Introduction:
Xander Gericke recalls a night when, as an eleven-year-old, he entered his father's study
and saw a yellow envelope and a 9 mm pistol on the desk.
Xander was surprised because he didn't even know there was a pistol in the house. His
tearful father quickly wrapped the pistol in a cloth and stored it in the drawer. Xander had to
promise that he wouldn't tell his mother about it.
Six months later, Xander reenters his father's study; he is now twelve. His father is sitting
in front of the fireplace with an open book on his lap and many papers around him.
Xander came to call his father because there are two men who want to speak to his father.
They are casually dressed and don't look like people who usually visit his father at home
not. According to one man, Tok (Dok) sent them. Xander's father hastily rises from the
chair, his hand shaking as he orders Xander to hide.
He heard his mother screaming somewhere in the house. His father assures Xander of his
love and kisses him on the forehead.
Xander is overcome with fear and realizes that it has something to do with Doc. He hears
someone calling his father "Judge Gericke" and then sees the men's shadows move. His
father wants to know what the men want, but then Xander hears a punch and he sees in the
shadows against the wall how his father collapses…
Chapter 1:
According to newspaper reports, Greg Owen died and his body was recovered from the
Grand Canal in Venice.
Greg was indeed in Venice, but it was the body of one of the other four people who were
with him.
He experiences their house in Johannesburg as a gloomy place since he attended Lawson
College in the
left in the middle of his matric year.
Fewer and fewer friends and business partners of Greg's father visited them after all the
negative publicity and reporting of the court case.
Greg leaves home the next day to study in Stellenbosch. However, it will not be easy to
escape from the past and he becomes constantly
wracked by guilt. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, he realizes how much he has
changed since leaving Lawson College - he sees the melancholy in his eyes and the
bitterness around his mouth.
,Greg goes to his brother John's room and it brings back memories John died of an overdose
of pills, but everything in his room remained unchanged. He was adventurous and daring
and Greg thinks about the dangerous things they did together. "With all these adrenaline
injections, he wanted to test the limits of life." Greg's mother can't sleep either and she joins
him in John's room. Here she feels
very close to her son who died so young.
There are long and awkward silences between Greg and his mother. She tells how after
John's death she often closed all the windows and doors and then
shouted continuously. With Greg's departure to Stellenbosch, she is about to lose another
loved one. Greg hugs his mother and tries to comfort her, and then she leaves John's room.
He experiences in his mind how his petite mother walks alone through the lonely house and
screams continuously with her mouth open.
Chapter 2:
The next morning, Greg carries his things to his brand new BMW car. He takes the Conrad
Botes painting with him because he thinks it will look good in his new place. When his
mother greets him and looks at the photo of John on Greg's cell phone, she says that now
he can experience everything John couldn't.
As he approaches Hanover, he thinks about Eckardt Wilken's betrayal and how he
pretended to be Greg's best friend during their matric year. Eckardt launched a massive
social engineering attack on Greg's family in retaliation for
his judge father's death.
According to Greg's father, Lawson College's former principal, doctor Alec Pienaar, was
responsible for the judge's death. Greg's father was involved in insider trading and bribery.
Eckardt taught Greg to hack computers and this led to Greg uncovering Doctor Pienaar's
next scandal, Project Nursery Rhyme. Unknowingly, Greg uncovered his own father's
involvement in this terrorist attack: Many people
died after receiving virally engineered flu shots. The Owen family survived financially, thanks
to money stashed away in trust funds. However, the family was torn apart due to the
inevitability of court and prison cases. When Greg and his mother went to collect his
belongings from Lawson College, Thomas Lawson, founder and acting principal of Lawson
College, requested to speak to them.
According to him, Greg's father, Chris Owen, made a huge error of judgement. He expressed
the hope that he and Greg's family could still have a relationship in the future.
It was clear that Greg wanted to cut all ties with the school, but Thomas Lawson warned him
not to burn bridges trying to find his way in the dark. In House Da Vinci, the residence, the
other boys Greg watched them and some were snide
,comments made. Greg ran into TJ in the hallway, who betrayed him and told the police that
he was a hacker. TJ looked at him defiantly.
Kwanele, the boy who became head boy in Greg's place, came to greet Greg with Lawson
College's secret handshake and said it was a shame that everything had to end this way
Everything about the Owen family has since been removed from the school's memorial
museum, even memorabilia from Greg's brother John. When Greg and them drove out of the
school grounds, Mark Gibbons (Plank), Greg's good friend,
ran behind the car to greet Greg.
Greg explained that he was going to write his matric exam with learners who
received home education. Plank is now in his second year at the University of Stellenbosch
and he can't wait to welcome Greg there.
On the way to Beaufort West, where Greg will spend the night, he thinks again about the
court case, during which his father was tried for murder and terrorism. He also remembers a
woman in black who attended the court case one day. It looked like she didn't belong there.
Chapter 3:
A woman at the B&B where Greg stayed overnight recognizes him from photos in
Huisgenoot and in the newspapers.
She knows about Greg's father who "killed those people" and is glad that he was caught,
because according to her, rich people often get away with such things.
Greg resents the woman's precocity because she doesn't even know him. When he storms
out frantically, she wants to know if he's going to arrest the Baker as well.
He braves the rest of the way and reaches Stellenbosch a few hours later. Chloe Adams to
Greg. while Greg is getting his luggage out of his car, three girls walk by. One set hair cell as
She lives in the same apartment building, just two doors down from Greg. She also
introduces her friends, Kiana and Lizmari, to Greg.
Greg isn't very talkative, but that doesn't stop Chloe from asking if he has a girlfriend. She
invites Greg for coffee, but he does not accept her invitation. He is happy when he finally
walks into his apartment, his "new happy place".
It's a nice spacious apartment, fully furnished and newly painted. There's a knock at the door
- it's Plank. Greg is happy to see him again and Plank greets him with a Lawson handshake.
Plank thinks Greg has a nice place to hang out with girls, but Greg says he's there to study,
not to free. Plank wants to know if Greg is still dating Nicole, but according to Greg, their
relationship is long overdue
, over It's clear that Plank is in college to have a good time and he gives Greg a warm
welcome in Matieland.
Chapter 4:
Greg's student life begins and he finds the orientation program very boring. Early one
morning, Chloe knocks on his door and invites him to practice Windows with her and her
friends. During the exercise, she moves around comfortably among the other students while
her assignments
and handing out orders. "Windows" is street theater where each group of freshmen must
present a short performance of music dance and drama.
They practice all the time, party constantly and get to know each other Greg finds out that
Chloe is an art student and although he doesn't fancy the performances,
start
he enjoys it later. Plank and some friends come on Friday afternoon to see how Greg is
progressing. He pointed to a serious, stern-faced woman standing to one side, her hair
under a hat
tucked in and hiding her eyes behind sunglasses. According to Plank, she is asking about
Greg. When Greg looks in her direction, she nods and smiles
slightly. She apparently wanted to know from Plank if he knew Greg and where Greg lived.
Greg hopes Plank didn't say anything.
When Greg looks again, the woman is gone, but he realizes that he's seen her before, he
just can't remember where.
That night, Greg hangs out with Plank and his dorm friends. Everywhere students are having
street parties. When Greg has to participate in the show later that night, he decides against
it,
because he simply cannot be part of the student silliness. A half-drunk freshman accidentally
bumps into Greg and spills his beer all over him. Greg rebukes him and then the student
recognizes him as the guy who put his father in prison.
Greg says it's not him, but the student wants to know "what flippant loser" would betray his
own father.
Greg pushes him out of the way and the man lands on the ground. He wants to know if Greg
the
cookie man (the Baker) also goes to catch.
Xander Gericke recalls a night when, as an eleven-year-old, he entered his father's study
and saw a yellow envelope and a 9 mm pistol on the desk.
Xander was surprised because he didn't even know there was a pistol in the house. His
tearful father quickly wrapped the pistol in a cloth and stored it in the drawer. Xander had to
promise that he wouldn't tell his mother about it.
Six months later, Xander reenters his father's study; he is now twelve. His father is sitting
in front of the fireplace with an open book on his lap and many papers around him.
Xander came to call his father because there are two men who want to speak to his father.
They are casually dressed and don't look like people who usually visit his father at home
not. According to one man, Tok (Dok) sent them. Xander's father hastily rises from the
chair, his hand shaking as he orders Xander to hide.
He heard his mother screaming somewhere in the house. His father assures Xander of his
love and kisses him on the forehead.
Xander is overcome with fear and realizes that it has something to do with Doc. He hears
someone calling his father "Judge Gericke" and then sees the men's shadows move. His
father wants to know what the men want, but then Xander hears a punch and he sees in the
shadows against the wall how his father collapses…
Chapter 1:
According to newspaper reports, Greg Owen died and his body was recovered from the
Grand Canal in Venice.
Greg was indeed in Venice, but it was the body of one of the other four people who were
with him.
He experiences their house in Johannesburg as a gloomy place since he attended Lawson
College in the
left in the middle of his matric year.
Fewer and fewer friends and business partners of Greg's father visited them after all the
negative publicity and reporting of the court case.
Greg leaves home the next day to study in Stellenbosch. However, it will not be easy to
escape from the past and he becomes constantly
wracked by guilt. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, he realizes how much he has
changed since leaving Lawson College - he sees the melancholy in his eyes and the
bitterness around his mouth.
,Greg goes to his brother John's room and it brings back memories John died of an overdose
of pills, but everything in his room remained unchanged. He was adventurous and daring
and Greg thinks about the dangerous things they did together. "With all these adrenaline
injections, he wanted to test the limits of life." Greg's mother can't sleep either and she joins
him in John's room. Here she feels
very close to her son who died so young.
There are long and awkward silences between Greg and his mother. She tells how after
John's death she often closed all the windows and doors and then
shouted continuously. With Greg's departure to Stellenbosch, she is about to lose another
loved one. Greg hugs his mother and tries to comfort her, and then she leaves John's room.
He experiences in his mind how his petite mother walks alone through the lonely house and
screams continuously with her mouth open.
Chapter 2:
The next morning, Greg carries his things to his brand new BMW car. He takes the Conrad
Botes painting with him because he thinks it will look good in his new place. When his
mother greets him and looks at the photo of John on Greg's cell phone, she says that now
he can experience everything John couldn't.
As he approaches Hanover, he thinks about Eckardt Wilken's betrayal and how he
pretended to be Greg's best friend during their matric year. Eckardt launched a massive
social engineering attack on Greg's family in retaliation for
his judge father's death.
According to Greg's father, Lawson College's former principal, doctor Alec Pienaar, was
responsible for the judge's death. Greg's father was involved in insider trading and bribery.
Eckardt taught Greg to hack computers and this led to Greg uncovering Doctor Pienaar's
next scandal, Project Nursery Rhyme. Unknowingly, Greg uncovered his own father's
involvement in this terrorist attack: Many people
died after receiving virally engineered flu shots. The Owen family survived financially, thanks
to money stashed away in trust funds. However, the family was torn apart due to the
inevitability of court and prison cases. When Greg and his mother went to collect his
belongings from Lawson College, Thomas Lawson, founder and acting principal of Lawson
College, requested to speak to them.
According to him, Greg's father, Chris Owen, made a huge error of judgement. He expressed
the hope that he and Greg's family could still have a relationship in the future.
It was clear that Greg wanted to cut all ties with the school, but Thomas Lawson warned him
not to burn bridges trying to find his way in the dark. In House Da Vinci, the residence, the
other boys Greg watched them and some were snide
,comments made. Greg ran into TJ in the hallway, who betrayed him and told the police that
he was a hacker. TJ looked at him defiantly.
Kwanele, the boy who became head boy in Greg's place, came to greet Greg with Lawson
College's secret handshake and said it was a shame that everything had to end this way
Everything about the Owen family has since been removed from the school's memorial
museum, even memorabilia from Greg's brother John. When Greg and them drove out of the
school grounds, Mark Gibbons (Plank), Greg's good friend,
ran behind the car to greet Greg.
Greg explained that he was going to write his matric exam with learners who
received home education. Plank is now in his second year at the University of Stellenbosch
and he can't wait to welcome Greg there.
On the way to Beaufort West, where Greg will spend the night, he thinks again about the
court case, during which his father was tried for murder and terrorism. He also remembers a
woman in black who attended the court case one day. It looked like she didn't belong there.
Chapter 3:
A woman at the B&B where Greg stayed overnight recognizes him from photos in
Huisgenoot and in the newspapers.
She knows about Greg's father who "killed those people" and is glad that he was caught,
because according to her, rich people often get away with such things.
Greg resents the woman's precocity because she doesn't even know him. When he storms
out frantically, she wants to know if he's going to arrest the Baker as well.
He braves the rest of the way and reaches Stellenbosch a few hours later. Chloe Adams to
Greg. while Greg is getting his luggage out of his car, three girls walk by. One set hair cell as
She lives in the same apartment building, just two doors down from Greg. She also
introduces her friends, Kiana and Lizmari, to Greg.
Greg isn't very talkative, but that doesn't stop Chloe from asking if he has a girlfriend. She
invites Greg for coffee, but he does not accept her invitation. He is happy when he finally
walks into his apartment, his "new happy place".
It's a nice spacious apartment, fully furnished and newly painted. There's a knock at the door
- it's Plank. Greg is happy to see him again and Plank greets him with a Lawson handshake.
Plank thinks Greg has a nice place to hang out with girls, but Greg says he's there to study,
not to free. Plank wants to know if Greg is still dating Nicole, but according to Greg, their
relationship is long overdue
, over It's clear that Plank is in college to have a good time and he gives Greg a warm
welcome in Matieland.
Chapter 4:
Greg's student life begins and he finds the orientation program very boring. Early one
morning, Chloe knocks on his door and invites him to practice Windows with her and her
friends. During the exercise, she moves around comfortably among the other students while
her assignments
and handing out orders. "Windows" is street theater where each group of freshmen must
present a short performance of music dance and drama.
They practice all the time, party constantly and get to know each other Greg finds out that
Chloe is an art student and although he doesn't fancy the performances,
start
he enjoys it later. Plank and some friends come on Friday afternoon to see how Greg is
progressing. He pointed to a serious, stern-faced woman standing to one side, her hair
under a hat
tucked in and hiding her eyes behind sunglasses. According to Plank, she is asking about
Greg. When Greg looks in her direction, she nods and smiles
slightly. She apparently wanted to know from Plank if he knew Greg and where Greg lived.
Greg hopes Plank didn't say anything.
When Greg looks again, the woman is gone, but he realizes that he's seen her before, he
just can't remember where.
That night, Greg hangs out with Plank and his dorm friends. Everywhere students are having
street parties. When Greg has to participate in the show later that night, he decides against
it,
because he simply cannot be part of the student silliness. A half-drunk freshman accidentally
bumps into Greg and spills his beer all over him. Greg rebukes him and then the student
recognizes him as the guy who put his father in prison.
Greg says it's not him, but the student wants to know "what flippant loser" would betray his
own father.
Greg pushes him out of the way and the man lands on the ground. He wants to know if Greg
the
cookie man (the Baker) also goes to catch.
