Chapter 1
The mother of my son Sam Littleton's classmate slammed the table so hard that the whole room shook. Her spit sprayed all over my face.
She yelled, "Your son tricked my son out of his limited edition watch with that cheap eraser. That watch costs 30,000 dollars. Pay up!"
But I noticed something on the back of that "limited edition watch." A tiny line of text was engraved there.
I calmly took out my phone and dialed 911 right in front of the principal.
"Hello? I want to report an attempted extortion," I said.
When the police and a watch expert arrived, the woman's face turned green instantly.
That was no limited edition watch at all. It was apparently...
*****
The air in the principal's office was thick and heavy.
Linda Evans, the woman with perfect makeup, kept rapping her fingers on the desk, one rap after another. Her nails were painted bright red.
"Mr. Brown, your school has to give me an answer on this," she snapped.
Her voice was shrill, like nails on a chalkboard. "My son Tommy was just being nice, sharing his limited edition watch that his dad brought back from Virellia."
"And look what happened." She pulled a boy in front of her and pushed up his sleeve. His wrist was bare.
Linda turned and glared at me and my son Sam Littleton, who stood beside me, looking lost.
She shrieked, "All because of your son's stupid eraser. A cheap piece of rubber, and he tricked my son out of a 30,000-dollar watch.
"I looked it up. This watch is limited to only 500 in the world. The market price is even higher now."
Her spit flew everywhere as she screamed, one word after another, "30,000 dollars. Not a cent less. Pay it right now."
*****
My name is Dylan Littleton. I was just an ordinary single dad.
I had come to school today for the parent open house.
The activity had just ended. Then the homeroom teacher called me to the principal's office.
That was when I saw this scene. Things were nearly out of control.
Sam was seven years old. He was in first grade.
At that moment, he was holding tight to my shirt. His face was pale. His eyes were full of tears.
In his hand was a small eraser shaped like a rocket. He had begged me for it forever at the stationery store yesterday. It cost 75 cents.
*****
At the moment, there, on the principal's big desk, lay a metal watch quietly.
It looked really cool. It had a mechanical feel. It looked like it was worth a small fortune.
Principal Marvin Brown was a middle-aged man in his fifties, a little bald on top.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to smooth things over.
"Mrs. Evans, please don't get too worked up. Things between kids might just be a misunderstanding," he said.
"Misunderstanding?" Linda's voice went up another octave. "A 30,000-dollar misunderstanding? You must be joking, Mr. Brown."
She said to me, "My son is only seven. What does he know about limited editions? And your son? He clearly schemed to cheat him."
She pointed at Sam. Her eyes looked like she wanted to eat him alive.
Sam couldn't hold back his tears anymore. They started falling.
He sniffled quietly and said, "I didn't... Tom said he liked my rocket eraser. He wanted to trade with me.
"He also said his watch wasn't nice at all. It was too heavy. He said he'd wanted to throw it away for a long time."
Linda cut Sam off. Her voice was sharp. "Shut up.
"You little liar. How dare you talk back? You really believed whatever my son said? He said he wanted to throw it away, so you just took it?"
I gently patted Sam on the back and pulled him behind me.
From start to finish, I didn't say a word. I just watched calmly.
I watched this hysterical woman. I watched the boy named Tom Evans. He kept his head down, and his eyes kept darting away.
I also watched the "limited edition watch" on the desk.
I had good eyesight. The office was bright.
I could see clearly that on the metal back of the watch, there seemed to be a tiny line of letters engraved. So tiny that people could barely see it.
Linda had clearly run out of patience. She slammed the desk again, so hard that the whole room shook.
She yelled, "Hey, what, cat got your tongue? If you don't come up with that 30,000 dollars today, I'm not done with you.
"My husband is not just anybody. Once he gets involved, your son won't even be allowed back in this school, and you might be out of a job."
Marvin's face soured too. He looked at me, his eyes a mix of awkwardness and urgency. He clearly wanted to smooth things over.
I finally understood.
I didn't look at Linda. I didn't pay attention to the look Marvin shot me.
I took out my phone, unlocked it right in front of everyone, and dialed 911.
The call went through quickly.
I spoke calmly into the phone. "Hello, 911? I'd like to report a crime."
Linda's rant stopped right away. Marvin's face went stiff instantly.
I ignored them and kept talking. "The address is Brightwood Elementary, the principal's office. Someone is trying to blackmail me here."