behind us. I froze not knowing what to say.
Ashton cracked on the spot and said, “We’re playing spies.”
“Who are you two spying on?”
“Suzy Merk”
“Why are you guys doing that?”
“I don’t know. It was M’s idea.”
I broke my silence at that point and yelled, “Ashton!”
Fitzgerald laughed and said, “I’m telling.” Then she ran back to the girls that were skipping rope.
I watched that conversation unfold in slow motion. I wanted to reach out and strangle Ashton as he kept talking. I was livid.
“What the hell did you say that for? This was your idea!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Well you don’t say that!”
I have no idea what Jason Ashton does for a living these days, but I sure as hell hope he isn’t working for CSIS.
When we finally did go back to class, Merk walked right up to me.
“So I hear you were spying on me.”
We were caught red handed. There was no point trying to make excuses. I felt like an idiot as it was and I did not want that girl to hate me. I figured if I was honest and apologized she would forgive me, but rather than forgive me she asked me another question.
“Whose idea was it?”
“It was Ashton’s idea.”
At that point she looked at me and said, “You’re a liar. Ashton told me it was your idea and I believe him. I’m never talking to you again.”
The fact that she was wrong about that was a small consolation. My conscience still bothered me for spying on her in the first place. When she said she would never talk to me again, I figured she would be mad for a while, but I thought she would get over it eventually.
Whenever I said hi to her after that she would walk right past me. When I said bye at the end of the day, she would just walk away. If the teacher put us in a group together, she would go up to the teacher and demand to be in a different group. That girl despised me.
As days and weeks went by, I realized Merk was going to hold that grudge for a long time. She had already forgiven Ashton, whose idea it was to play spies in the first place. That bothered me. Then I figured that if she was willing to forgive Ashton, maybe she would forgive me if I sucked up to her.
At the end of the school day the teacher would ask us to put our chairs on our desks so that the custodian could sweep and mop underneath. The next morning our chairs would be on our desks and we would have to take them down again. For one week I put Merk’s chair up at the end of the day and I took it down the next morning. She wouldn’t even acknowledge my existence.
After a week of kissing her butt, I decided to give up. She was determined to hold that grudge.
Ashton and I lived side-by-side in town houses on Windwood Drive. Our bedrooms were separated by the adjoining wall. That wall was thin enough that we could hear each other knocking if we knocked loud enough. We had our own set of secret knocks. One for ‘good morning’ another for ‘goodnight’, yet another for ‘go to the window so we can talk’.
We waited at the same bus stop each morning and we would bring each other homework assignments on the days we were sick from school. I had asthma growing up so I was sick a lot and missed a lot of school. I liked playing sports, but Ashton was not very athletic so we didn’t always play together at school. Having your next door neighbor in your class did have its perks though.
One day Ashton told me about a movie he had seen. It was a James Bond film. He loved James Bond. He thought Roger Moore was the best James Bond and he wanted to play spies at recess. I would have preferred football or British Bulldog, but I agreed to play spies anyway. We needed someone to spy on, so we decided to spy on Suzy Merk. This was in grade 1.
Merk was skipping rope with some of the other girls in our class. They were on the tarmac near the western most side of the school. Ashton and I hid behind trees, bushes, and various other hiding spots. We ran around spying on Merk as she skipped rope.
In the end, we were not very good spies. The girls noticed us and Eugenie Fitzgerald walked away from the group. I saw her when she walked away, but I didn’t pay much thought as to where she was going. After all, we were spying on Merk.
A few minutes later Ashton and I were standing behind a post.
“What are you guys doing?”
We spun around just then and there was Fitzgerald standing right behind us. I froze not knowing what to say.
Ashton cracked on the spot and said, “We’re playing spies.”
“Who are you two spying on?”
“Suzy Merk”
“Why are you guys doing that?”
“I don’t know. It was M’s idea.”
I broke my silence at that point and yelled, “Ashton!”
Fitzgerald laughed and said, “I’m telling.” Then she ran back to the girls that were skipping rope.
I watched that conversation unfold in slow motion. I wanted to reach out and strangle Ashton as he kept talking. I was livid.
“What the hell did you say that for? This was your idea!”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Well you don’t say that!”
I have no idea what Jason Ashton does for a living these days, but I sure as hell hope he isn’t working for CSIS.
When we finally did go back to class, Merk walked right up to me.
“So I hear you were spying on me.”
We were caught red handed. There was no point trying to make excuses. I felt like an idiot as it was and I did not want that girl to hate me. I figured if I was honest and apologized she would forgive me, but rather than forgive me she asked me another question.
“Whose idea was it?”
“It was Ashton’s idea.”
At that point she looked at me and said, “You’re a liar. Ashton told me it was your idea and I believe him. I’m never talking to you again.”
The fact that she was wrong about that was a small consolation. My conscience still bothered me for spying on her in the first place. When she said she would never talk to me again, I figured she would be mad for a while, but I thought she would get over it eventually.
Whenever I said hi to her after that she would walk right past me. When I said bye at the end of the day, she would just walk away. If the teacher put us in a group together, she would go up to the teacher and demand to be in a different group. That girl despised me.
As days and weeks went by, I realized Merk was going to hold that grudge for a long time. She had already forgiven Ashton, whose idea it was to play spies in the first place. That bothered me. Then I figured that if she was willing to forgive Ashton, maybe she would forgive me if I sucked up to her.
At the end of the school day the teacher would ask us to put our chairs on our desks so that the custodian could sweep and mop underneath. The next morning our chairs would be on our desks and we would have to take them down again. For one week I put Merk’s chair up at the end of the day and I took it down the next morning. She wouldn’t even acknowledge my existence.
After a week of kissing her butt, I decided to give up. She was determined to hold that grudge.
