The KT OLLA Web Stories

BEAKERS broke and crashed on the ground. So the splinters went littering the laboratory. Still the one who caused the damage only stood and watched… And then she walked out of the place without looking back. It was as if the 28-year-old didn’t cared a moment. But she cared too much she cried a bucket. June Martinez had stepped in her laboratory right behind her home. It was a facility sitting on an acre of land that equally hosted their large villa. The property was both home and office to the brilliant couple. They had their villa furnished with everything comfort. Then they got two labs built into a structure behind it. With only a glass partition in-between. Carl did his work in one part of the structure, while June used the other part as her laboratory. Now it’d been quite a while June had wanted to return to her lab. She once only talked about getting back and wouldn’t dare to step a foot in the lab. Then months passed and she made more progress. She got to put on her coat to retu...

IT was Monday morning and an emergency sitting was held by the University Senate. The long hours between Saturday and Monday had seemed like forever to the college dons. Calls had been pouring in for the professors at Marcuz’s department and faculty. And news had even reached the University Senate. Yes, Cannon’s Vice Chancellor and his deputies – plus the registrar as well their spokesperson, faced some firing squad through weekend. Marcuz’s video had met them unprepared. The school had got enough of media attention due to psychomicide case... So they wouldn’t think to use the media or the press for any activity on campus. They were also aware that no one among them would call up the media to the same chemistry department which was being scrutinized.  But then again, the men couldn’t get furious despite how shocked they were. That video was a trendy thing in the Caribbean Isles. The TV channels had gone to clip some footage in it and uploaded it on the internet. Within 48 hours of ...

NOW at the beginning of his class, Mr. López talked to the camera. He said the school had been affected with the Psychomicide case. So much it seemed all Cannon did was Psychomicide... “So now, we just want the people to know that Cannon is still Cannon,” he said. “It’s still the open field we used to know. It’s still that widespread sky that accommodates all birds to fly.” Then Marcuz went on to throw more light. “Cannon’s Skies is our way of saying students are free to soar. And I hope the class would be aired every time… “Probably until everyone finds this place safe again to school.” He talked some more. “Still in this class, Marcuz López will not be doing so much. Let me just say I’m the janitor here.” He laughed, and picked it up. “You know talking and giving the students direction is like getting in the way of ideas. “We do not have Year I students here, who’re rather still new to the lab. So we’ve got Year II, III, and the finalists. “These guys know the basics. And know their ...

HANDS went through glass flasks, from the conical ones to the beakers and reagent bottles. In a large laboratory room at Cannon. It was a Saturday morning. A day many students would be busy with their personal matters. And their teachers would stick to their families at home.  On this Saturday, however, some Cannonites were up and doing in the university’s chemistry lab. And the one in charge was Marcuz. Yes, Marcuz López had taken up the job at Cannon. And the college had just resumed for a new session. So the gentleman had moved into the apartment allotted to him at the staff quarters on campus. His entry level was Graduate Assistant as he was retained at the college as a graduate student. So Marcuz planned to keep going with his studies and papers. Till he was a senior academic staff and faculty member. And till he’d reached the level of an associate professor, and distinguished professor. Now Mr. López wanted to groom minds and grow them. He wasn’t a genius himself… he was only...

THE Martinez couple got back home from another court session. Which didn’t seem to have gone well. Carl slumped on the living room sofa, dropping a sigh. And June walked over to the fridge to get some cold water. Then Carl lay there and watched his woman gulp down glasses of fluid. He gazed at her for a small time, then he blurted his mind. “Why does it seem like we’re running on a spot? “It’s frustrating enough that we’re up against a monster. And now it seems we’re losing, too!” June took a glance at him. “Of course!” nodded Carl.  “Last November we were holding the joker card. “But now we seem more like the joker! What exactly is happening?” Well, that question seemed more fitting for June to ask. She was the psychomicide victim, after all. But then Carl asked the question anyway. He seemed to have reached his wits’ end. Truly, Cannon’s legal team had hurried with the autopsy on the late witness Lucius Barnabas, in November of the previous year. They’d tendered the report in cou...

IT was a new year, yes. It was also the start of another game season in West Indies. Luca had been training hard for the matches ahead... So that early morning, he’d packed his racket and other kits. And was ready to leave for the games. He stood in front of the mirror and did a playful check on his looks.  “What do you think, Marcuz? Should I turn my left side to the camera or the right one? “Or should I frown a bit when talking ’bout my win. I think I’m looking so stern on TV these days! “What do you think, bro?” Marcuz was seating behind him in his room, but he wasn’t there at all. He was far away at Cannon, thinking about life. Luca caught his eyes in the mirror, but he didn’t blink for once. He was staring at just nothing at all. “Marcuz... Marcuz! Brother Marcuz!!” Marcuz jolted back awake at the call. “I’m sorry... what were you saying?” Luca turned around and attempted. “Do you think I look—” He just stopped. “Forget it... I’m just kidding around!” The young sportsman knew ...

THE small panel passed some papers among itself. Marcuz glared at the documents and felt they were his credentials and résumé. He recalled that he’d given his departmental head a copy before. And asked if he could refer him wherever there were job openings. He recalled that the man had found him way too funny. “What are you, young man?! Some comedian or what? “Will you land a job without your certificate ready now? “And why will I submit your credentials anywhere – what did you do for me?” The man burst in a laugh. Marcuz couldn’t say a word. He was a pious kid and didn’t like what the man was hinting at. He couldn’t give any favours to court more favours. It was what he knew as bribery and corruption. But all the lad was asking for was that the man would refer him wherever there was an opening. Then speak well of him if he truly trusted him. So, when this person thought him stupid, he didn’t know where to turn. The older man stopped laughing, as it suddenly felt awkward laughing alone...

JUST two months and a few weeks were the time space that had passed since Marcuz finished school. It was mid-January in West Indies (former name of the Afro-Caribbean Islands). Tidal waves had dropped to a frosty low and were just about thawing. A small hurricane had also loomed and disappeared with the passing time. The López brothers had reunited with their maternal uncle. And Marcuz had marked his birthday that January.  Quite a few things had happened in just two and half months. And one of those now brought Marcuz back to Cannon. Yes, the young man didn’t want to get around the school.  He’d in fact avoided being around at his convocation, which had held in December on campus. He’d also planned to leave his certificate uncollected. At least, for the time being. He just wanted to stay off the radar as he was sure he’d be safe that way. But then, Marcuz got a call from his faculty dean. It was the secretary who reached him... And the lady asked him to come back for a letter...

THE full moon floated atop Earth with a billion stars entourage. It was evening in Kingston; and both nature and human seemed to seek repose for the day. But Marcuz seemed to just be starting his. As he stepped out from a taxi to be welcomed by his waiting uncle. Vincent almost couldn’t contain his joy when he saw his grown-up nephew. “You are man now, Marcuz!” he said, smiling as he walked the boy to his house. “You’re so grown that I can’t tell anyone your childish stuff anymore.” “Come on, Uncle! I told you I’ll outgrow those kiddie stuff one day!” “Hm, you’re so right, boy. But I can still tell the stories to you if not to anyone.” “Now I must ask, Uncle VC… must you really tell something?” “I must, my boy! How will I boast this big man is my nephew!” They both laughed as they walked inside the house now. Vincent was a successful scientist. So the man had got a big structure of building for a house. But Vincent wasn’t the social type, so it took a while for the man to start a famil...

THAT year when Cannon’s senior staff members thought to prove themselves, they chose to guest a talk show. The school summoned Vincent Macaulay as the spokesman for their matter. They wanted him to talk well about his lecturers and clear them of suspicions. They wanted him insisting that the research was jointly done. So, the teachers at Cannon did quite well in explaining the man’s role. And Vincent promised he got everything. Now the Cannon people had scripted the talk. As the show was live on a popular TV channel across the region. But then something happened and things went contrary to plan. As their spokesperson wasn’t an actor. That day when the nerd of a speaker saw the cameras zoom on him, he forgot everything that he’d been taught to say. “We did it together! Prof and I did the research together!” he blurted. “It’s not what you’re thinking at all! We did the research together!” The man went on repeating the words, “We did it together.” But the more he said those things, the mo...

VINCENT Macaulay used to be Marcuz’s favorite uncle. But the boy stopped liking his uncle a few years before. It was the year that the lad gained admission into Cannon and his uncle insisted he shouldn’t take the offer. The man went quite fierce against Marcuz’s choice. He would talk to the boy’s parents about stopping him. Yet Mr. and Mrs. López had simply asked their son what he wanted, and he chose Cannon. So they supported him and sent him there. But then Marcuz’s relationship with his uncle was ruined already. The kid hated him and didn’t want anything to do with him. So, when the older man came up again after the death of Marcuz’s parents, and offered to be guardian to him and Luca, Marcuz turned him down without a second thought. The young one was afraid that his uncle might make him transfer from Cannon University. So he turned down his offer for Cannon’s sake. Yet now that he was desperately needing an older guide, he wished so much to have his uncle back... More especially th...

IT was the middle of night and Marcuz was up with thoughts. He’d put on the TV to keep him company. But those thoughts wouldn’t just go. So the boy sat staring in space, even when the device went on showing in front of him. So, when the screen showed for quite a while without human activity, it warned that it would hibernate; so it did. Still Marcuz sat there in the dimly lit room, accompanied by his thoughts. It was the same day that he returned from Cannon. And he’d spent every moment of the day brooding. He’d wondered why he’d got to witness some murder just when he was leaving school. He’d been bothered about the things he heard that night. The boy wished there was an adult he could talk to. But he’d lost his mum and dad, so he missed them. He dropped his head and dropped a sigh. Marcuz and Luca lost their parents in an auto crash about 2 years before. So the older boy took charge of their family. The young brothers had refused the guardian hands of their distant relatives. As Marc...

MARCUZ paced up and down a room. It was a large living room in a 3-bedroom apartment. The boy walked about sweating, his pace doubling up with each turn he made. After a while, the door opened from outside. Then a sporty kid, a few years younger, stepped inside. Marcuz didn’t turn to look at him. He only glanced at the clock, saw it was past 10, and went on roaming. He was stuck on his last night at Cannon. Now the younger dude shared some resemblance with the older one. As the two kids were brothers. Then the younger kid went by the name Luca... Luca López. Luca had his training wears on that hour of morning, as he was a  badminton player. And he was just heading back from practice. This was the home and family of the Lópezes in Kingston. And Marcuz’s only family was Luca, with some distant relatives... Yet Luca was the home that he ran to. “You didn’t say you’ll return this soon. When did you come back? I’m guessing it is around now.” It was Luca talking to Marcuz, but the latter...

JUNE Martinez shot her answer like a bullet. “It is November, Attorney Barbar. And we’re heading near the frosty times already. “But, at least, homes are warmer and more comfortable than the workplace... “Still you left the comfort of your home for work like anybody else, this morning. “And here you are, asking me why I left work life for my homeland just when I wanted! “I could ask you instead – now I mean no harm: “With all due respect sir, why haven’t you left your job at this age to be with family? “I’m quite sure anyone with your career journey would’ve settled by now! “So why are you asking what’s no question, Professor Barbar?!” Just then the audience burst into laughter. So the judge beat his wooden hammer to still the noise. Now, June and Carl knew Cannon’s way of doing fights. They knew that when it was about a scandal, their lawyers would try to alter the witness’ statement. So they knew that Barbar was going to suggest that June was quite unstable. That she’d pushed herself...

WHEN Carl crossed his arms and closed his eyes where he sat in court, he had wandered away with a lot of thoughts... wishing the cup would only pass. But the moments weren’t passing at all. As the audience’s reaction brought him back to the time. A buzz of voices followed a question. Then the 34-year-old woke up to see his nervous spouse look around. June wanted to slow down the questions or, at least, be the one to decide her answer. But her questioner was no small someone. He was the big name of Cannon’s faculty of law. He was the one leading the defense attorneys for the case in court... And he’d been shooting questions in a fast pace that outwitted her. That distinguished attorney at law was the Professor and Attorney D.M.B. Barbar. So, June stuttered. “Can... can you repeat the question?” Then her questioner went bolder. “You definitely had a great career in Sweden. So good that the whole of Jamaica was proud of you! “So why did you leave your successful work in Europe and then co...

A COUPLE of years earlier, Carl Martinez met his better half, June. A prodigy doing stuff in science. The two great minds met at the World Robotics Fair in Berlin. They got to know each other and found out they shared interests. June was simply everything perfect for Carl. She was the beauty who caught his eyes and the bubbly soul who took his heart over. Still June hadn’t only got the looks. The young lady in her early 20s was everything brain. She was a great chemist, yes. She was a very genius one. So everyone wanted to work with her. The big names in the industry wanted her on board. Then, June settled to work with all. ‘It’s more fun when your client is everyone,’ she’d say. So she took all her offers on contract and maintained she would do her own work and supervise her. She worked from her own laboratory and sent progress reports to the clients. June Simeon was a Jamaican then living in Sweden with her parents. She’d spent her early life in her home country and was then resident...

THE judge’s gavel struck a loud sound and called for silence in a courtroom... But the decorum that followed only started a new storm in a gentleman’s mind. It was a handsome dude in his mid-30s. He went by the name, Carl. This young soul was the plaintiff on the psychomicide case. The one suing Cannon University. The gifted engineer had thought through things when he decided to sue the school. It wasn’t a journey he began without making plans. He was quite aware that his life would be dissected by media people if he was suing Cannon. Yet he went for it all the same.  He’d seen it coming, the drama that followed. Still he pulled the trigger first and aimed at the giant. But then, in spite of his awareness, the family man wasn’t ready for the bullets shot back at him. Yes, his lawyer had sent him scripts and videos of mock cases to get him and his family prepared for huge counters. But those grand scenarios hadn’t captured the real thing. As the hearings in court became a wild match...

COME, Alvaro! Bring the gas masks with you!” That order came for the bulky one guarding the terrace. For he bolted at once and went combing through a sack of tools. Marcuz froze in that moment. He turned back to watch the young man as he left his post. That dude whom the professor called Alvaro was quite a fierce-looking one. The fellow in fact had a pair of dark shades on, night as it was. Along with a pair of boots... the military kind. Marcuz noted his form as he moved from there. Quite a few activities went on up the stairs in that moment when Marcuz stopped. It seemed everyone was fixing a protective gas mask over their face. Then he heard the sound of flasks and beakers, tubes and reagent bottles... several things reminding him of inorganic chemistry experiments. He trembled. What is Professor Barbar doing with chemical apparatuses and masks? Did he intend to gas that new witness? Is he killing him right here and now? Suddenly it dawned on the young kid that he’d got his chance t...

JUST as Marcuz tried to turn, the dude on top of the stairway turned to see. It seemed he caught his fear-ridden breath. Yet it looked as if the man wasn’t sure, for he turned again to face the operation. Jacques had a big laugh. The style that the lead counsel for Cannon often made in the ongoing case. “Murdered your cousin, did you say? Ha-ha, murdered a boy that is really kicking somewhere! “Come, isn’t he earning a monthly check in one of the private labs in Dominica?  “Or did he lose that job too? “You see, that’s why I call you boys and girls of nowadays, dumb! You talk of dream and when we hand you paper, you cry “Psychomicide!” “Did you not land a pay job by us? So what’s the use of dreaming too?! “Go on and ask those who we didn’t take at Cannon! Those who can’t boast of your grades and pay! “They’ll tell you dreams mean nothing, boy! And that’s why they’re safer than you!” “Are you threatening me now?” queried Lucius. “Oh, I’m merely stating the case right now,” replied t...

MARCUZ couldn’t pick whose voice the talking don had. But it sounded to him like one of his professors. Yes, he definitely knew someone who talked in that way. Someone who sounded exactly. It was Jacques. The man they called “Time Bomb.” The lad didn’t know he’d be meeting him twice in just 12 hours. It was like dying two times, he moaned. Now a younger voice came up. The assaulted one spoke out from up the stairs. “You ask what I am to go up against you all! “Well, I am blood relative to Manuel Barnabas, one of those you murdered! “I’m his cousin, Lucius. But Manuel was our family star! He was our only prospect and you killed him! “You took away our family genius! You murdered my cousin just because you can! “And here you are asking who I am to witness against y’all!” Marcuz heard the speaker’s words, but it was the names that rang a bell. The names that he mentioned felt familiar. He thought he’d seen “Manuel Barnabas” and “Lucius” somewhere lately. Yet he wasn’t sure where he’d come...

THE psychomicide case had been on for 2 years. Pendulum Legal Bros was the chambers prosecuting Cannon University. Headquartered in the coastal city of Havana in Cuba, the legal team ran its operations across Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico. Pendulum was known to thrive in big scandals and controversial issues involving governments and people. Then the daredevil always played its mind game siding people. It was known to go after the untouchables in politics and business, drawing public support for its cause. It often got judges to charge the culprit with a crippling sum and was paid 60 per cent of the fine. So, the firm had sued Cannon on behalf of a client for a strange crime they termed psychomicide. When Pendulum Bros filed the lawsuit 2 years earlier, the defendant had braced itself for mind war. Cannon University was known to have groomed the best brains, coming from the Caribbean, in many fields of inventory science and pure reason. It admitted only prodigies as its students based on ap...

IT was 8 at night and Marcuz had just been back from the tour that took his whole time. Their finalist class had arranged the celebratory treat as a road trip across most parts of the entire campus. It was all fun and everything dance and treat. Yes, a live band played instrumental jazz… the modern style, up the deck of a moving truck. Then the booming engine cruised the roads of Cannon. It piloted a white sleek coach moving the finalist party around campus. This was how the class of pure chemistry dotted their last stop. And Marcuz López got a bit fired up to smile. Now Cannon University had its vast campus stretching over a single island on Central America’s Caribbean Sea… Around the Afro-Caribbean populations of Latin America. So, stretching far and wide like a city-state on its own, its control was co-owned by the English, French and Spanish-speaking countries of the Afro-Caribbeans. Yes, the island was a chunk of beauty. Its wet and dry seasons appeared twice every year. Bringing ...

THE time clocked 12 and the sun burned from sky as a tropical fireball here. Everything that could tell it was noon said it loud at Cannon University of the Caribbeans. At the dot of the hour, a whistle went off as writing pens dropped. As it was the final exam... the very last paper for the finalist class of Pure Chemistry. Yes, Marcuz López dropped his pen too, but he kept on staring at his paper. He sat there just wishing and dreaming, hoping he could get that chance at least to end things well. But Marcuz knew already that it was over. Particularly then when Dr. Jacques had blown his whistle. Anton Jacques was one famous associate professor in the department of pure chemistry. His nickname among all the students was “Time Bomb.” So it’d always happened that when he was to oversee an exam, especially as the chief examiner, he’d go to his center with a timer clock big enough to be seen from anywhere. Then he’d set the hours counting down to stop time once the paper began. So he’d alw...