Chapter 17

"You Get Nothing, You Lose, Good Day Sir!"

And so, it was down to one candidate, Charlie Bucket. The other four candidates had fallen because of their own selfish greed and lack of character. However, there was an anger brewing inside of Wonka, an anger that hadn't been seen or heard of since my former superior stole his recipes.

"So much to do, so much to do," Wonka whispered as he, Charlie and Grandpa Joe walked towards his office. "I must answer that note from the queen."

"Mr. Wonka," Charlie asked, showing great concern for his fellow candidates. "What's going to happen to all the other kids? Augustus? Veruca?"

"My dear boy, I promise you they'll be quite all right," Wonka replied dryly. "When they leave here, they'll be completely restored to their normal, terrible old selves. But maybe they'll be a little bit wiser for the wear. Anyway, don't worry about them."

As Wonka was talking, I was hiding in his office closet listening in to what he was saying. The copy of the note regarding the fizzy lifting drinks was still in my possession and there was no doubt in my mind that Wonka had a copy in his coat pocket.

"What do we do now, Mr. Wonka?" asked Grandpa Joe.

"Oh, yes. Well, I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Excuse me for not showing you out. Straight up the stairs. You'll find the way. I'm terribly busy. Whole day wasted. Goodbye to you both. Goodbye."

Listening in, I came out of the closet just as Wonka was coming in. Yes, this was part of the test, but it sure didn't seem like it.

"Arthur, go back in the closet," Wonka ordered.

"Sir…"

"I said leave me," he ordered, taking off his coat and hat and sitting at his desk. "This was part of the test wasn't it?"

"It doesn't seem like it," I said, sensing that Wonka was about to explode in anger. "You have to calm down sir."

But Wonka wasn't going to listen and pushed me back in the closet, shutting the door. At that moment, Grandpa Joe and Charlie stepped into the room while Wonka was working on whatever it was he was working on.

"Mr. Wonka?' Grandpa Joe asked.

"I'm extraordinarily busy, sir," Wonka replied, his attention turned away from him writing on a paper.

"I was wondering about the lifetime supply of chocolate," Grandpa Joe asked. "For Charlie?"

"He doesn't get it."

"Wh…why not?"

"Because he broke the rules."

My mouth dropped upon hearing this and could only brace myself for what was about to happen.

"What rules?" wondered Grandpa Joe. "We didn't see any rules, did we Charlie?"

This made Wonka explode in anger.

"Wrong, sir! Wrong!" Wonka said angrily getting up from his desk and grabbing a copy of the contract that Charlie signed at the beginning of the tour with the other candidates. "Under section 37B of the contract signed by him, it states quite clearly that all offers shall become null and void if - and you can read it for yourself in this photostatic copy: I, the undersigned, shall forfeit all rights, privileges, and licenses herein and herein contained, et cetera, et cetera... Fax mentis incendium gloria cultum, et cetera, et cetera... Memo bis punitor delicatum!"

He slammed the contract and the magnifying glass back onto his desk and continued his tirade against them.

"It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal! You stole fizzy lifting drinks! You bumped into the ceiling which now has to be washed and sterilized, so you get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing and right then and there, this wasn't part of the test. Wonka was treating Charlie like he was a thief when in reality, we both agreed that this was part of the plan. Something was amiss and I had to do something.

"You're a crook," Grandpa Joe gasped, his voice filled with shock as it turned into anger for his grandson. "You're a cheat and a swindler! That's what you are! How could you do a thing like this, build up a little boy's hopes and then smash all his dreams to pieces?! You're an inhuman monster!"

"I SAID GOOD DAY!" Wonka screamed at the elderly man. Grandpa Joe had enough and he wasn't going to stand for it.

"Come on, Charlie," he said, whispering to him. "Let's get out of here. I'll get even with him if it's the last thing I ever do. If Slugworth wants a gobstopper, he'll get one."

But right away, Charlie didn't have the heart to betray Wonka. Without saying a word, he walked over to Wonka's desk and left the gobstopper next to him. Then, he turned sadly away with Grandpa Joe waiting at the door. Angrily, he slammed the door and Wonka jumped at the door's sound.

"I can't believe you would do something like this, Mr. Wonka," I remarked, coming out of the closet. "You treated that boy like he was a thief."

"That's because he was a thief, Arthur. He stole my fizzy lifting drinks."

"Which was part of the test," I retorted. "What were you expecting him to do? Fall down on his knees and beg for mercy? That's not Charlie Bucket, sir. He was tempted."

"And he failed."

However, I was going to cut straight to the chase, reaching down onto the floor and picking the Everlasting Gobstopper off of the floor.

"If he had failed," I said, handing the gobstopper to Wonka. "He would have given this to that wretched former superior of mine, Slugworth. But he didn't. He did this as a way of saying sorry to you for stealing the fizzy lifting drinks. I mean, look sir, what happened three years ago is still very much fresh in your mind, isn't it?"

Realizing that I was picking through his brain like a probe, Wonka sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling of his office.

"Well what do you expect me to do, Arthur? You know very well what the three stooges did to me. Hell, you even worked for one of them."

"That doesn't matter right now, Mr. Wonka. I, mean, I expect you, sir," I answered. "To honor our plan and name Charlie Bucket as your successor. He has everything that the other candidates didn't have. He's not gluttoness like Augustus Gloop; he's not disgusting like Violet Beauregard; he's not spoiled like Veruca Salt and he's not a couch potato like Mike Teavee. He's just a poor boy who lives with a family that wants to make ends meet but can't."

As I spoke, Wonka looked over to the Everlasting Gobstopper and studied it carefully.

"So shines a great deed in a weary world," he whispered, realizing that he had gone too far and needed to make things right. "Arthur, where does Charlie live?"

"He lives about two miles from here," I answered as Wonka raced to grab his hat and coat.

"Good, we can take the Wonkavator. Come on, we don't have a lot of time!"

With those words, we went out to name Charlie Bucket as Wonka's heir. However, the repercussions of Wonka's tirade were still fresh in the mind of Grandpa Joe…