King of New York by Diamond R. James Read Free Book Online

and
self-confidence to leave all that she knows and loves to embark on an unknown
journey. He gives her his blessing and gently kisses her on her forehead and
then proceeds to write her a cheque for half a million pounds to get her
settled in the Big Apple. She refuses the money and tells him to save it for
himself, in case of a rainy day.
    The old man
stands up and stares at his youngest child as if she is an enigma.
    “I know times
have been hard, Daddy. You always put on a brave face for us, but I see the
worry in your eyes whenever you are in the office at home. Money is hard to
come by, so please keep this for yourself. I’m sure I can survive on my trust
fund till I get settled and find a job,” she replies, even though she doesn’t
want to be a trust fund kid, but she has no choice in the situation.
    She gets up and puts
the cheque in his jacket pocket and goes up on tiptoes and kisses him ever so
gently on his forehead.
    Tears of
admiration fill the eyes of Vincent Malcolm, but he does not allow the tears to
run.
    “I love you, father.”
    He kisses her
hand without saying a word. The moment is poignant and beautiful, as the rain falls
outside. The British weather is always unpredictable, but on this particular
day, at this particular time, the rain has a beautiful tone to it as father and
daughter hug in a warm embrace.
    Before she
leaves his office, Vincent Malcolm wants to speak some words of wisdom to his
youngest child. He tells her to get a chair and sit beside him.
    “You, my child,
are an inspiration to me. I see you are looking at me with eyes of disbelief
but you are one of my inspirations. I have watched you grow from a baby to a
clever young lady and you did it all by yourself. Neither your mother nor I are
the reasons why you have achieved what you have achieved. Yes, we did push you
to reach for your dreams but it was your choice solely to choose whether or not
you wanted to achieve what you now have. We did not stay up sleepless nights to
do your dissertation or study for you – you did all that by yourself. You did
your essays and assignments during the hours of the night all by yourself
because you knew what you wanted.
    “I know this is
a far-fetched comparison as I am about to compare us to geniuses of philosophy,
but when I look at you I am reminded of the great philosopher Plato, and I
being Socrates, hypothetically speaking.”
    Sierra looks at
him with a questioning look in her eyes, alarmed at the fact that her father
would compare them to two of ancient Greece’s intellectuals. He laughs at the
look on her face and continues to speak.
    “Of course we
are not as ingenious as the two I have mentioned, but we can call ourselves the
modern-day Kensington version. Ha ha, I kid, I kid …” he laughs heartily,
before continuing. “But I’m sure you know where I am coming from. As I’m sure
you know, Socrates was the teacher of Plato and having read some works of Plato
you will have read of the admiration he had for his teacher, so much so that
when he wrote most of his works he wrote them in Socratic dialogue. You most
certainly have read The Republic by Plato. He showcases Socrates as the
protagonist in his works because Socrates himself could not do so as he was no
longer alive. So because Plato brings Socrates to life in his writing, does
that mean Socrates is the genius in Plato’s Republic ? No! No it does
not. You might want to ask why does it not and how does what I’m saying relate
to us?
    “Well, allow me
to elaborate, my dear child. Yes, Plato was a student of Socrates and most of what
he knew he must have learnt from Socrates, but when one is destined for
greatness he takes what he has learnt from the master that taught him and turns
it into the works of his own hands. There will be imitation because we live in
a world where nothing can be truly original apart from what is up above in the
heavenly skies that we cannot see. Such imitation could be referred to as
mimesis. So