Insane

We called him Crazy Danny. The reasons were obvious. He purposely
wore clothes that were a size too big. He visited the barber only once
a year. Naturally his tiny head was almost engulfed by his huge mane.
He was always smiling for no particular reason. Danny was famous all
over school. Whenever a new arrival heard others talking about Crazy
Danny he instantly knew who the person in question was. We loved Danny
and not the least for his alleged insanity. He was the only one who
could call a spade a spade and get away with it. Probably because he
was "crazy". Consider this. Mike was good at Physics. Danny once asked
him about a difficult physics theory. Mike frowned and grimaced and
roared, "Ask someone else. I have not undertaken to help every Tom,
Dick and Harry." If I were in Danny's place I would not have taken the
matter any further. Well, he first told Mike, "You are the most boring
person in the world." Our Physics teacher Mrs Roy always used Mike's
textbook whenever the book was needed. Mike's book was covered with
laminated brown-paper. The next day Mrs Roy asked Mike to give her his
textbook. Mike did the needful. Well, he was thereafter slapped and
asked to leave the classroom. Danny later showed us the covered book
that he had kept in Mike's bag. It was a copy of University Geography
by Bruce Mahan.
I have already stated that Danny was not careful about his appearance.
The truth is that he was fully aware of his own shabbiness. He used to
tell us that he had an uncle in the countryside who was a rich farmer.
He would boast quite openly that whenever he visited this uncle he
earned a lot of money. We were all in the eighth grade and making money
was quite out of the question for us. We were eager to know how Danny
managed to earn the enviable amount he stated. He told us how with
great pride. He confided that while he was around no crows or other
birds would disturb his uncle's crops. All Danny had to do was move to
the centre of the field and show himself to everyone. The birds would
be so scared that they would take to the skies never to return. The
farmers paid Danny handsomely for keeping their crops safe. Crazy Danny
was truly crazy.
Crazy Danny was not foolish. In fact he was really good at Algebra. He
solved problems of permutations and combinations like it was his second
nature. The rest of us hardly understood the problems forget solving
them. Naturally Danny was respected for his capabilities. One day he
brought a briefcase to school. "What do you have there", the class
teacher asked him. Danny tried to look important and said, "Just my
things." None of us could ever talk like that to a teacher. But Crazy
Danny got away with it. That day he went out during the break. And we
started discussing what Danny's briefcase could contain. Someone said
Danny carried sandwiches in the bag. Someone said that the bag had all
his cash. And then the opportunity came. On its own. The next day Danny
asked me to keep his briefcase when he went to the school gate to meet
a long-lost uncle. This was what we were all waiting for. The briefcase
was opened. There was a box inside. That too was opened. Inside the
second box was a piece of paper. On one side of the paper was written,
"Curiosity killed the cat." On the other, "Boo!" Suddenly there was
loud laughing from the back of the classroom. Danny emerged from the
last bench where he had been hiding. He had seen everything and was
laughing like only he could.