Mr. Banker
Part Three- A Big Problem
The announcement was thunderous. The crowd was silent, as
though they could not speak due to shock. Slowly, they regained their senses,
and looked at each other. Just as they were about to dance in joy, however,
someone spoke from their midst.
'Excuse me Mr. Patrick, sir, I was just wondering whether
you corrected Page 9.'
Mr. Patrick turned the answer paper, his hands shaking now.
He looked at Page 9. After a thorough check, 'Yes,' he said, with a tone of
relief. 'Yes' he said again, 'I corrected the page, Mr. Edward. You have only
scored 6 marks.'
'Sir, firstly thank you for correcting the paper. Now, did
you see the question number for the questions?'
Mr. Patrick read the question numbers aloud, 'Q.1'¦Q.2'¦Q.3'¦'
'Now sir, these questions are the first questions of the
paper. I wrote them in the last page.'
Mr. Patrick could not comprehend. 'What I am saying,' Edward
said, moving towards the stage, 'is that the last six questions are 2 marks
each, since they are one word questions. They are not-like you have given me- 1
mark questions.' Mr. Patrick looked dumbstruck, as though he was hit on the
head. He choked a bit and then said, 'Mr. Edward gets 54+6.5 marks'¦and passes!'
This time, the announcement evoked strong reactions...
'How could the fool pass?' someone cried from the crowd,
'He only wrote for an hour and a half. He didn't even FINISH!'
The reactions quickly gained strength, and the university
officials were alarmed when the crowd turned into a huge mob, demanding that
they get back their money. The protests, all of a sudden, turned violent.
'My God, call the local police constable,' cried Mr. Robins.
Mr. Patrick dialed and reported the situation. A few minutes
later, the police appeared. Mr. Patrick rushed into Mr. Robin's office.
'What's the problem now?' Mr. Robins demanded.
'The'¦the police'¦they are fighting too!'
'WHAT!' Robins cried. Patrick pointed outside the window.
Robins looked, and clearly saw a police cap fly in the air, and heard a heavy
pair of fists hit a pair of jaws.
'My God, now what should I do, call the military? Mr.
Patrick, could you handle the situation.' Said Mr. Robins.
Mr. Patrick looked stunned, but agreed.
Mr. Robins placed his head in his hands, and sat in his
chair. Suddenly, a though crossed his mind. He picked up the phone, and
connected to the Bookie Shop.
'Hello,' said the master bookie.
'Hello, I am the principal. Tell me the names of the five
people who betted for Edward' 'Sorry,
I cannot do that. I have assured them that I will not disclose their names,'
said the Master bookie.
'Listen carefully' said Mr. Robins, his teeth clenched
tightly, ''¦ I can give you money, and protect the bookie shop, if you give me the names'.
There was a hesitation in the master bookie's voice'¦
After a while, five students, all dressed in winter
clothing, entered Mr. Robins office. They seemed excessively fat, especially
their tummies. Mr. Robins looked at them, and shook his head in disgust. Just
looking at their figures was horrible.
'Let me see, you are Sam, Jack, Will, Thomas, and Andy,
aren't you?' Mr. Robins asked.
They nodded.
Mr. Robins sighed deeply and leaned forward.
'My dear chaps,' he said, looking at them straight in the
eye, 'do you think that I don't know what you are doing?'
'Tell us sir, what are we doing?'
Mr. Robins did not like the cheekiness. 'I KNOW
that you five betted for Edward because he told you to.'
'What!' they cried, although they could act stunned.
'Pathetic.' Mr. Robins said, his eyes red, 'He is clever,
Edward. He must have been playing the whole thing to his advantage, making it
seem as though he wasn't studying. And how much did you win? 15,000? 20,000?'
Sam came up and said, with his jaws surprisingly bony and firm.
'Mr. Robins, we declare
that we have nothing to do with the betting. And yes, we did earn money. But
only 8,000.'
Mr. Robins looked at the five of them, deciding what to do.
Then, with an evil smile he said, 'Well, then you will be
saddened, I am sure, to know that the 8,000 will be returned to the respective
owners. I have discussed it with the master bookie. Well then, a good day to
you all!'
He smirked and looked at them leave. The door shut with a
rather loud bang. Mr. Robins kept smiling, thinking about his victory. That was
when he saw the annual magazine. A photo on the third page caught his
attention. It was about the swimming team. The three faces in the photo seemed
oddly familiar'¦then, the three fat students faces flashed through his mind'¦ Immediately,
Mr. Robins realized the truth, ran to the door, and tried to open it. But it
was locked from outside. There was something placed against it'¦
The five students walked slowly towards their dormitory. The
campus was unusually quiet, as though the silence was forced. Sam knocked on
the door.
'Password?' someone asked.
'Why should I tell you? I don't know!'
There was a sound of the lock turning and seconds later, the
door opened. They walked in and fell onto sofas.
Then, when the door was again locked, they pulled of their
sweaters and jackets, and pulled down their extra pants. Along with the
clothes, wades of cash fell to the floor.
A man smiled at them, sitting cross legged.
'Sam, how much is there?' Edward asked.
'Oh, only 15,000 dollars'
Edward's eye brows were raised. 'But I thought that we got
23,000 dollars?'
'Yes, but Robins got the 8,000. Well, actually the master
bookie planned it all along. He told Mr. Robins that we only won 8,000. And
here we are, with the money. We each want 1,000 and you get 10,000.'
Edward nodded his head, smiling happily.
'Edward,' Sam said, after counting his share of the money.
'How did you pass the exam?'
Edward smiled, and looked at him.
The others were thinking the same thing. The guy had written
for half the time limit, completed only 3 fourths of the paper, and still
managed to get 61 %.
Edward's smile was as mysterious as it was puzzling'¦
* * * * *
Many weeks passed by since the infamous, 'Edward Exam'
affair. The university became quiet again, and Mr. Robins got back to his old
state of becoming crazy occasionally. On one such day, he walked into the first
year students' classroom. Dam nudged Edward, who was reading an economics book.
'Students,' he said, with unusual calmness and seriousness.
'I have come to announce that you will all be writing the National University
Examination.'
There were few murmurs and one student asked, 'When will it
be, sir?'
'It will be on the 10th of April, three months
from now.'
Panic quickly set in and every one began looking around,
wondering what they were going to do.
Edward, however, was calm. He looked at Mr. Robins, who was
not surprised by his calmness, and asked, 'Sir, what is the pass mark?'
'The pass mark is only 40%, but'¦let me warn you all that this exam has filtered out hundreds of
students every year, by filtering I
mean kicked out. Last year, 38% of students failed, and were expelled from the
university.Your professors will give you your portions.' And with that, Mr.
Robins turned on his heel and marched out of the class, leaving the students in
a daze'¦
* * * * *
'I can't believe it, 1,400 Dollars!' cried Sam. He was
looking at a sheet of paper, which had 'Apartment Rent' written on top.
'What the-hey Edward, how much was your rent this time?' he
asked.
Edward took his eyes of the book that he was reading and
lazily said, 'Oh, I had paid six months in advance. I pay every January and
June. That makes it much less of a headache.'
There was a bit of silence, and Edward could sense Sam was
looking at him. 'Um, you know, if you want, I can lend you the money. Just pay
it back to me whenever you can.' Edward said.
'I can't,' Sam moaned, 'I already took 1,800 from you for
the university fees, remember?'
Edward let out a small 'oh', but Sam knew that Edward didn't
remember it.
Suddenly, Sam felt angry at Edward. The guy was just lying
there, reading an economics book (they don't have economics portion for the
exam!). Edward seldom studied, and even then, he managed to pass. Sam struggled
day and night, trying to finish studying, and all he got was 90%. And how was
Edward able to pay all that money? His parents weren't sending him anything.
Sam said bitterly, 'You know what, Edward. I don't want any
of your money. You're too good to be my friend, aren't you? Don't think that I
am poor. I don't need your help to pay the bills. And I am not going to talk to
you again,' suddenly his sound became louder, 'and DON'T come asking me
questions on the eve of the exam.'
He shut the door, leaving Edward alone. Edward saw the door
shut, and wondered what just had happened. Why was Sam so angry all of a
sudden? Edward didn't have time to think about it. The economics book was just
too interesting to put down'¦
Edward continued reading the book, lying on his bed, in his
dormitory, unaware of what was going to happen on the 10th of April.
Things were going to take a sudden change'¦a change that would make things very'¦interesting?
