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In the winter of 2004, he was forbidden from attending his original high school for skipping class
on numerous occasions, as well as being involved with the crowd that regularly participated in selling
and using recreational drugs. He didn’t complete a full school year before they eventually caught on
to his ways and stepped in to put a stop to it. He attempted to rationalize his actions with the excuse
that it was a hard habit to break, seeing as when he first entered the school their attendance system
was faulty and would count you as present for the day as long as you went to home room. This went on
until November when they finally got their systems back up to par. While they had told him straight out
that if this persisted, not only would he placed on probation by recommendation of the school, but
removed from it completely.
As you may have already guessed, their warnings went by the wayside and he continued on
in his stubborn ways. By this time, when they did make their threats come to fruition, it was early
December. The principal had given him one last chance, telling him that if he was caught skipping one
more time, you could consider it a done deal. His advice went in one ear and out the other immediately
following their meeting, and proceeded to skip all lunch periods with his gang of misfits to again
partake in illegal activities.
Upon showing up for class the next day, the principal was waiting for his arrival and promptly
told him he was done for. He picked up the phone on his desk, which looked to have been older than the
man himself, and called his mother to break the news to her. They had recommended placing him in
alternative education, and his mother agreed and followed through with it. They also had recommended
probation, which was also carried out. At the age of sixteen, things were not looking so good for him.
He was rattled at the prospect of attending a school that held pride in the fact that they were
gang members, degenerates and the whole idea of starting over again in a new place. It was nothing like
he imagined, the school was great. It was located at a building that used to be church, and there weren’t
many renovations made. Nuns still had special chambers just for them to meet and you’d see them
walking around the halls some days.
Outside of that, he knew plenty of people currently at the school. It was quite a shock,
as he had often wondered where these old acquaintances had ended up. He now had his answer.
Privileges were earned here, you had to be on the honor roll every week to go outside for lunch or
a cigarette, whichever you chose. After being there for a while and getting his grades up, he slightly
started to fall back into his old ways and began cutting school at lunch and not returning.
One day, he and two of his friends decided to pull this once more and came up with the idea
of hanging out at an old friend who had dropped out of school completely’s home. This would prove to
be a life altering decision. They walked and enjoyed the spring day in the 3rd week of March and had
reached their destination with ease. He knocked at the door while he two companions waited alongside
him. Their call was answered and the door swung open, inviting them in. They stayed for about a half an
hour before a car horn was heard outside.
The owner of the apartment, and the one we came to see, Mike, opened the door to see who it
was. He returned and it said it was a neighbor’s mother wondering if her daughter was cutting class
there. Conversation continued and it was eventually revealed that the woman’s name was Christine. He
looked on with a pale look on his face and uttered the words, “Christine who? Perez?” Mike shook
his head yes, and began playing his Xbox. Just then, a knock was heard, and she let it be known that it
was in fact Christine again and that she wanted to search the apartment to see if her daughter was
there. Mike went to open the door while he ran into his bedroom and hid on his bed, piling as many
clothes and blankets as he could on top of himself in fear of being discovered.
He couldn’t hear the conversation between Mike and Christine, but it was obvious to him
that he had let her into his home. The bedroom door swung open and she ripped through the pile of
clothes like a category 3 hurricane. She reached the bottom to reveal none other than her juvenile
offender.
CONNECTIONS: The whole story is factual, except she never entered the house. I was a nervous wreck
when I made the connection that the woman was indeed my probation officer. I really did hide on his
bed buried in clothes.
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