Yellow House
Diane remained silent. She was remembering that cold lonely night in Syria seven years ago, before she regained her composure.
There was a knock on the door. There stood the math teacher Mr.Louis.
"May I come in or will I be a bother?" he asked.
Nadia scowled. This man, in his late forties, whose bald head shone like the shining sun, always acted like a jerk in front of her, but to children he was strict and harsh, she thought. What was the point of asking that question?
"Of course come in," said Diane smiling affectionately at him. She gave him her chair and got another one. Nadia frowned. Diane was always laughing at Mr.Louis habits behind his back but in front she was charming and gracious to him.
"Don't understand why," thought Nadia.
Several people entered. The principal Patch James, his assistant, the additional Mathematics teacher Christian Rawley, the Accounts teacher John Morris and the Geography teacher Clay Worthington.
"Now," said Patch James, "We have calculated nearly all the marks...only a few were left because Nadia and Diane hadn't checked them. Well, now..."
He put on his spectacles and started adding up and making notes. Twenty minutes later he looked up. "Well I have made a list of the forty students and the ones to be included in the waiting list. Coming to the scholarships, there are three students as usual who have earned them. Henry Robert, Sameer Mohammad and Dean Worthington have come 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively."
"Margaret will you please write it down?" he said to his assistant. "Dean has got 20% and Henry got 50%. What are we going to do about this Sameer guy?"
"What about him?" asked Rawley.
"The boy came second in the admission papers and is entitled to 40% scholarship. But the guy is bummer by our standards. His old man barged in that day and demanded full tuition scholarship."
"Why?" asked Clay in a hard tone.
"No reason, except that he can't afford to send his son there otherwise."
"Well, we never give full scholarship. And how would he be able to pay the residency fees if he's so poor?" asked Diane.
"Sameer's father says that he can manage that. I think we cannot accept his request. We can't grant full scholarship."
"I don't see why not," said Nadia unexpectedly. "Cornwall is going on quite well, but it needs to produce excellent students every year to keep its image intact. This Sameer guy may turn out to be some sort of genius. Who know's? I know we never grant full scholarship but we have to remember that amongst all the students that come here, the ones who get the scholarship frequently do the best."
"Nadia is right," said Diane slowly. "But all the same."
"Cornwall will not go bankrupt overnight if we grant full scholarship to a student," said Nadia coldly, "but we won't have the same success if we deny intelligent students."
"But according to the rules," said Patch James.
"Rules, rules and rules," groaned Nadia.
"Those Cornwalls made these stupid rules about twenty years ago. Cornwall has had a fair amount of success so far, but these rules are rubbish and of no use."
"Nadia has a point there," admitted Morris.
"I do not see why we should put aside the rules made by the fair founders of Cornwall. However, if it is acceptable to you, let's do this Sameer a favor," said Patch. "Now let's get on with this process."
"In Yellow House," continued Patch, "will be Sameer Mohammad, Dania Talib, Farzan Talib, Farnaz Hassan, Dereck Fraser, Ray Cameron, Janet Longfield, Martin Drachma, Margery Smollet and Ruth Morrison."
An hour later, when all the work had been done, and Nadia and Diane were clearing everything and preparing to go home, Diane inquired, "You thinking something, Nadia?"
"Nothing," replied Nadia, "Just thinking about those four students in my house. They all are Muslims."
"You are going to have gun with them," predicted Diane in a heavy tone, as they walked toward the gate. "Have a good vacation."
"You too."
"And have a happy time thinking about those four," said Diane.
She didn't know that those four students would be in the limelight for the coming years.