Friday
13th . . .Who’s afraid of Friday 13th? Shoot, aint nothing but another day. Or, so I thought. Let me tell you a story about my day.
My day starts out with me waking up late and having to hurry to school. I'm a senior this year and we are just a few more weeks before graduation. As I get ready to rush out door I realize that I'm very hungry. So, as I pass through kitchen I grab a mango and a knife and head for door. During my walk to school, I cut and eat mango hoping to satisfy this ache in my stomach.
Later during day, I stand up. And, almost immediately fall right back down. The next thing I know other students are telling me how I passed-out. Myself, I don't have a clue what they are talking about. But feeling weak I sit down outside classroom to regain my composure. A moment or two later I am helped to school Office where Staff try to ascertain my condition and notify my parents of my falling sick.
I left my "Book-Bag" outside classroom and told one of school staff about it. I was taken to Vice Principals Office to relax and wait for a parent to come pick me up. A few minutes later Assistant Principal is called from office, returning a few minutes later advising me that Staff had found a knife in my "Book-Bag." This is not a big deal to me. I don't think of knife as a weapon. I don't want to harm anybody. I am not a murderer. "It's a knife. I used it to eat my fruit." So, that's what I tell Assistant Principal.
A few minutes later Assistant Principal hands me a "Witness Form," telling me to prepare a statement regarding knife found in my Book-Bag. (At this time let me tell you a little more about myself.) I have never been in trouble before. The most serious offense I have ever committed is riding a bicycle without a helmet. I have no criminal record. I do not use drugs. And, with exception of a little experimentation about six months ago, in which I made a complete ass of myself, I do not drink alcohol. I would probably be a 4.0 Honor Roll Student if I didn't have hormones of an eighteen year old while surrounded by a couple hundred fifteen to eighteen year old pin-up girls all day long. But that's a different story. The point I'm trying to make is, I am a good kid. I do not run with gangs. I do not cause problems at school. Heck, I even go to Church most Sundays.
So, imagine my surprise when after taking my "Statement" in which I admit that I had brought knife to school with me, Assistant Principal advises me that she has contacted Police and I am to be arrested for having possession of a weapon at school. At time I wasn't real concerned about it. I was more concerned with my feelings of weakness and general disorientation, which shortly thereafter resulted in both Fire Department and an Ambulance being dispatched to school to rescue me.
My ill health, nor my parents were able to rescue me from being charged with possession of knife. Which I still hadn't recognized seriousness of. Okay, so I get a "ticket" and sent home with my parents, right? Wrong! Were I still Seventeen, that would be case. But, as with many seniors, I recently turned eighteen. No Cite and Release. They informed my parents and I that I would be charged as an adult for a felony.
So school has just ended for day. My Friday 13th is in full motion and there's absolutely no way of stopping it. I leave school for day strapped on a gurney inside an ambulance on my way to a local hospital, being followed by a Sheriff’s Deputy.
It is now Monday sixteenth. I have been locked up in local jail with a bunch of jerks that decide to mess with me all weekend. A couple even try to intimidate me in to performing sexual acts, without success. After about four hours and what will probably amount to a few thousand dollars in medical expenses, Hospital released me to custody of Sheriffs Department who transported me to local jail where I was charged with a felony count of being in possession of a weapon on school grounds. And, although I was a local resident still living at home with my parents without any prior criminal history, I was not allowed "O.R." release. Instead I was given a bail amount of five thousand dollars. I understand that this is five hundred dollars payment to a Bail Bonds, but I do not have that kind of cash. My parents are struggling to find a way to pay a 48 Hour Notice from PG&E so they do not have ability to bail me out either. So, now I wait to appear before a Judge three days later.
