A Capital Offense

Jeffrey was not what you would call a gullible child, but his father was drunk and when he was inebriated, the normally timid and thoughtful man was downright charismatic. Credible, even. And when he spoke to Jeffrey, the boy soaked up every word as if it was the truth. So when his father offered to help him prepare for the geography quiz tomorrow, Jeffrey took him up on it.

The next day, Mrs. Parish handed out the quiz to her fourth grade class. When she collected them twenty minutes later, she picked up Jeffrey Tanner's because it caught her eye. In tight, neat pencil handwriting were all wrong answers. They were completely off and uncharacteristic of young Jeffrey.

"Jeffrey?" she called out.

"Yes, Mrs. Parish?"

"Did you study for this test?"

"Yes."

She looked down at the piece of paper again.

"What is the capital of Japan?" she asked.

"Sapporo."

"And Mexico?"

"Corona."

"Egypt?"

"Stella"

"Jeffrey, stop joking around."

"I'm not."

"I'll call your father."

"You can't."

"I can and I will."

"No, you can't. He's in Boddingtons."

"Where?"

"England."