Senior Prank (9781620957295) (17 page)

Frightened parents scampered away, trying to avoid the fray. Some students tried to avoid the action, but were blasted by fellow classmates. Aaron Ryan and Winston ran towards the fight, yelling for the combatants to end the battle. As they stood by, two seniors crept up and from behind reached around and hit them in the face with a pie. Others then rushed the duo, striking them with more pies. They were now into the fight so each grabbed some pie plates and whipped cream cans and joined the action. It had turned into an old fashioned Three Stooges type pie fight. It would be on YouTube within an hour and a new school tradition across the nation from that day forward.

After about 10 minutes the fight seemed to end. The whipped cream was all gone, now lying all over the football field parking lot. Pie plates also scattered the landscape. Students wiped away the residue from their faces, some even throwing it at others as a last resort. Winston's wife came up to him. He looked at her and said, “I haven't had fun like that in a long time.”

The Texas Redneck Rockers had avoided the action by wheeling their large van onto the football field next to the stage. They were setting up for their concert. Elvis looked over wanting to join the pie fight, but his band mates quickly told him to stay and participate in the set up. In fifty minutes they were ready to play. At 11 p.m. they started playing, starting out with Jason Aldean's big hit,
My Kinda Party
. They played until midnight, when Winston, grabbing a microphone on stage, ended the night, telling students to go home. Their final song was Cooper's
School's Out
. Now it could be done without interruption.

As the group packed up to go home, Winston went over to Elvis. He told Elvis, “Okay, Mr. McGraw, I lived up to my end of the bargain. I let you have the concert. Now you got to tell me about the governor's visit.” He stood and waited.

The king of surprises had another one. “I told you I would tell you, but I didn't say when,” Elvis answered. “I will tell you 10 years from now when you come to our 10th year reunion.”

“That wasn't part of the deal,” Winston answered. “No fair.”

“I never said when did I?” Elvis answered. “You'll just have to wait.”

“You got me again,” Winston said. “By the way, did you have anything to do with the pie fight?”

“No, I wish I did though. It was a great idea.”

“By the way Elvis, Monday morning I am submitting my resignation,” Winston said. “After 40 years, I've had enough. I'll finish up June 30. I'm already planning a dream vacation taking an RV through the country for six months. It's something the wife and I have always dreamed of doing.”

“This school's going to miss you, Mr. Winston,” Elvis said. “You're a fine man, a fair man, and you've always had the kids best interest at heart. I know that it hurt when you didn't get selected as All American school, but in my mind, this is the All American school and you are the All American principal.

“I'm goin' miss getting over on ya,” Elvis said, reaching his hand to shake Winston's hand. “It's been real.”

“I want to say this Elvis,” Winston answered. “It's been a pleasure to have seen so many kids come through here. My life may never be the same after I retire, but neither will this school. For in all my days, nobody, and I mean nobody was as good at pranks and shenanigans as you. Good luck, son. I think you'll be a big success in life. I think you'll hit it big with that guitar and music.”

With that the doors to the equipment van closed, and the musicians headed for their cars. Elvis drove his rickety Jeep off school property for the final time.

Winston turned off the lights, locked the gates and headed home to catch some sleep. Another senior class had been put to bed, and he intended to sleep well, answers or no answers, even if Elvis had pulled another quick one over on him on the student's final day at the school.

The notices came every possible way announcing the class reunion date of July 27: Twitter, Facebook, email, mail, text message and school website. It would be 10 years since the magic potion was used to create chaos in the school. The invitation indicated there would be a school tour at Noon and a dinner and dance at 6 p.m.

The committee even hired a part-time event marketing person to assist with the reunion. The marketing person told them to expect between 150 and 200 of the 450 graduates to attend. She indicated that many don't attend reunions because of a myriad of reasons – bad memories, distance, embarrassment (got fat, divorced, failed in business, etc.) or they just aren't interested.

When Elvis got his reunion notice he sent a text message to Jose and Lamont. He wanted to attend, but only if his two best friends from school would be there. Over the years, they have managed to stay in touch, although the frequency of their contacts lessened each year. They may talk on the phone twice a year, but through Facebook and texting they still kept up with each other.

Elvis also remembered the deal he had make with Winston to tell him all he knew about what happened during the governor's visit. Being a man of his word he emailed the event marketer reminding them to include the former principal.

Winston had retired as he said he would. That fall the Winstons took off on that six month tour of the United States in their rented RV. They saw many of the American landmarks the two had always wanted to see. The pair went to sporting events in many cities across the nation. It was the trip of a lifetime. Winston even opened a Facebook page so he could show off his many photos of the trip.

He came home, and, after being bored with retirement, took a part-time job with the local Home Depot. He finally retired for good five years later when some illness issues caused him to concentrate more on his health. When the marketer sent his invitation he accepted, adding to make sure that Elvis McGraw was coming.

Elvis was now a world wide phenomenon. One year after graduation, the Texas Redneck Rockers were signed to a record deal with Blastoff Records, a new country label out of Nashville. Six months after signing, their first national CD came out. It sold 5 million copies. This success set up a concert tour and manic marketing machine the following year. Tom Borker guided the group's efforts and the money poured in. Within two years, Elvis was a multi-millionaire, and unquestionably the group's star.

He moved from Houston to Nashville, buying a 150 acre estate 30 miles north of Nashville. His built his mother a small home on the site, and put her to work handling fan mail and his personal website. She had two hound dogs to keep her company.

The money was great but the stardom meant Elvis had no private life. Borker emailed him with weekly schedules. It was one stop after another. He had to watch his exploits as he was constantly hounded by the press and paparazzi. If he went to a movie, he had to buy all the theater seats so he could watch the movie without interruption.

If a girl breathed in his direction, she was linked romantically with him. Photos of him with women sold for thousands. He often wore disguises to avoid detection.

He had met a female though that had captured his fancy. She was a secretary in the record label office. Sue was everything he wanted in a woman, but with all the travel and demands on his time, he didn't think marriage would be fair to her. She moved onto the estate and kept working.

Five years after the group signed their record deal, Elvis decided go solo. He had turned into an outstanding songwriter. One of his songs was
Betcha Wonder
. It was full of clues about who might have done one wrong. He wrote it with Winston in mind and set a copy of the CD and lyrics to Winston.

Lamont had gone onto to riches, too. He didn't get into a big name college out of high school so he went to a community college for two years. There he won the national 200 meter run, finished third in the 100, and was a part of the 4 X 100 relay team. He would attend the University of Texas for two years, and after that, became an even bigger track star. He would go onto the next two Olympic Games and win four gold and two bronze medals. He started a foundation to award scholarships to high school track stars.

Over the years, Lamont had given himself the nickname, HD, standing for Hungry Dog. After he won the medals, Nike developed the LS HD Speed Merchant running shoe. The shoe had artwork on it featuring a bulldog and meatball on it. He also was a world spokesman for the Subway Restaurant chain, thanks in part to his affection for meatball subs. His brother, Marcus, managed his website, selling dolls, photos, shoes, posters and even managing Lamont's appearances. Lamont had made it big, and too, was a millionaire. He had a girlfriend, but with his constant travel, marriage was out of the question. Lamont lived in Atlanta, a convenient location for his travel.

Jose had married Missy three years after graduation and now had two children, Jose, Jr., 6, and Carlos, 4. Missy never did get acceptance from one of the state's big schools and after two years at the local community college, she got her secretarial degree. Her mother pulled strings to get her a job as the principal's secretary at a nearby elementary school, which she loved.

Her husband was accepted in the bricklayer apprentice program, thanks to his minority status that allowed tax breaks for employers. He was a full-time bricklayer for a few years until fate smiled kindly on him. He was an excellent father to their children. One day five years after graduation, he phoned Elvis. As they talked, Jose told Elvis he was envious of Elvis for having it all. Jose saw life as a day to day struggle, although Missy's love was still number one in his life. He told Elvis he missed the fun of school.

“It's not all it's cracked up to be,” Elvis told him about celebrity. “Sometimes I wish it was all simplier. It's rush, rush, rush, do this, do that. Guess that's the cost of success. Sometimes, I just like sitting around doing nothing.”

However, three years later, Jose's life changed radically. On a Friday evening he stopped at a convenience store to buy a six pack of beer. He set the beer on the counter, then realized he forgot something. As he turned around, a young lady was holding a soda can, ready to pay. He told the clerk to ring her up, he'd be back. He had forgotten his son's treat, a caramel-filled ice cream cone. The lady told the clerk to “give me a ticket for the Texas lottery and let the machine select the numbers.”

As Jose returned with his cone, he told the clerk “that sounds like a good idea. Give me one of those lottery tickets, too, and let the machine select the numbers.” He won the lottery, thanks to forgetting the ice cream cone and losing his place in line. Missy and he won $10 million. They quit work and went into retirement, enjoying their children's activities, travel and lots of free time.

As the reunion date approached, Jose, Lamont and Elvis kept in touch. Elvis told them he could make the school tour, but not the dinner. He had a concert in Oklahoma City the night before and Dallas the night of the reunion. He could fly in for the school tour, but had to leave for his concert. Lamont had no meet that weekend so it was a chance to come back to visit family as well. Elvis also told them about his deal with Winston, and he'd have to reveal what he knew about all the mischief during the governor's visit. He promised not to reveal the others were part of the plan.

On reunion day, the alumni were instructed to go to the auditorium upon arrival. Jose and Missy arrived at 11:45 and mingled among the crowd of about 150 graduates. Lamont came strolling at 11:50 and was swamped with classmates wanting autographs and photographs. He patiently obliged the crowd and exchanged small talk with many of his former classmates.

Lindsay Leeham, now married to a doctor, was working in marketing for a hospital. Melody Ryden, married to an attorney, was a school teacher. Hian Nyugen was a cancer researcher at Baylor University. Chris Torgon was a military instructor at Fort Drum, NY, after serving four tours of duty in the Middle East. Aaron Ryan, with a beautiful blonde on his arm, worked for Senator Alex Montoya.

One person who was not there was Teddy Big Bear Hamilton. He was at training camp with the Green Bay Packers, where he was an all-pro defensive tackle.

Also, on hand was Mohammed G Albani. He was now a surgeon in Seattle. When Lamont saw him he ran to him, they embraced, and exchanged pleasantries. “G, it's good to see ya, man,” Lamont said. “It's been a while. How you doing?”

“I am doctor now, doing surgery in Seattle,' Muhammad answered. “Great place.”

“Still running?” asked Lamont.

“When I got to college, I decided to concentrate on my grades,” G said. “But I started running longer distances and now I run the 10K and half marathons. Now I run for fun. It's tough to find time with my job.”

“I guess you know how well I have done,” Lamont said. “I owe much of it to you. You pushed me, made me better. You made me the hungry dog. You kept it real. You made me a playa, a champion.”

“I saw that's what you call your running shoes,” G said. “I laugh when I see them. I use them on shorter runs. Great shoes.”

“You're not offended are you?” asked Lamont.

“No, it a way, I consider it an honor. My father died five years ago and I loved the man. So, when I see that hungry dog stuff, it brings joy to me. It makes me think of my dad. He had one request. He wanted to be buried in America. We did that.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Lamont said solemnly. “You're a good man, G, good man.”

With that Lamont gave G a pat on the back and went to make his rounds.

Some of the teachers were there, also. Mr. Potts had retired after that state championship, worked part-time as a tax consultant, and volunteered at the local Boys and Girls Clubs, teaching kids the sport of track and field. Ms. Blossom was there, looking as good as ever. She was still teaching at the school. Mr. Ito had retired and was working on a book about the O.J. Simpson trial. Coach Welsh, still the football coach, was circulating, looking for former players.