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Rebel Part One (standard:drama, 3822 words) | |||
Author: BC Grant | Added: Nov 01 2010 | Views/Reads: 3019/1999 | Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes) |
This is a story about how a person in a bad situation can change from a young boy to a killer and then to a secret agent | |||
Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story language. It was also decided to change the family name from Loper to Walker, which in fact was a direct translation from Afrikaans into English. These were hard decisions for an Afrikaans family to have to make, but both decisions were going to be the most important, that they could ever have to make. Jak also changed his name to Jack, and that of his wife to Sparrow, which in turn were direct translations. For in his wisdom, although he had already built up his successful import and Export Company, to a point where none other in South Africa could compete against them, Jack knew that Afrikaans was a dying language and that in the not too distant future, Afrikaans would become a language, hated by most of South Africa's inhabitants. All through his early school years, Paul showed the educators, that he was in fact a very bright youngster, never, until he reached grade ten, getting less than a symbol B plus, or on most occasions, a symbol A, for his work. Paul mostly attended public schools and it was only towards the end of grade eight, when his marks began to slip, that it was recommended that Paul be sent to a private school. Jack Walker chose the very exclusive boy's school Archbishops in Cape Town, but Paul lasted exactly three months, then it was requested of Jack to remove him from the school, as Paul had made it a habit to sneak away from the boarding establishment during school weeks, to run about town and generally wreak havoc, thus casting an embarrassing cloud over the school. So, in April of 1981, when Paul was asked to leave Archbishops, Jack arranged for Paul to attend the Alberton Academy, a very exclusive private school on the outskirts of the town of Alberton, South of Johannesburg. The Alberton Academy, or so they advertised, specialised in problem children, and they took young Paul Walker in. Jack was amazed, Paul's marks seemed to improve, and he passed grade ten at the end of 1981, with marks far exceeding that which anybody had expected. It was only after the Christmas holidays, after Paul had returned to the Alberton Academy in January 1982, that all of the trouble started, and that is where the important part of my tale starts. As fate would have it, Paul had involved himself with some senior boys during the 1981 period at Alberton Academy, but now they had left, leaving him to be the only one left, of a group that all of the pupils of the school feared and respected. Paul fell into this role very easily and found that he enjoyed being the bad boy on the block. The pranks and downright nastiness that surfaced within him was so intense, that he soon found himself visiting the office of the headmaster more regularly that he was actually in class. The headmaster, William Pritchard, had on numerous occasions, called on Jack Walker, who in turn always pleaded with the man to keep young Paul on, and not to expel him from the school. These periods of pleading, normally turned out to be a bribing session, wherein Jack Walker would offer the school large donations of cash. The principal, knowing the immense authority that Jack Walker wielded in the business community, always accepted the money, for as exclusive as the Alberton Academy was, they always needed funds for ‘new projects and extra expenses', which were not originally budgeted for at the beginning of a financial year. Also, William Pritchard enjoyed receiving praise, something he always got once he had solicited more funds out of a well to do parent. But even a greedy, self-admiring man, such as Pritchard, would also run out of patience, and on this fateful day, he finally did. The voice of William Pritchard could be heard thundering down the halls of the administration block of the Alberton Academy. A second voice, not quite so deep, but nonetheless very close to the depth of a man, answered back as fast as the headmaster could finish a sentence. ‘You have no respect for anybody' shouted Pritchard. ‘Untrue.' came the reply from Paul Walker. There was a moment's silence. ‘All you ever think of,' ranted Pritchard, ‘is yourself.' ‘Well maybe,' came the reply, ‘that is all there is worth thinking about.' Another silence ensued. ‘Well I, and this school, have had just enough of your mean pranks and terrible attitude towards our teaching staff.' said Pritchard. ‘So!' snapped Paul Walker ‘So, I am now going to call your father, and tell him that you are suspended permanently from this school.' said the headmaster in a quiet voice. The shock was evident on the face of the young man as Pritchard delivered this news to him, he thought for a few moments before answering... ‘My father would never allow you to do that.' he said smugly. ‘ Don't be so sure, young man,' cautioned the principal,' there is no way that we are going to allow your father's money to change our minds this time, the whole board of governors, have decided that it is time for you to move on. I have booked a call to your father in Cape Town, and I think that once I have spoken to him, he will see that what I am saying to him is in fact the truth, please wait outside until I have finished my call to him, and I will call you in afterwards to tell you what he says.' The young man stood staring at Pritchard for a long minute before he turned on his heel and marched out of the office into the hallway, where there were two hard wooden chairs, for students to sit on while they awaited their fate, these chairs were known in amongst the senior boys, as the dragon's lair, for it was here that they awaited the dragon, otherwise known as the headmaster. Paul Walker took a seat on one of the chairs and waited. ‘ I wonder what that stupid prick thinks he is going to achieve by phoning Cape Town, my dad's away on a business trip and the only one who can speak to him is Anne, and she likes me, or I think she does, she has been a great substitute mom since Mossie died, yes I called her Mossie, it was her request that I do so, something about making her feel younger. I don't reckon that there is much this arsehole can do until dad is back from London, I don't think he'll dare.' Inside his office, headmaster Pritchard sighed heavily as he sank back into his comfortable leather chair, he had been surprised at the reaction that he had gotton from Paul Walker, and had felt the hair on his arms and on his neck rise as the young man had stared at him. He knew that this whole mess was going to cause a great deal of problems at the school, as the Academy relied heavily on Jack Walker for funding whenever the need arose. He knew that Jack Walker was not going to be happy about the whole situation, but enough was enough, the boy had to go. The whole situation had now arisen when Paul, had caused so much strife in the science class, that the elderly science teacher, had suffered a nervous breakdown, and had been admitted to a hospital in the Johannesburg area which specifically dealt with mental problems, her return was not assured, as her doctor had advised Pritchard that very morning, that the lady's condition was indeed grave. Pritchard pressed the call button on his intercom, and asked: ‘Mary, were you able to contact Mr. Walker in Cape Town?' ‘Mr. Walker is London at the moment, Mr. Pritchard, and will only be returning tonight on his private plane.' ‘Please get hold of Anne Thomas, his personal assistant; I can't wait until tonight to speak with him.' ‘At once sir, it will only take a minute or so.' Mary answered. ‘What happens if he decides to act without waiting for dad to come back? I really hope that he doesn't try, ‘cos that will be the end for him, of that you can be assured.' Once again headmaster Pritchard sighed deeply, the moment of truth was nigh. In Cape Town the telephone rang a soft melodious tone, the hand that reached out to answer it, belonged to one of the most beautiful young women that could be found in the Republic of South Africa. Anne Thomas, personal assistant to Jack Walker, was not tall, standing only 5 feet in her stockings, however, what she lacked in height, she made up for in the beauty that the Creator had deemed fit, to bestow upon her. The voice that went along with the beauty, was as one would describe, ‘as something out of this world.' ‘Anne Thomas.' she answered. There was crackling on the line, which to Anne told her that the call was one, which was originating a long distance away. ‘ Miss Thomas, would you kindly hold the line for headmaster Pritchard at the Alberton Academy?' came the voice of Mary, the secretary at the Alberton school, where Jack had at last, with a great deal of bribery, been able to place his son Paul, after his expulsion from a number of well to do Cape Town schools. ‘I certainly will do so.' replied Anne, who knew that the call that she was about to take could only mean trouble, or another cry for more funds to be donated into the school coffers. There was a short wait, which was accompanied by low-key crackles and whistles, after which headmaster Pritchard came on the line. ‘Miss Thomas, Pritchard here,' came the man's clear voice, ‘I am afraid that we have a little problem with Paul here at the Academy.' A sharp feeling of dread filled Anne's body, for this type of call had been coming more and more frequently, during the last few months, and the only way that Jack Walker had been able to get around the problems, was by writing a large cheque to be included in the school funds, however, Anne had a feeling, after hearing the tone of voice used by the headmaster, that a simple cheque was not going to repair the damage that had been caused by young Paul Walker this time around. ‘How may I help you Mr. Pritchard?' asked Anne in a pleasant voice, which she certainly did not feel, under the circumstances. The headmaster, in a careful diplomatic way, told Anne about what the latest thing was, that Paul Walker had done, including exact details of the condition of the victim of his latest prank. Anne listened carefully, making various notes whilst the man was talking to her; the look on her face clearly showed that secretly, she agreed with the man on the line from Johannesburg. When the headmaster had finished telling her about the whole sorry episode, he paused for a moment and said: ‘ The board of governors have unanimously decided that the only way that we can rectify in part the problem at hand, is that we expel Paul from the school with all due haste.' Although Anne had expected a harsh form of punishment, she found herself shocked by the decision of the headmaster and the school's board of governors. ‘Is there no way that we can ask yourself and the board to reconsider the matter.' asked Anne, however fully knowing what the answer would be. ‘ I am afraid,' answered the headmaster, ‘ that there will be no further discussion of the matter by either myself or my board of governors, the boy must go, and immediately, in fact,' he raised his voice in emphasis, ‘ the boy must be off the premises by eight o'clock this evening.' Anne was astounded by the amount of time that was being given to Paul to leave the school premises, but thought only that the school heads must regard this last transgression of Paul's in a serious light. ‘Mr. Pritchard,' said Anne in her most reasonable sounding voice, ‘Mr. Walker is out of the country and is only due to return later tonight, is it not possible to allow the youngster to stay at the boarding house until tomorrow, when I can assure you, that his father will personally come and fetch him from the Academy, at about mid morning tomorrow?' There was silence on the line for a while before the principal of the School replied. ‘ Miss Thomas, we have spoken on many occasions in the past, and I regard you in the highest esteem, as well as trusting you,' he paused for a moment, ‘ but if I keep Paul on the grounds for a moment longer, the staff will go on strike, and the pupils will all leave their classes and go home, whether permission is granted or not, their parents in turn would find out about the whole sorry story, and they would withdraw their children from the school, this we cannot afford' There was a further short pause, and when the man spoke again, his voice, or so it sounded to Anne, was quavering,' We are all very afraid of young Paul, so he must go, he will be given enough money to stay in a Hotel tonight and will be told to report here at twelve noon tomorrow, Saturday, at which time, I trust that Mr. Walker will have arrived to attend to the problem and take his son home.' Anne was taken aback by the fact that the headmaster had told her, that all of the staff and pupils were in fact scared of Paul. ‘ He must have changed a lot since I saw him last,' she thought, ‘ I always thought him to be a dear young chap, always eager to please, specially me, he must have changed a lot since I last saw him, just a little over eighteen months ago.' ‘Mr. Pritchard,' she finally managed to say, ‘If you and your staff and pupils feel so strongly about the whole matter, please make sure that Paul has enough money to sleep in a hotel for one night, as well as enough money for food. I will, she continued, ‘ ensure that Mr. Walker is in fact at the school by noon tomorrow, and on behalf of Mr. Walker, I would like to apologise to you and your staff for what has happened.' ‘My dear,' replied Pritchard, ‘it is not your place to apologise, or the place of Mr. Walker, the two of you are also victims of this whole mess, just as we are here in Johannesburg, my heart certainly does go out to Mr. Walker at this time, and I would like to request that you please convey my most sincerest apologies to Mr. Walker, about this whole distasteful matter.' Anne thought for a moment on what the poor man had just told her from the Alberton Academy before answering: ‘Mr. Pritchard, we will never hold you responsible for what has happened, that I can assure you. ‘I can say,' she continued, ‘that I speak for my employer as well as myself at this time, and that you will have our fullest support at all times.' ‘ My thanks to you my dear,' answered Pritchard, ‘ I just feel as if I have failed Mr. Walker, after all I practically promised that I would be able to bring young Paul under control here at the Academy.' ‘Please don't worry Mr. Pritchard, Mr. Walker will understand.' said Anne. ‘ Thank you my dear,' came the man's relieved voice, ‘ I will, as soon as I have spoken with young Paul, advise you of what hotel he will be staying in for tonight, in case you or Mr. Walker would like to check up on him.' ‘Thank you Mr. Pritchard, and bye for now.' replied Anne. ‘Goodbye my dear, until later then.' Anne listened for a while after headmaster Pritchard had replaced the receiver on his end, in fact until the exchange equipment disconnected the line completely and caused a high pierced howling sound to come from the ear piece of the telephone receiver in Anne's hand, hearing the loud noise from the telephone receiver, Anne replaced the device with speed, as if she had been handling a poisonous snake. She knew deep down within herself, that the assurances that she had given to the headmaster, were in fact true, and that she did in fact speak for her boss, because for the last four years, Anne Thomas and Jack Walker had been involved in a mutually beneficial affair. There was not anything that she did not know about her boss, right down to the type of toothpaste, that he preferred to use. There was only one thing that Anne could not shake off, it was the feeling of dread, dread that something was going to happen, although she did not know at this point what that something was, she looked up at the calendar on the wall, not at the picture of the panoramic Drakensberg, but at the date, it was the 18th of April 1982, she felt sure that this was the date that some kind of disaster would befall the entire country, the focus however would fall on the good family name of her employer, lover and friend, Jack Walker. Tweet
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