He Deserves It

Today, October nine 2012 I saw him from the window of teacher’s room with proud. He walked out from a black metallic nice car. He came to school today to fulfill his promise that he made last Friday. He is Edwin Rune, one of my best student. When I looked at him from the distance I remembered how tough his life was. Today was exactly fifteen years ago when the first time I caught him sleeping in my math class. During algebra lesson, I saw him fell asleep on the table. It was a strange view for me because Edwin was the most enthusiastic student in the math class. Edwin loved math so much. I approached his table to wake him up and continue the class. In the afternoon three hours after my class, I was checking midterm math’s score and i found Edwin Rune got 29, the lowest score of this class. I was shocked and wanted to meet him as soon as possible. I called him to my room to ask about his condition which troubling me. He told me everything.

“I’m just very tired. Really tired” Said Edwin. He casted down his eyes.

I asked him “What happened, Edwin?”

“I just left my house because of many problems at home. My parents were fighting almost everyday. They are stressed because they can’t pay the school fee of my sister and I anymore. They also mad at me because I read comic and draw all the time at home. They said that reading a comic wouldn’t make me successful. They also said that if I still want to live at home then I have to sell all my comics and find a job to pay my own school fee. They mad at me all the times, they blame anything I did. I can’t stand anymore, so i decided to leave my house.” Said Edwin while he shed a tear.

Edwin worked at Chinese food restaurant almost two weeks. He slept at the kitchen of the restaurant. He was very tired because his boss gave him an extra job. He had to do all the works in order to be able to sleep at the kitchen. He didn’t have time to study or do homework. That makes him failed on the midterm. I really wanted to help Edwin with all of my strength. So, i offered him a free tutoring twice a week after school. I also treated him a dinner after tutoring session. I knew that he always hungry and didn’t have much money to buy food. It turns out that his salary from working at the restaurant was not enough because a lot of necessary as the third grade student.

Then, he tried gambling for the first time. Apparently that day was his unlucky day. The police went to the alleys to arrested the gambler. Everyone was safe except Edwin. He was jailed for five years without telling anyone including me. In those days, I tried to find Edwin to his house, but the house was empty. His neighbour said that the owner of the house had moved. Later, after he released he continued his life alone. He went to the restaurant which he worked five years ago, but the owner didn’t accept him anymore. So, Edwin did any work he could from being a market’s porter, a newsboy, and even a dustman. I often thought of him and longed to meet him but i lost his contact. I couldn’t do anything, but Edwin was always on my prayer. I hope he doing well wherever he was and I hope someday I can meet him.

Five years have been passed, one morning when he was delivering newspaper from door to door he accidently saw the first page of the newspaper. The headline of the news was “A great teacher led her students to the Math Olympiad” and the picture was me and my students. Edwin was surprised and immediately brought that paper home. At home, he stared at the picture of me and wanted to meet me. But, he thought that he was nothing. He didn’t have anything to make me proud. But at the same time it inspired him to get a better job. He promised himself that he had to be successful and he would meet me soon. Edwin was a good man, he never forgot any advices from his teacher. I once said to him “To be successful, the first thing to do is to fall in love with your work. So, do what you love and love what you do”. Still on the same paper, he starred at the comic section and realized that he really loves comic. He knew that drawing was his talent.

On the next day, he started to draw a simple character and made a comic. In the afternoon, he went to the Bangkok Post, a local newspaper. He tried to submit his first comic. He wasn’t confident until two months later when he had already forgotten his comic, he received a call from Bangkok Post that they were really interested in his work and offered him to make comics regularly every month. That was a good beginning for his career. As he grew up, he was getting more creative. A lot of people and media adored his work. He started to do collaboration with many huge media companies. He earned a lot of money from the collaboration. At his age of 25, he had enough money and partners to build his own company. Comic House was the name of his company. Yet he never changed, he was still Edwin Rune, a good student who never forgot his teacher. He felt that was the perfect time to meet me. So, he came to school to find me on October five. He arrived at school at 3 p.m. but unfortunately I already back to home. Edwin asked my address to the administration. He can’t wait for another day, so he drove to my house straight away. He arrived at my door and rang the bell. As I opened the door, I saw a charming and sturdy man with a neat shirt standing in front of me. 

“Mrs. Anne?” He said with teary eyes and a big smile on his face.

“E-e-edwin? Are you Edwin Rune?” I asked shockingly.

“Yes, I am Ma’am”

He could not resist to hug me. I hugged him very tight. That Friday was like the answer to all of my prayer for Edwin. I was speechless so did him.

“Come in. How have you been, Edwin? How did you get here?”

“It’s a long story, Ma’am. I am sure that you will be the first person to know everything. Do you have time tonight, Ma’am? Let’s have dinner together and I will tell everything”

He treat me a dinner at the five stars hotel’s restaurant. He told me every single thing while we were having a dinner. Before we went home, I asked him one last question.

“Edwin, do you still love math?” I asked.

“Yes, Ma’am. Now, I am an entrepreneur and a comics. But, math is always my favorite.” He said.

“Do you want to teach math at school next Tuesday? I missed seeing you in the math class.”

“Of course I want Ma’am. I really miss being in your class” He said excitedly.

I was so amazed with his struggle. Edwin Rune, a successful 30 years old man. He deserves it. I am a proud teacher.

Jessica Nathania.