Steve Golden:  

dubi before class , we must have been seen by Counselor Lorraine Cameron heading for the tennis courts behind the hand ball courts . As we were smoking the last of our weed Greg bursted into a full blown sprint across the courts towards the north entrance at about 200ft. away from me he turned his head and yeld RUN ! Well ,.. looking back I can say that I should of took off after Greg then I would of gotten away like he did but , that's not what happened ! Marijuana impairs your reaction time along with sense of urgency like friend bolting across Tennis courts OK , Instead I said Huhhhh as I turned round to see what he was running from and there she was !!! So now my sense of urgency is kicking in because I'm Busted , yeks ! With a medieval look on counselor Ms. Cameron's face she demanded I go with her to the office so I reluctantly started off with her to the Principles office . As I was being marched to the office the severity of my punishment was setting in and I became more unwillingly to go easy . As we passed the men’s locker room door I bolted in and hid inside and waited till the 1st. Period bell rang . I knew this wasn’t a good escape plan but , it was all I could come up with . So I waited to the point of being tarty then slowly amerged only to see no one not even the counselor . then made a mad dash to my class ! I went the whole day with out any incident from that frivolous stunt I just pulled and was starting to feel at ease . Next day was the same although I did keep my head down . The following day in Mr. Wines class my name came across the intercom and said I was to report to the principals office immediately ! OMG , talk about unwanted attention , everyone in the classroom turned around and looked at me being I sat in the back of the classroom . Then Mr. Wines threw me this cynical Smile and said ,” well Mr. Golden you’d better get going". I can still hear my classmates whispering as I left the class room . Now this was turning into a disaster because Principal Dr. Cangiano had seen me getting High once before and had call my parents but to no availa . My dad was having an affair and things at home were tore up from the floor up if you get my drift.! As I headed to the front office I was still determined to try and weasel my way out of this one because if I got suspended I wasn’t going to pass all my classes especially Mr. Wines Class , I was terrible when it came to US History and had failed it several times . Sometimes fate and Lady luck can take pitty on a screw up young man like me and hand you another bite at the apple 🍎! As I entered the front office I told the receptionist that I was Steve Golden reporting as directed via the intercom . She told me to have a seat . As I was waiting for Dr. Cangiano to escort me to his office Ms. Lawton entered the room and had me follow her to her office . This was the break I was desperately needing . Now Vise Principle Ms. Lawton was a very strict ol gal and I had dealings with her over some illegal fireworks she hand seem me with . One thing I know about woman is when it comes to punishment time as a boy your goanna what a woman rather than a man , Amen to that ! In Ms. Lawton's office now with the door closes she proceeded to read me the riot act . She told me that Counselor Ms. Cameron had caught me smoking Pot at the tennis courts ! "Check this out", I was not under the influence at this moment , back then one look at my blood shot eye's and no denying it ! I simple looked at her and said excuse me Ms. Lawton , I don't smoke Pot and would never do something so dangerous and Stupid , I can't believe you would accuse me of such a reckless thing after having a cigarette with a friend , Because Greg had what was left of are joint when he skedaddled from the tennis courts . Now Ms. Lawton threw me this proplexed stair and said “well, thats what MS. Camoran said it was but , there is no evedance that it was marijuana you were smoking . "Your Damn straight you don’t ", so I said to my self . So then she went on to say ,” smoking cigerattes is also against the rules and I’m going to suspend you for a week”. OK , I’m still not out of the sticks just yet but , I still got a trick or two up my sleeve .. Remember what I said come Punishment time man vs woman ? Here comes the Ace of Spades ! So I looked at Ms. Lawton and gave her this lost puppy dog look and said ,”I’m not going to be able to graduate if you suspend me and I’ll end up living a life as a homeless bum under a bridge or something like that .. “ and I really laid the sarcasm on thee ol girl" ! As strict and void of sympathy as she seemed she was still a woman and I do believe I stirred up her emotions 😁 . Then I made a suggestion. And said ,” couldn’t I do detention instead" ? Guess what ? I got an hour of detention instead for a week 👍. Now from the time I did get out of school I only had a hour and a haft before I had to show up at John Larosa’s Union 76 filling station on the corner of Edinger and Magnolia , due to Detention it was going to shorten it down to a haft hour now ! Alright , I’m going to make this work because I liked the money I was earning then after all I had to support that habit I had of smoking those .... you know cigarettes ! 😎 the detention actually helped me out better than I thought . Instead of craming down my home Work around 10:00PM at night , I did it in detention and was getting more sleep at night too . Good thing I had that old Harley Davidson supergluid because I had to burn rubber once I left Detention and get home and change into my uniform then burn rubber to the station , that old bike with the drag pipes on it wasnt quiet at all and would erk my boss John to no end , Lol ! So I did graduate amongst my Alumni piers . Mr. Wines gave me a D- after I did the lost puppy dog thing on him too. I never told any one about this till now and it has been deeply rooted in the back drops of my mind . That is why I took 6 months to write this last section because it took some time to bring it all to memory so I could recall the smallest of details . I"m not proud of this , but I did make this thing happen and it is a transparancy of my life back then . I can’t say I learned my lesson that day , at least not the one intended for me but , what I did learn was IT’S NEVER OVER TILL IT’S OVER & when your betting at the table over a game of cards don’t fold just because the guy across from you keeps raising the bet ! I wonder what ever became of our teachers and mentors and those in charge of us after we left to strike out into the real world and seek out our own destinies . I seriously doubt that maybe but a few of our mentors are even still alive . I Steve G Golden dedicate my story to the Men and Woman that dedicated their lives to give us all a higher education and a chance to be more then we could possible dream and to dare to do the impossible . God bless them all for a job well done . My Diploma has payed me dividends into getting in to my present career as a top notch Crane Technician ! 💰 Operator too! steveggolden at yahoo dot com ATTENTION TO ALL GRADUATES OF LA QUINTA H S , THERE TEARING DOWN OUR OLD SCHOOL AND REBUILDING IT . IF YOU WANT ANY LAST MOMENT PIX . GET THEM NOW !