Cheque Mate by Kevin Baldeosingh – A Chilling Portrait of Power, Corruption, and Calculation
Introduction
Kevin Baldeosingh’s “Cheque Mate” is a masterstroke of quiet suspense — a story that unfolds in the polished silence of a Caribbean bank hall, beneath fluorescent lights and the hum of air conditioning. At its center stands Sukiya Chansing, a woman who has clawed her way from poverty to privilege, only to find herself one signature away from ruin.
What begins as an ordinary banking transaction quickly becomes a psychological duel — between morality and ambition, between conscience and convenience.
Plot Summary
Sukiya Chansing, a corporate secretary, visits a bank to deposit a cheque worth five million dollars — only to realize it’s actually five million US dollars. This revelation triggers a spiral of suspicion and fear. She rechecks her files and emails, haunted by the possibility that the cheque might expose a hidden scandal within her company.
Her boss, Randall Credo, appears calm and dismissive when confronted. He insists everything is legitimate, but Sukiya senses the truth: the cheque is no payment for her loyalty — it’s a bribe to buy her silence. The story ends not with loud confession, but with quiet understanding — Sukiya is now part of the system she once judged.
Analysis
1. Power and Corruption
Baldeosingh portrays corruption not as chaos, but as calm efficiency. Sukiya’s office life — with its spreadsheets and polite emails — becomes a metaphor for how immorality thrives behind order. The cheque, with its obscene number of zeros, exposes the soft underbelly of corporate respectability.
2. Gender and Class
Sukiya’s position as a woman in a male-dominated corporate space magnifies her vulnerability. She’s intelligent and disciplined, yet the story shows how even success can become a trap when the system demands complicity. Baldeosingh subtly critiques how class mobility often comes with invisible shackles.
3. The Psychology of Greed
Greed here isn’t loud — it’s quiet, rationalized, and dressed in professionalism. Sukiya’s fear is not of being immoral, but of being caught. Baldeosingh uses her inner conflict to explore how human beings justify corruption as self-preservation.
4. The Symbolism of the Cheque
The cheque is the perfect symbol — clean, official, and deadly. It represents both Sukiya’s rise and her fall. When she realizes it’s meant to silence her, she also realizes she has already been bought, long before she signed anything.
Style and Technique
Baldeosingh writes with restraint and precision. The story’s pace mirrors Sukiya’s composure — measured but tense. Dialogue is sparse yet loaded with meaning, and the narrative tone reflects the sterile calm of corporate corruption. The minimalism amplifies the unease; the reader feels the moral chill beneath every calculated move.
Message
Through “Cheque Mate”, Kevin Baldeosingh reminds us that corruption rarely begins with greed — it begins with gratitude. The story forces readers to confront an uncomfortable truth: that integrity has a price, and many people, like Sukiya, only discover theirs when it’s too late.
Conclusion
“Cheque Mate” is a brilliant psychological exploration of ambition and compromise. In just a few pages, Baldeosingh captures the tension between success and conscience, showing how easily professionalism can become a disguise for moral decay. It’s a quiet story — but its echoes linger.
Moral Lesson
The pursuit of wealth without integrity leads to self-destruction. No cheque, however large, can buy back a lost conscience.
Recommended For:
Students studying Caribbean Literature, readers exploring themes of corruption and moral conflict, and anyone who appreciates stories that reveal the dark side of ambition.
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