Rebel Days chapter 2

     
    Rebel Days           
Life is on the move,  I was just getting out of private school with all that structure, now to attend a regular Junior High. Starting anew, being a ninth grader. My life would be different in public school. My younger sister was enrolled in the same grade with me. We didn't share any of the same classrooms but I told you, she was smart. The Bean and I were ready for more  crazy adventures. We added a new friend, " Mac"  (another alias, like "Mac the Knife.") He is still a good friend of mine. He showed up at school carrying a chain inside his pant leg. It was a real concealed weapon, we were all afraid of the unknown but this was over kill. His defense against trouble. He moved into my  neighborhood from the south side. Mac being a white boy from Ohio and living in a ethnic gangland part of town the move north was good one. He knew how to win an argument. The fact that he was bigger than Bean and I put together helped us feel safer. The three of us became fast friends, we talked him out of carrying weapons to school. The trio all were facing a new learning curve and environment, It just made more sense to stick together. My sister did the homework for all of us. The classes were fairly easy for me, kind of a repeat of my last year in Catholic school.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Bean and I joined the Sea Scouts around this time. The scouts had this old patrol boat, “The Windy.” She was a real cool looking wood minesweeper. The crew were mostly older guys. The Skipper was hard as nails and let you know the score. He had to deal with this small criminal element, we called the crew. The problem was most of these guys were put there by a juvenile court judge. The boat harbor being in downtown Stockton after all, the Windy was moored in McCloud Lake. That left the new guys, to do all the scraping and rust patrol. That's right, Bean and I were the new guys. We learned a lot about cleaning and bilge diving in our first year. Our white hats had gotten pretty dirty during our indenture. The Windy never left the pier but she was very ship shape thank in part to us. I think probably the rest of the crew couldn't leave the pier either  because of parole issues. I'm just saying, this group was real sorry the day, we moved on or abandon ship. Nobody else was standing in line to chip paint. This crew had other skills, more like pirates. I hadn't encountered this before, most anything kind'a shinny disappeared. We did learn how to “cuss'' like real sailors, the uniforms were very nice. I did have a problem finding a clean white hat. Thank goodness the judge appointed new guys to take our places.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Tenth grade was more fun. We finally made it to High School. I worked all summer and got my first car, a 55' Chevy Bel-Air. I was almost seventeen with a new drivers license. Being a sophomore at High School was really different. The three amigo's had places to be and it wasn't in class. We started drinking something called Ruby Hill, a homemade wine. We had liberated it from a garage down the street. Two whole cases of eight one-gallon jugs. We weren't bad kids but we had stole this liquor. The three of us we're smart enough to leave the garage looking untouched. Signature red teeth and tongue, I wasn't sober for over a week or two. The morning ride to school was fun. The three young drunks boarding the bus everyday after we all hit the wine. Benito, Mac and Bean were real pirates after all. Dad and Mom split up around this time wonder why?. That was a hard time for my sisters too. The divorce did make it easier for this fool to be swayed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The lured to the dark side, I didn't need much of a push to get in trouble.  My showing up for school during my rebel phase was rare. This behavior all ended the following year. Dad tracked me down after getting my report card. I was warned many a time to straighten out. The night the music died and the party ends.  I'm enlisted in the Navy as a "kiddie cruiser." This meant  your parents permission, not being eighteen. The parents had to sign the Navy's contract. My dad's red angry face made a good argument. The year was 1966, sniveling and dragging my butt didn't help either. I had developed cold feet just before the travel day.
                                                                                                                                                                                Dad and I went toe-to-toe. My best, "James Dean" act was not working. Dad slugged me, I went down to the floor like a sack of flour. It wasn't very pretty the second time down either. The circus clown got up slowly, April Fool's Day had arrived. April 1, 1966, I departed for boot camp. Dad had won, he put me on that Greyhound bus, "Go Navy" see the world. That was the end of my rebel period.                                                                             
Tenth grade dropout....great move