SUNDAY SAUCE - When Mrs Brainbridge saw red
Published:Sunday | May 16, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Oxy Moron, Contributor
August Williams loves school, so when teachers went on strike two weeks ago, he was very upset. Not only did it interrupt his propensity to prove that he is brilliant, he didn't get to play marbles and buy his favourite snacks at the school gate.
The Sunday night he watched and listened the news and hoped the teachers would call off their strike. And when they didn't, he was aggrieved. His parents consoled him and explained why the teachers took strike action. "But can't they wait?" he whined. "Yes, but the finance minister told them not one red cent more and they are not amused," his father said.
But in bed, August agonised over what he should give his teacher, Cleopatra Brainbridge, as a Teachers' Day gift. Last year, he gave his class teacher a nice red-ink pen to make sticks in his book, but he was a bit disappointed when the pen disappeared and the teacher continued to use PAPER:MATE pens to give him 'hook sticks'.
August Williams spent the two days doing his assignments and watching TV, but he also thought about the shiny marbles that he would have been winning. At the end of day two, he still had no idea what he was getting Mrs Brainbridge. That was until he went into a drawer and saw the little box that had been there for quite a while. He called his mother to ask her to buy him gift wrappers on her way home.
His tired parents forget to see what August was giving his teacher and he didn't bother to tell them. Just before he went to bed, he took the little box from the drawer and wrapped it neatly. He beamed. "Miss is going to like it," he thought. When he was finished' the beam turned into a mischievous grin.
Wednesday, Teachers' Day. It was Miss Brainbridge's time to beam. One by one her students approached her desk and lay down their presents, some of them crudely wrapped. They sat and watched Mrs Brainbridge unwrap and glow, her buxom bosom heaving with excitement. Then, she spotted a bright red square package. She took it up and read the attached card. The box was a little weighty.
August Williams stared and a big, bright smile took over his face. His heart also raced. The wrapper was now off, but Mrs Brainbridge struggled to remove the cover. Finally, it was off.
"August Williams!" Mrs Brainbridge shouted as she looked in bewilderment at the box filled with reddish coins. August Williams was now standing and the entire class stared at him. The bright smile was replaced with a look of terror as a furious Cleopatra Brainbride approached him with a broad board ruler. In a trembling tone, August Williams said, "Is Mr Shaw made me do it Miss." Mrs Brainbridge quickened her strides.
But August Williams was no fool. He headed towards the door.