Chapter 20

Monday, November 8, 1976

“Michael, I am going to discharge you this morning, all of your test results have come back negative, there are no traces of toxins in your blood. You have active antibodies for the many diseases you were afflicted with. I am amazed by your recovery. I have honestly never seen anything like it. I talked to Dr. Albright about your case and your earlier hospital stay, he told me about your previous remarkable recovery. So, I think holding you any longer would be counter-productive with regards to your leg wound. No exercise until the stitches come out. You were lucky it is only through the soft tissue, avoid getting the dressing wet.”

“Thanks, Doc, I’m ready to get out of here.”

I called home, and Mrs. J. answered the phone.

“Hi Mrs. J, can you come to pick me up? The doctor is going to discharge me this morning.”

“I don’t have the car, Ron has it, and he’s at work.”

“Just use my spare key and drive the T-Bird.”

“You’d let me drive your car?!”

“Sure! Why not? I trust you. Please come to the hospital. I want to go home.”

“Well, it’s yours, so I figured you’d not want anyone else driving it.”

“Please don’t worry about that, just please come here and pick me up.”

“Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

Mrs. J arrived at the hospital within the hour. During which time I got ready to leave. I gathered all my articles and packed the suitcase in preparation to go home. I received my discharge papers from the doctor. Mrs. J knocked on my door as she entered, I was sitting in the armchair watching the Price is Right on TV, waiting for her. I stood up and grabbed the paperwork and the suitcase. I walked us over to the nurses’ station to make sure no other last-minute instructions were to be had. They repeated the docs warning about not getting the dressing wet and having to wait until the stitches have been removed before doing any strenuous exercise. Then insisted I be taken out in a wheelchair. I didn’t argue.

I drove home and dropped Mrs. J. off, then headed to school.

I parked in the student parking lot. Students weren’t allowed to use visitors parking; violating this rule could lead to revocation of a students’ parking privileges permanently. I decided that if my plan did not go the way I wanted, I couldn’t afford to lose my parking privileges.

I walked into the office and explained who I was. I asked to see my academic advisor and the principal. I said that this was important, and I was willing to wait if it was required.

I waited for a while, and at close to two in the afternoon, I was eventually able to see them.

I was ushered into a conference room. To be met immediately by a hostile principal, who demanded, “What is this meeting all about? I am giving up valuable time for this.”

I took a deep breath, I was not going to rise to his hostility. I said, “I asked for this meeting because I have just been released from the hospital, and I have missed the entire academic year to this point.”

“I was informed you were in jail, and started a riot and attacked some guards,” the principal stated. “Why should I care about this?”

“Well, that rumor is completely baseless, and in fact, I have had all charges against me dropped, and my record expunged. I can definitely tell you none of the charges were true.”

“Fine, you’re innocent. What do you want? You have missed too much to consider rejoining classes here, you might be eligible for some sort of alternative school somewhere else. I don’t want a troublemaker in my school. The way I see it, you are a bad influence.”

Before I could make a statement, my academic advisor spoke. “Mr. Hightower, let’s just listen and hear what he has to say, he hasn’t been in any kind of trouble before, and he has good grades. Why not hear him out?”

I gave her a half-smile, and she smiled back and nodded at me. I took it as a sign to lay out my plan.

“As I stated, I have been hospitalized since the first week of August, I have missed the first quarter of the semester. I would like to know how I can test out of the rest of high school and graduate early.”

“I’m not sure I am following you.” Mrs. Thomas, my academic advisor, said. “Your grade point average is good, but not outstanding. Why are you interested in this course of action? I am not sure you would be able to qualify for something like this.”

“Any plan we come up with will require your parents to sign off on it.” Stated Mr. Hightower.

“You know my parents were killed over the summer, and that I now live with my guardians. Mr. and Mrs. James. I am currently petitioning the court to become emancipated. I am sure my guardians will sign any required forms or paperwork to make this possible. I am sure they would be willing to come in to discuss this if you are worried about the costs of the testing. I would be able to pay for them out of my own pocket.

“Okay. I admit, my past performance would indicate a less than stellar academic achievement, but that doesn’t mean I am an underachiever, I’m not. That is why I have come to you. I think the three of us should be able to come up with a suitable plan. I would like to propose a program that I have been thinking about. My idea involves taking an IQ test or a similar type of test, say the SAT or ACT, or a test of your department’s choosing. If I score in the 90^th percentile, I would be allowed to test out of each subject, with the resulting test score being my grade for the class.

“I would also like to test out of Auto Shop, and Metal Shop, and Welding as electives. I propose a project to meet the requirements. I would take a damaged vehicle and repair and restore it to pristine condition. I would purchase the car and the parts and my own tools and supplies out of my own pocket. I would be willing to work under the supervision of the shop instructors. But with the caveat that they sign an NDA not to divulge any techniques or processes used to restore and repair the vehicle. I also might require the use of the facilities during non-school hours, be they before, after, or possibly on the weekend. I think we can discuss that on an as-needed basis.

“I also want to test out of as many business classes I can. I ideally want to be able to enroll in college classes in the fall of next year. I plan on attending all of the shop classes, and I’m looking at taking golf and baseball in the fall semester to get my physical education credits. If those are not enough to qualify, I could log my daily training regimen and work with coach Wilson to let him evaluate my improvement. I run and do a complex exercise routine, and I have a weight-lifting program as well.”

“Your ideas seem reasonable and possibly doable. They would require input from the various department heads and the instructors that would proctor you, but I think that could be arranged. As for outside hours use of the school facilities, that might be a more difficult situation.” Replied Mrs. Thomas.

The principal wasn’t saying anything. I saw the look on his face, and it was not one of acceptance. I figured my idea was going to be shut down completely. Then he looked in my direction and began to speak. “Mr. Johnson, for us to move forward with this proposed project, we need to have a meeting with your guardians and the various department heads. If they approve it, then we have to present it to the school board for final approval. Seeing that this is outside of the normal school experience, I would think it will be an uphill battle. If you can convince them, I will allow it.”

I thought this was overkill and his way of passing the buck, so he wouldn’t be responsible for the outcome, which was a foregone conclusion.

“Furthermore,” he continued, “You will attend classes until this situation has been resolved. It will make your position stronger by allowing you to demonstrate you can improve your grades.”

“Well, why can’t we administer the test we use to enroll students into our gifted and talented program?” Mrs. Thomas asked. “That would give us a reasonable baseline to determine if the IQ or whatever test we decide on is even warranted. I propose that if Michael can pass that test, we enroll him in the G&T program. Additionally, he has to make up all of the assignments and be caught up with all his classwork by the end of the quarter. He has to maintain a 3.75 GPA in the G&T program. And should maintain a 4.0 GPA in all other classes. I feel that that would be a suitable way to show he is capable of further consideration for something like he is proposing.”