“Every
sinner has a future”
It was just
another classroom, with chairs arranged in neat rows and a massive white board
hanging on the wall. Except for the tiny bits of paper on the floor, the room
appeared fairly clean. Most of the chairs were occupied by the students, who
were busily occupied in their world of texting and gossips. It was one such
elective unit that the students found it too engaging to miss out. Number theory!!! Not, because the
numerals were attractive, but it was the lecturer, Eleanor Everett. She made
every session of hers a stand out one. She has a fetish for the numbers,
excluding her age.
Despite in her
late thirties, her flawless skin tone and agile nature made her more attractive
among her colleagues. Eleanor walked into the class clutching a green folder
containing her tutorial sheets. Her strides and the stiletto sound brought the
chaotic class to an order. The students began to flip the pages, trying to make
the most out of the textbook. Meanwhile, Susan with the pencil in her mouth
made a cheeky smile at Ryan, who was sitting across her. Sensing her smile, he
arched his brows and blew a kiss to her. She tried to shy away, but instead,
she giggled something to her friend, Kanisha. Kanisha turned towards Susan’s
direction and whispered, “Are you fucking serious? Don’t tell me you did that”
Ryan had a fair
idea of what their gossip was about and he couldn’t reveal his embarrassment.
With a half eaten apple at his desk, he is a typical student in any university.
Being a mediocre student never dwindled his interest in his studies. But, he
had to study hours to scrap a pass in his exams. He was always looked down
because of his below average academic performance. Somehow he believed that he
would make it big, just like the stalwarts he sees in magazines. He wanted to
be independent, but things weren’t promising. Having been moved out of his
folks place, he found it hard to meet his ends.
He juggled his
spare time working in a petrol station and subway store. Most of his meals
included the junk stuffs that were on specials at his workplace. Often, he fell
sick because of the shit load of aerated drinks and French fries. He could feel
the extra pound of flesh around his waist. With so much pressure on him, he
found Susan to be his only solace. At times, her divine smile and her voice
echoed in his heart. They shared a common interest for movies, which brought
them together. She loved the little trivial things about him. The manner in
which he spills his cereals, while trying to dig his breakfast into his mouth.
Every time he does that she wipes it for him and plants a kiss on his cheek.
She felt it was cute and loved his naïve behaviour.
Still, she
argued with him for not spending enough time with her. With a slight shift in
the air, they finally had their date night. On a cold night, with temperatures
dropping down to single digits, Ryan fancied the idea of lovemaking on Susan’s
garden. The gossip was all about their date night. Kanisha felt a bit of
jealousy creeping inside her and it was quite explicit. Susan loved every bit
of it and her eyes revealed it too, ‘you know what?” and she hushed something
in Kanisha’s ears. There was a sudden burst of laughter that erupted in the
class and everyone turned to look at them. Ryan gave her a look that meant “what are you doing, baby?”
At the same
moment Eleanor wrote something on the board, which brought in another series of
joy and laughter around. It read something like this, ‘Cicada – credit card’
and she began her lecture,
“Morning! I can sense some smiles amongst
you. That’s good start for a Monday morning!” said Eleanor.
“Number theory doesn’t look great on any
morning”, mumbled a bored looking gal, trying to play with her curly hair.
Eleanor tried to smile and said, “Let’s
make the Monday morning interesting and exciting. The assessment of your last
tutorials would be available tomorrow”.
That was the
panic news that Ryan didn’t want to hear. He wasn’t happy with his performance
in the last tutorial. Every number on the sheet stared at him for an answer.
All he could manage was an attempt on each problem and he had little knowledge
on proceeding further. The fear of failing the assessment made him feel weak.
“There’s no need
to stress about your tutorial assessment. It’s done and dusted. Anyways, I’m
quite shocked to see such a poor show from you people. Let’s hope it’s a wake
up call for everyone and not the end of the world. Do remember that every
sinner has a future” said Eleanor in an assertive tone.
“Wad of cash”
Eleanor began
her lecture with an overhead projection illuminating the dark lecture hall.
Ryan seemed to be unperturbed by the growing numbers on the presentation
slides. Every slide had an array of numbers and symbols, followed by theorems
and axioms to make his life more miserable. He glanced sideways to find Robert,
sketching a caricature of Eleanor. Robert was so good at doing caricatures that
everyone pestered him to do one. Ryan was intrigued on the fact that how the
caricature of Eleanor would turn out.
At the same
moment, Eleanor came back to her earlier note ‘Cicada – credit card’. “You must
be all wondering as to how a Cicada and credit card are related. I’m not sure
if you have heard about Cicada. Any ideas on that?” asked Eleanor.
“Credit card company” someone shouted.
“A mathematician…”
“Its an insect…” said Robert, hardly
looking away from his sketch book.
“That’s right. What’s so special about
these little creatures? They have a unique lifecycle from the rest of their
counterparts. They would emerge out from their eggs every 13 or 17 years
depending on their species. In other words, they remain buried underground in
larval stage for such long periods. But, when they come out, they do in
millions” with a deliberate pause from Eleanor, like a magician to reveal the
final part of his trick.
“Don’t you find something weird about
this? Isn’t it interesting to find these insects so obsessed with 13 and 17?
Why not any other numbers?” Eleanor beamed with an evil smile.
Most remained silent while a few fiddled
in their gadgets to seek help from Google. Meanwhile, Robert came back again
with an incisive reply, “13 and 17 are prime numbers. Their prime numbered life
cycle is mainly to avoid their emergence with their predators’ life cycle”
“Well said, Robert. The insects didn’t
pick these numbers randomly, but, after a series of trial and error methods,
they chose them. Biologists call them as natural selection. Just imagine if
their predator had a life cycle of 5 years, then the probability of cicada
encountering their predator is reduced to one in every 65 (13x5) or 85 (17x5)
years. That’s how mathematics is beautifully blended in nature. Such theories
extend in our daily life, too. Take in case of our online transactions, the
debit and credit card purchases; they involve prime number theory” explained
Eleanor.
Ryan was so engrossed in the caricature of
Eleanor that Robert was sketching. The caricature had a curvy nose like witches
with bulging eyes of Eleanor. But the word ‘credit’ spelled back Ryan with a
million thoughts that has been pondering him over the last couple of days.
Having being pushed in an abyss of debt, Ryan was so grave about jobs that
could save him. That’s when he came across a guy named Edwin, who offered him a
career in modelling. Edwin’s words still echoed somewhere in his mind, “Trust me mate! You can make it big and walk
out with a wad of cash”
Ryan still remembered the gruelling drill
that he had to undergo at Edwin’s place, in order to seize the modelling
opportunity.
“Over-ambitious kid”
Three days earlier, Ryan was at Edwin’s
house for a trail photo-shoot. The room was aesthetically designed with French
furniture matching the shimmering wooden floors. Every inch of the house
smelled of luxury and richness. But, Ryan looked anxious with Edwin seated in a
plush burgundy couch in the massive living room. “Let’s get this straight.
There are three things that you need to know, before we start” began Edwin, who
was small man with rimmed spectacles that embraced eyes of wisdom.
“The reason I chose you is quite simple.
You have bloody good features, especially your face. We are after a skin tone
like yours, though, it’s a bit pale we can work on that.
Before moving any further, any questions,
mate?” asked Edwin with an authority.
“Naah! All good”
“Alrighty! Here comes the second, we’re a
firm that trains potential people for modelling industry. This is a listed firm
and we aren’t into dodgy business.
I know, what’s in your mind, this isn’t
porn industry and no cheekiness. Is that clear?” asked Edwin, while he cleaned
his glasses.
“Yea. What kind of modelling, are we doing
something like, Tees? asked Ryan in a curious tone.
“That depends on the clients and our
special team. But, it’s mostly apparels and men’ accessories. You will be
amazed at our modelling spectrum.
Now, it’s my turn to ask a few questions
for you. Honest answers are much appreciated”.
“Shoot”
“Do you have a girlfriend? If so, how
often do you have sexual intercourse with her?” asked Edwin.
“What the fuck! But, how does this fit in
here?”
“I want an answer, not some bull shit,”
said Edwin with his arms across his chest.
“Ridiculous! I’m in a relationship and I
don’t keep a count on our nights”, murmured Ryan.
“That’s fine. You might find this weird,
but I have seen several young chaps like you, switching their sexual
orientation after getting into modelling. Not that I’m against that, but I
giving you a heads-up” smiled Edwin.
Ryan gave a half-smile in a mocking
manner, “What’s the third one?”
Edwin walked towards Ryan and patted his
shoulder reassuringly. “You will be paid $50 for every photo that gets
approved. Not to forget, we do a good 50-100 photos a month. Trust me mate! You
can make it big and walk out with a wad of cash”
“That’s insane. That’s heaps. Hang on!
Where does the photo go in? Retail outlets?” whistled Ryan.
“Don’t be over ambitious, kid! You aren’t
modelling for Calvin Klein. Its mostly online stores like ASOS. So now, are you
still keen to work with us?” enquired Edwin.
Ryan didn’t want to let this go. The
colour of money and the smell of luxury was engulfing him. “Be wise enough to
grab the right moments in your life, as you may not have a second chance”
smiled Edwin and left his business card with a letter ‘E’ and its mirror image
embedded on it. Pretty much looked like two ‘E’s’ glued together. The glossy
finish and smooth texture of the card felt wonderful under his fingers.
“Wake-up”
With a million thoughts rattling his mind,
Ryan felt hard to concentrate on his lecture. He had a week to pay for his
bills, but his bank accounts have already dropped to negative figures. Now that
the assessments are out, he felt nervous. He was watching Eleanor closely,
wondering how lucky she was. To have a permanent job that pays a six-digit
salary and 17% superannuation. Unlike him, where he needs enough shifts to
meets his needs.
Meanwhile, Eleanor explained the complexity of
prime numbers and their impact on security systems. Sensing Ryan’s stare,
Eleanor stopped her lecture and remained silent. She was sure that Ryan wasn’t
focussing on her lecture, during the last couple of minutes. Students felt the
growing silence in the class, while, Ryan’s mind was totally engrossed in a
different world.
“Ryan!” Eleanor’s voice echoed among the
recess of the walls and deep in Ryan’s ears to yank him forward. Like a lost
person in the woods, Ryan felt the apprehension with too many looks at him. His
mind raced to look for a possible excuse to save his embarrassment, but
eventually, it mumbled ‘Not again. I do every
time in her classes’.
“Ryan, are you with us?” asked Eleanor
sounding so polite.
Eleanor’s question pinged him with
discomfort. His behaviour had all the markings of a guy who has woken up from
hypnosis. Shifting his body didn’t make much of a difference.
“Yeah. Feeling a bit unwell. I should be
fine”
Eleanor walked towards his seat, “Are you
feeling nauseous? Take a break, if you want”
“Naah. Of late, things have been quite
hard, so I’m a bit stressed. Sorry about that” Ryan apologized by looking at
his notebook, while avoiding eye contact with Eleanor. The world turns out to
be a hell, when the lecturer stands right beside us. The atmosphere in the
class was pregnant with his edginess. The palms began to sweat.
“I can see that. Your recent grades didn’t
look promising, so you better pull your socks up to pass this unit”
Her words brought pain and never ending
grief in him. He looked at her, possibly looking for mercy, like a convict
waiting for the guillotine blades to come down. Tears blurred his vision and
throat felt dry.
“If you would like to talk, I’m available
at my office this afternoon.” Eleanor patted him consolingly and walked back.
“I guess; we are pretty much done for the
day. Thank you students, Good luck with your results”.
Click or copy and paste the below link to read the final part of the story
http://catchmehere-balaji.blogspot.com.au/2015/10/cicada-part-2.html
