22. Peter Shmeter

Thank goodness for Barbara. She comes and sees me nearly every day and helps me with some of my babysitting tasks. Thanks to her, I don’t have to starve to death during my stay in England. She brings me food, she takes me to McDonalds, and for the rest of the time I eat crackers and snacks.. 

Barbara becomes my friend I can talk to. Of course that means I still don’t learn any English. The Indian parents barely talk to me and I don’t understand the kids. Of course, the little toddler boy can’t speak yet anyway. 

I get a day off for Christmas so Barbara and I take a long walk in the streets of London. We buy a fruitcake and try to eat it but end up giving it to a homeless guy. The fruitcake is gross, what are these English people thinking? During my other times off, we go see all the historical landmarks of London, we ride on the top level of double-decker buses and we have fun. On New Year’s Eve, we celebrate in Trafalgar square with thousands and thousands of people. It’s about to be 1998!

On January 7th, 1998, the father of the family decides to be nice and actually talks to me for once. It’s the day before I leave for home. “And how old are you, Jarka,” he asks me.

“I am 20….today,” I stumble. “You mean today? Your birthday is today?” He doesn’t believe me. “You must not understand. Biiiirtthhhhhdayyy,” he enunciates the word to me slowly. 

I nod. “Yes, birthday.”

He asks for my passport as he still doesn’t believe me. “Oh yes, you are right,” he mumbles and leaves. A few minutes later he comes back with a cup of chai tea. He puts it in front of me and smiles. “Happy birthday.” The tea is delicious. Perhaps he likes me after all. I will never know.

Home again

I return back to Slovakia. There is no time to rest and recover. I have to go straight back to school. Ugh, I don’t want to be here, I just want to hurry up and graduate. Only a few more months of playing the piano before I can quit! I am having a hard time readjusting after my adventurous trip to London. But it’s time to take a deep breath, finish school, and decide what’s next.  

I tell my friend Emily all about my month in England and about my distaste for Indian food. “Awww, so sorry, Jarka,” she says with empathy. “Peter has also tried Indian food when he was in America, and he loved it!” She informs me.

Peter is Emily’s older brother and is currently in medical school in Kosice, the same town as us. He spent some time in the US when he was in high school. He studied in Georgia for a year. He was an exchange student. Peter is 2 years older than us and he is obviously very smart. Studying medicine and also being fluent in English. It is a big deal if a person in Slovakia is capable of speaking a foreign language fluently. People used to be drilled Russian into their heads for years! Now they are able to open up their knowledge horizons and venture out in their learning. However, there are not many of us who have had a chance to master any new language perfectly just yet. 

“So….uhm, Jarka, would you consider going out with Peter? One date is all I ask. Please? It would make him so happy and it would make me happy too.” She pleads, blinking her big eyes at me. This is a recurring conversation between Emily and I. I know that Peter likes me. He has liked me for years but he has been too shy to ask me out. Emily and I go visit him a lot in the college dorms. Peter and his roommate come to see us too, they teach us how to play billiards or we go out to coffee. In fact, I even dated his roommate for about two months before I broke up with him.

I sigh. “Ok, Emily, I will go out with Peter once, just for you.” I resign. I do like Peter as a friend. He is a great person with a good heart. I am just not very attracted to him, even though I would like to. If I dated him, it would make many people happy. And then again, I don’t need to date anyone right now. 

My plan is to go out with Peter a few times and then call it quits. I may even have a way to scare him off.

“My father is mentally ill. He has p…..s….” I announce to him on our first date. I do feel very uneasy telling him this information but this is a great line for a boy not to be interested in me. I still remember Finnley. 

Peter looks surprised but his face instantly gains an expression of compassion. He puts his utensils down as we are in the middle of a dinner date. 

“I am so sorry, Jarka. That cannot be easy. But it’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know.” he says quietly.

Wow, I haven’t heard that before. Maybe he is just trying to be nice. Or maybe Emily told him about issues with my father so he already knew something was going on. Either way, once Peter learns more about my father, he will run off and want nothing to do with me. I admit, he is a nice guy. But to me, still a Peter Shmeter, we would never have any kind of future together.

“Jarka, I am free on Friday, do you want to get together again? I can meet you for lunch and you can still get on the bus home at a reasonable hour.” He smiles at me.

Huh? He is asking me out again? After what I just told him?

Emily is very pleased with our second date being scheduled and she tells me, 

“Did you know that Peter has been reading up on mental illness and specifically the one your father has? He is about to take his psychiatry class soon anyway.” 

Emily is right. Peter even brings his psych textbook with him to our date and shows me several sections for me to read. 

“I know you have been worried about genetics and all. I just want to tell you that just because your father is mentally ill, it doesn’t mean that you will develop P…..S…. too. Yes, there are genetic components but there are so many other factors to consider. I don’t think you need to worry.” His voice is reassuring.

Our conversation takes off and I am actually having fun and enjoying my second date with Peter. So we plan a third and then fourth one after that. I guess I am dating Peter (not Shmeter) now!