Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen | Log File: Surfer dudes or surfer duds? | English Summary | Onderwereld

 

Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen

Log File: Surfer dudes or surfer duds?

Greg is surprised at how readily his father and Eckhardt get along. Greg’s father and Eckhardt spoke a lot the night before their trip to Jeffrey’s Bay, with Greg noticing his father laugh at Eckhardt’s jokes. Greg uses the analogy of snake charming to explain what is happening between his father and Eckhardt. Greg is not listening to their conversation because he is distracted by Nicole, who is running her foot up and down his leg. His mother sees the smile on his face and then looks at Nicole, causing Greg to wonder if she knows what Nicole is up to.

The weather in Jeffrey’s Bay is perfect, with Greg and Eckhardt relaxing on the beach while Nicole plays in the water. Greg’s mind eventually drifts to hacking, with him asking Eckhardt if there are computers in existence that cannot be hacked. Eckhardt cryptically says that the computer that is safest from hackers is one that is not plugged in; however, social engineering can always be used to manipulate someone into plugging in that computer. Their conversation is interrupted when Nicole emerges from the water and dries herself. She teasingly mentions being escorted everywhere by two hunks, referring to Greg and Eckhardt; however, at that moment, Greg felt as if Nicole’s eyes were more trained on Eckhardt’s body than on his.

Greg asks Eckhardt to join him on a swim, but Nicole gets them to stay with her by teasingly mentioning how she can see them having great conversations without her present. They continue conversing, but as the conversation draws on, Greg finds himself unsettled by interactions between Nicole and Eckhardt. He wishes he were just being paranoid, but two nights later, Greg finds Eckhardt in the hallway near Nicole’s room after following him when Eckhardt got out of bed. Greg confronts Eckhardt about being in Nicole’s room, but Eckhardt is adamant that he was in the kitchen. Greg threatens to get physical with Eckhardt if he tries anything with Nicole, saying that he sees the way she looks at him. Eckhardt gets on the offensive himself, saying that Greg should speak up if he has a problem. Their argument is interrupted by Greg’s father, who tells them that there are better ways to carry one’s self.

After a moment of silence, Greg’s father sends the boys to bed. Greg apologises to Eckhardt, who gives him a fist bump in return, but the problem may not be truly resolved. The next morning, everyone goes over their plans for the day. Nicole is going shopping, Greg’s mother is sick and in bed, and Greg’s father is working. Greg notices that his father has not disconnected from work in the way that he expected. Greg offers to take Eckhardt to the beach to show him real surfing. Nicole comments that Greg knows nothing about surfing, so they head to the beach to see what Greg is talking about. It turns out that he cannot surf, so he and Eckhardt just spend the time drifting on their surfboards. The saltwater wreaks havoc on Greg’s mucous membranes. He blows his nose out to the side to Eckhardt’s disgust, but the action prompts Eckhardt to talk about “sniffers” in hacking.

Sniffers are tools used to intercept emails. He tells Greg that one way to prevent people from intercepting your emails is to have them encrypted with either a private key or a public key. If someone who does not have a key receives an encrypted email, they receive a strange email made of up random characters. Greg tells Eckhardt to show him how to encrypt his emails when he sees Nicole waving at them from the beach. She gestures for them to come out of the water and join her. She first chews them out for leaving her by herself for so long and Greg promises her that they will not do it again, telling her that they can go shopping later in the afternoon, before meeting up later on the beach. Eckhardt goes to a nearby stall to get ice cream for the three of them. Greg and Nicole perform various public displays of affection before Eckhardt returns with their melting ice cream cones. Nicole gets an old lady to take a photo of them with her phone, but it was a bad photo and Eckhardt looked away as it was being taken. They did not take a second photo.

SummariesKeroshan PillayComment