Day 37

At 7:35am the acting principal got on the horn to announce we should be on high alert today for a potential lockdown. There was an assassination threat against one of our students by a gang member following an altercation at the group home across the street from the school, and it was likely that guns would be brought into the building today. I continued writing the objective on the chalkboard, Lukie was singing along to Herman's Hermits, Mr. C was knocking paper airplanes out of his ceiling. An announcement about guns, assassinations, and lockdowns doesn't even merit special comment.

So for the third day in a row TJ, Timothy, and Shaq didn't show for third period language arts. I told Lukie I was going to roam the halls and find them. My first stop was science class. Miss Rough was seated at the front of her room, by the sink, head in her hands. There were literally hundreds of paper airplanes stuck in her ceiling. The kids were running rampant, sword-fighting with meter sticks, looking at their own spit under microscopes, flinging texts out the window. "Were TJ, Timothy, and Shaq here today?" I asked.

"Yes. But they walked out halfway through class and never came back."

I roamed the halls. It's quite entertaining to do so. I won't go into details but imagine walking through a 1940s WB cartoon. There's a lot of violence, but somehow it's funny at the same time. The kids just crack me up.

I found my young men fleeing the cafeteria. Miss H, an AP, and a school police officer were chasing them. I gave their names to the school police and then caught up with them on the second floor. I pleaded with them to return with me to class. "The police are looking for you. You come to class and we can speak on your behalf."

"That class is a drag," TJ said.

"I know it is, but you're going to be taking it again next year if you don't straighten up."

"I'll come with you Mr. G," Shaq said. Timothy and TJ stayed in the hall. Shaquille acted a fool in class, but he's still in school. TJ and Timothy got jacked up by the police. TJ is suspended five days for the fifth time. Timothy is suspended five days for the third time. I saw them as I was leaving the building.

"Snitches get stitches!" Timothy told me. I told him I was going to call his grandmother and tell her what he said.