Originally posted on March 27, 2017 by Gordon Savage
Samantha had done what she considered to be the right thing. She had called home to report that she had gone UA (“Unauthorized Absence” for those of you who are unfamiliar), taking full responsibility for what she had done. It left her father in a quandary of sorts. She had deliberately disobeyed, but she had also reported herself. On top of that he had realized she had been telling the truth, which meant the grounding wasn’t justified. What was he supposed to do?We drove home in total silence. I looked at Father. His face was grim, and he was staring at the road. I knew better than to say anything. All I could do was sit there imagining what he would do when we got home. It take long for me to find out.
As soon as Father closed the door, he stopped and froze me with a look I can’t describe. I resisted an urge to drop my head. Instead, I came to attention and stared him in the eye.
“Sammy”—He never called me that except when he was apologetic— “Dammit, you’ve put me in a fix. What you did tonight made me understand that you didn’t lie about the graffiti, and you didn’t deserve to be grounded. I have to apologize for that. On the other hand you disobeyed orders. I don’t know which is more important.”
He paused. “So help me, if this had happened last year I would have put you in a military school to teach you some self-control. As it is, a semester – if we could get you in – wouldn’t do you or anyone else any good.”
He looked me up and down. “Right now I should be chewing you out royally, but I recognize my own part in this and your grit for informing me of what you had done. So here’s what’s going to happen. Your grounding is terminated; however, for now your 10 o’clock curfew will continue, and if you screw up again … well, you figure it out.”
I stood there speechless. What had just happened? I had disobeyed, a cardinal sin, and I had gotten off with a reprieve. I had to rethink Father’s – my Dad’s – actions. I was still mad at him for Brian’s death, but he had been more than fair with me, and Brian wasn’t forced to join the marines. He’d made that decision based on Dad’s urging, but it was Brian decision.
Dad snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Sammy, are you alright?”
I realized I’d been staring into space. “Uh. I’m fine… and thank you. May I speak candidly?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Certainly. What’s on your mind?”
I looked down. Then I gritted my teeth. “I need to apologize. I was so mad at you for making Brian join the marines, but I realize it was his decision. I don’t know if he did it to make you proud of him or what, still it was his choice.” I paused to gather my thoughts.
“I’m glad to hear that. I hope that I have my Samantha back.” He actually hugged me.
I teared up. “I love you, Daddy.”
— # —
An hour later I continued to be in shock. What had happened? Dad had forgiven me, and I had forgiven him. The feud was over. I could get back to my life. I should have been elated or maybe a little sad. Instead, I was still feeling angry.
And it wasn’t at Dad. It was at Principal Ashworth. Even before the graffiti incident, he had been after me for some reason, maybe the prank. He had no right to profile me.
The more I thought about it the angrier I got. The idea was slow forming, but I was going to make him pay. He didn’t like my pranks? He’d learn about pranks. I began thinking of ways I could play practical jokes on him – without getting caught.