Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen | Mankbeen-Maandag | English Summary | Onderwereld

 

Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen

Mankbeen-Maandag

Greg wakes up on Monday morning feeling like something is amiss. He thinks about how his days would always begin with Eckhardt’s loud knocks on his door followed by his loud monologue about the Greek deity, Zeus. He walks to the dining hall, which is packed like a mall on a Saturday morning. TJ complains to Greg about people cutting in line, but his mind is on the mysterious stranger he chased and the discovery he made the night before. After further complaints from TJ and Plank, Greg sorts out the individuals cutting into line and sends them to the back. TJ comments that they only have to endure this for another week and Plank responds that he wishes he was Eckhardt because then he would not have to be at school. Greg grumbles that Plank has no idea what he is talking about, Eckhardt could be dead. Greg tells them about the detectives who were at the boarding house on Sunday while everybody was at church. The conversation causes Greg to lose his appetite, opting to have cereal instead of the hot meal provided.

TJ asks Greg if the detectives’ arrival is the reason why he was acting strangely the day before, further asking him why his door was locked since Greg never locks his door. Greg apologises for his behaviour before getting up to leave, but TJ interrupts Greg with a loud “Sit!” Greg’s defences eventually come down as he tells his friends about his father’s call and how he must apologise to Doc Pienaar, but an irritated TJ tells Greg that Doc Pienaar is not in the office, and commands Greg to sit down because he and Plank are still eating. After a brief silence, TJ tells Greg that he knows where to find them when he wants to talk.

While eating his cereal, Greg thinks about the one hacker he learned about without Eckhardt having to tell him about him. Cap’n Crunch was a phreaker who used a little flute found inside boxes of Cap’n Crunch at the time to break into the Ma Bell Telephone Company. With a frequency of 2600MHz, the flute was perfect, and it allowed Cap’n Crunch (the phreaker) to get hours’ worth of free calls. 2600 is now considered an important number in the hacking world. Greg’s attention returns to Plank and TJ’s conversation, which is again on the topic of the flu epidemic which has now another confirmed case in South Africa.

Greg finds Doc Pienaar’s secretary, Joan Gibbs behind her desk, concentrating on her work. She does not realise he is present until he stands in front of her desk. She greets him in a friendly fashion before telling him that Doc Pienaar is not yet in his office. Greg opts to wait for him, politely declining the coffee that Ms. Gibbs offers him. When she leaves to make herself a mug, Greg looks at her workspace, skimming through the various subject lines of the emails in her Outlook, before turning his attention to her diary, which is open to Doc Pienaar’s various scheduled meetings. The next day he is set to go to Johannesburg. The diary is held open by a paper clip and a smaller piece of paper upon which the word “password” can be seen. Eckhardt’s words ring in Greg’s mind. “People are by nature lazy when it comes to remembering their passwords, so they write them down in their diaries, or keep it in the drawer of their desk. Others write it on a calendar because it's more convenient that way.” He does not have time to commit the password to memory because he realises that Ms. Gibbs is standing right behind him. Greg stutters an excuse about needing a writing utensil to leave a message for her saying he would be back later; however, she informs him that Doc Pienaar is present. She tells Greg to give him a moment before following him into his office. The moment takes longer than Greg thought and when Ms. Gibbs eventually leads him into Doc Pienaar’s office, Greg’s hands are sweaty from the tension.

Doc Pienaar appears intimidating in his office. He quickly looks up at Greg with his chin unnaturally high and a fake smile plastered on his face. He understands that he should apologise to the man at this moment; however, something tells Greg that Doc Pienaar has something to do with Eckhardt’s disappearance. Doc Pienaar tells Greg that he is giving him one more chance. Greg feels like he swallowed his pride, and at that moment, he saw himself as a true clone of his father, despite his apology being insincere. With his emotions running high, Greg goes to the bathroom to wash his face. When he reaches down for his bag, he notices a piece of paper under the handles with the cryptic message “Don’t let him mess with you like that.”

Back in his room, Greg empties his bag save for his laptop and network cable. He thinks about the cryptic note he received and decides to head to the main building, towards the server room. He remembers Eckhardt’s quick sketch of the school network. Greg’s objective is to hack into the school servers to intercept Doc Pienaar’s emails. He still has the passcode to the server room because Eckhardt gave it to him on the night that they infiltrated the server room. He carefully makes his way to the room and as he types it in, he hears footsteps approaching. He pretends to be headed towards a class but when he looks over his shoulder, he sees the caretaker of the school grounds, Mr. Tom, disappearing around a corner. He collects himself and types in the passcode, but nothing happens. He considers the possibility that the network administrator changed the passcode.

Greg is in Afrikaans class when a grade 8 boy enters and speaks to the teacher, Ms. Jennie Langbaard. He hears his name come up in the conversation and the teacher tells him that he should take his bag and go to Doc Pienaar’s office after class. When he arrives, Greg feels tense. He opts to enter without knocking, mumbling a feeble “sorry” upon entering. He is introduced to Sergeant Leon Botha and Inspector Nomvula Cele, the latter of whom Greg notes to have an unexpected friendliness in her voice. They want to ask him a few questions and Inspector Cele assures him that they are routine questions and that he has nothing to worry about. They normally question minors with their parents present but because Greg’s parents are in Johannesburg, they called them in got Doc Pienaar to stand in for them. This outrages Greg, who considers telling the police that Doc Pienaar is involved in Eckhardt’s disappearance, but he does not want to be as impulsive as he was when he attempted to enter the server room.

A thought emerges, beyond all the others swirling in Greg’s mind: he and Eckhardt engaged in an illegal activity together on their various hacking escapades. He decides to answer the police’s questions very carefully. They ask him various questions which lead him to talk about how he knows Eckhardt, before asking him what led him to believe that something was wrong. Greg tells them that Eckhardt did not wake him up that Thursday morning and that he notified the school about Eckhardt’s disappearance on the same day, to which Inspector Cele reacts by shooting a look at Doc Pienaar. He tells them that he told Mr. Eden (Boggom), who then told Mr. Andersen. Greg also tells them about TJ’s theory, which involved Eckhardt’s parents coming to pick him up in the middle of the night because of trouble at home. Doc Pienaar adds that that scenario had happened before.

Inspector Cele asks Greg if he had seen Eckhardt the Wednesday before his disappearance, including that Wednesday night, and if it seemed like something was amiss with Eckhardt. Greg tells them that he had seen Eckhardt throughout that day and night and that nothing seemed out of place as far as he could tell. Inspector Cele follows up by asking if he and Eckhardt had been together the whole night and Greg tells her that they were together for a short while before and after supper because Greg had to study. She asks if Greg knows about anyone else who had been in contact with Eckhardt before his disappearance, which Greg says could be virtually anybody on campus. He does not know who Eckhardt had been in contact with from outside of school. They ask Greg if he has ever met Eckhardt’s parents, which Greg has not, and he has no idea if any of the other students have met Eckhardt’s parents. He has heard Eckhardt talk to his parents over the phone before. The police ask Greg about the nature of the conversations with his parents, which Greg says were amicable with nothing out of the ordinary for conversations between parents and their sons.

They ask if Eckhardt had any siblings and ask how Greg knows about them. He tells them about the photo he saw in his room. The police did not have a photo. They ask if Eckhardt had a girlfriend, which he did not, before asking Greg if he has one and he mentions Nicole. Inspector Cele asks if Greg and Eckhardt had a romantic relationship, which Greg overzealously denies. The questions turn to Eckhardt’s cell phone, starting with Greg’s nickname. Greg explains that everybody at school gets a nickname, but when they ask what Eckhardt’s nickname is, he lies and tells him that he does not have one. They also ask Greg why his phone number is the only phone number saved on Eckhardt’s cell phone, but Greg has no idea. When he finally leaves Doc Pienaar’s office, Greg is drenched in a nervous sweat. Inspector Cele gave Greg her phone number in case he has any information. While in the shower, Greg feels relieved that the police did not ask him any questions about the hacking.

SummariesKeroshan PillayComment