“Mianbu Wanqu, which translates as the art of facial bending, is a technique that was used by ancient Chinese to communicate secretively. It is similar to sign language only that one uses a face to spell out the letters. Historians are polarized about how it was developed, with some believing it was used by the early 1900 Chinese government for espionage and others by Jen Tsui, a daughter of a tyrant king, to save her lover’s life by helping him answer the riddles whom her father was asking, before it could be discovered and used by the Chinese government for espionage…”

By the time they finished reading the extract from the book, Mr Vuma was drinking the last cup of the cold water from the five litres’ cooler. Usually when people are caught red-handed like that they ran away and would never be seen again. At least that was what movies made us believe. But Mr Vuma just stood there not even one emotion registering on his face other than his creased facial muscles.

“As you know Tim,” one of the adjurors who was a member of the panel at the spelling bee competition said to Mr Vuma, “in light of the evidence we are left with no choice but to suspend your library and mentee for two years. And, with immediate effect, your mentee will also forfeit the championship title which will be proffered to the person who held a second position.”

And then she turned to Dr Gama. “Ma’am, your honesty is very much appreciated. It is rare to find someone who would be this principled when it is their learners who has benefited from ill-practices such as this one. We are very much grateful,”

“You’re welcome. But I am the wrong person to be credited for this; it is my daughter who did all the work. And on the issue of the learner who was mentored by the librarian, aren’t you being a bit too harsh on him, considering the fact that he was lured into this despicable mess he now finds himself in?”

“At this moment he is viewed as an accomplice in this crime. He should have reported the misconduct the moment he was advised to partake in it, yet we will give him the benefit of the doubt. And if in our investigation we find that he had been threatened into silence about the misconduct, if he is found not guilty, the suspension will be lifted and he will be allowed to partake in the next year’s competitions. But he will have to forfeit all the awards and positions he won this year and will not be allowed to continue competing in the upcoming national competitions. You said it was your daughter who did this work, where is she?”

“She is in the car,”

“I want to congratulate her,” the adjuror said, following Agnes’s mother to the car.

“Mr Vuma seemed calm about it,” Agnes said to her uncle when the adjuror had left.

“Oh no, he sure said a lot using his Mianu Qwabu-” Mr Moloi said, incredulously looking at the quiet Mr Vuma.

“It is called Mianbu Wanqu, uncle!”

“Whatever! Hey I have never told you this but I am really proud of you,” Mr Moloi said to Agnes, and she was taken aback. “Yes, I know what you are thinking, I always berate girls in my class, and how do you know if what I am saying right now is genuine? Well it is. Here is the thing: one day you are going to grow up and become a young woman. You are going to have to work to earn a living. It might happen that you will be the most informed and intelligent woman compared to the male counterparts at work. Chances are that you are always going to be undermined because of your sex, not your intellectual capacity. I know because your mom is a victim of that. Whenever I scorn you girls in my class, I am giving you a little taste of the real world and I am glad you are able to stand up for yourself.”

“But uncle, what about the girls who fail this test, don’t you think that the damage is going to last throughout their lives?”

“I have noticed that there are those who fail my tests, my dear; hence I have come up with the In-girly-gence Forum. This is so that I can repair damages where I could not carve strong characters.”

“You are the writer of the In-girly-gence Forum?”

“You heard it from the horse’s mouth.”

“Wow. In-girly-gence? I bet it comes after ‘best uncle’ in the dictionary.”

Mr Moloi laughed, understanding the sarcastic compliment, “Shut up.”

When Dr Gama got into her car, she dialled her mother-in-law. The phone, put on loud speaker, rang as they patiently waited for Grandma Gama to answer her phone. And when she answered, they told her everything that had happened.

“Aaaw, my poor Eggness, she finally found something to scribble about,”

“Grandma!” Agnes shouted.

“Let it go Agnes,” her mother said exasperatedly.

“You’re a genius. Thank you.” Agnes said blowing kisses to the phone.

The following week, when the periodical issue came out, it was a bit thicker and heavier than it previously had been. And when learners opened it they got drawn to the story in “The Eggness Scribble” column, and it was virtually a literary breakfast.

***

Tell us: Would you ever cheat on a test or a competition? Why or why not?