Erik was thinking about who the clown would have been if he wasn't Jack. Erik thought he should text his dad to see if he could help. Erik's dad left when he was 3. Erik's mom told him to never talk to his dad ever because he was a bad man. Erik decided to break that rule a couple times. He texted dad
to ask him but questions. This time he texted his dad to ask him if he knew a man named Jack from work. His dad was a police commander. He was the head of the department. Erik's dad had said that Jack had quit because of his family. Erik's dad was no help to him. He thought about what Jack had looked like. He also thought about what the other clown had looked like. He finally noticed they didn't look the same. "Who is he? This is crazy weird. I shouldn't worry about this right now. Tomorrow is my birthday," Erik said. This was true. Tomorrow, May 23, was in fact Erik's birthday. He would be turning 11. He thought that after his birthday he would ask his grandmother if he could start going outside. After she says yes, he would go outside and look for clues about the clown, like footprints, fingerprints, and anything he might have dropped. Erik ate a snack and went to bed.
2 hours later
Erik got woken up by his grandmother yelling on the phone in the next room. It sounded like she was saying, "No! I told you to do it right and not run away like a little baby! Your partner said you were the best there could be! Do your job tomorrow or else!" Erik didn't know what this meant. He didn't understand. Erik thought she was talking to a tutor for him that never showed up. He tried to fall asleep but his thoughts kept him up. "Why was she yelling?", "Why did she hire someone?", "She told me I had a surprise, was a tutor my surprise?" All these thought finally went away as Erik slowly drifted off.