Disclaimer:
I had nothing to do with the creation of the original work The Blackboard Jungle. Only elaborated on some of the characters just for fun.
I thought this the appropriate category for this story because: Your probably all Vic Morrow fans and familiar with this movie and you might also be interested in military history. I used 3 of the actors from Combat! in different roles (see if you can spot them). Why not? They loved to act and made such memorable characters that we keep giving them new roles, maybe they'd liked that. This is the part that some say typecast Vic Morrow. He did a really good job, in reality he was a cultured man that acted Shakespeare.
The book was a product of its time when it was thought that juvenile delinquency would cause the downfall of civilization. It differs from the movie in key areas: In the movie the West character was portrayed as the ringleader of the delinquents. In the book he had nothing to do with the beating of the teachers outside the bar or the record smashing incident. There was no truck hijacking. The teacher slaps West repeatedly and in the end it was another student that cut the teacher. I always wondered why West did not just leave the school instead of being meekly lead away to the principles office. The timeframe of this story allows the characters to participate in the Korean war. It must have been a perplexing conflict to those involved because politics and the advent of atomic weapons prevented the full force of the allied military from being brought to bear. The situation to this day remains unresolved. This story deals with war, delinquency, child abuse, prison camps, war crimes, character death, loosely based on some actual incidents that happened during the Korean war. Let me know how I did.
The Blackboard Jungle continued: Arthur West Pfc.
Chapter 1
It had all happened so fast that day. When West arrived at North Manual Trades High School he immediately detected something wrong. All the guys in the schoolyard were staring at him murmuring. "What's going on?" he asked. When no one spoke he glared at them and walked by. When he got to the third floor he noticed more boys gathered around the window in the hallway looking down. As he started toward them Boloxi ran up to him and whispered "Artie that guy they brained in the hijacking was related to the don. Their goons caught your guys and they ratted you out." West shoved his way thru the crowd at the window to look at the street below. Sure enough there was a sedan waiting, no doubt full of hoods. The sweat of panic instantly broke out all over him. He ran to the other side of the building, he didn't even have to look. A group of boys were at the window looking down. It was the only other way out of the school. That was it, he was a dead man. They had the place covered and would wait till kingdom come for him to step outside. Then it would be curtains and they wouldn't make it easy either, they did things to their victims to make examples of them.
He had to think fast. During the first couple of classes he settled on a solution. He would get a police escort out of there. When he got to Daddy-oh's class he would make enough trouble to bring the police. Giving the teacher a nick would do that. First he got the squares attention by blatantly turning around during the test pretending to copy the paper of the boy behind him. When Daddy-oh demanded the paper he balled it up and threw it. But then things got out of control when Daddy-oh had slapped him in front of everyone. He should have cut him to ribbons Hell, he could have cut up half the classroom if he'd wanted but going to the chair wasn't his aim. Maybe he would just get some reform school time. Sure enough when the cops showed the hoods skedaddled. As they took him to jail his only regret was not decking that ass kissing teachers pet Miller. Singing in the Christmas play, what a sap! He had a nice grandma that took him to her church choir. West really hated Christmas
He was left in a small holding cell at the Police Station to stew. He knew that jerk Dadier would press charges. Daddy-oh had it in for him from the beginning. Their first encounter Dadier handed him a pencil and asked him to write down the names of anyone in class who talked while he was away. As if making him a rat was some kind of honor. The guy had set out to embarrass and undermine him in front of his gang. In a culture of respect thru violence you had to take revenge or you would be the next victim. That is why he had set out to get rid of Daddy-oh. Bored and claustrophobic as hours went by he actually wished he had a book or something to pass the time. He wondered if they had forgotten about him. He couldn't imagine living this way for any prolonged period of time.
Rick Dadier was grading papers after class when he was surprised by an elderly mans voice. "Mr. Daider?" He looked up to see a bespectacled Priest. Standing up in respect he offered his hand, "Yes I'm Rick Dadier." He had heard about Father O'Brien the local parish Priest with a reputation for successfully reforming delinquents. He also chaired an interfaith counsel that found jobs for inner city youths. Seeing the Priest wanted to chat he offered O'Brien a chair. "I heard what happened with Arthur West and I wanted you to know something of the boy's background." Rick held up his bandaged hand to stop him there. "If it's about not pressing charges I fully intend to." "Just hear me out Mr. Daider, that wasn't really my purpose for coming here." The Priest said. "O.K. go on," Rick said sitting back ready to hear a sob story.
"Well, I must tell you" the Priest began, "It was one of the worst cases of child neglect I've seen." Knowing the slummy neighborhoods and the length of time the Priest had ministered to them Rick was unsure he really wanted to hear the story. "Originally it was a good family, grandparents hard working people. I was a Chaplin in the Great War and knew Arthur's grandfather well. He suffered a mustard gas attack that burned his eyes and lungs. He was forced to move to Arizona for his lungs you know, before Arthur was born." The Priest paused a moment then continued. "But the parents were no good." Rick was shocked to hear a Priest say that about anyone. "Terrible alcoholics with continuous violence in their home. Don't know why God would give such people a child." The Priest's face was dark and it twitched a little. "The child seemed to be born free of the effects of alcohol. We tried to persuade them to give the boy to their parents but you see they used the lad as an excuse to milk them for money. I doubt he ever benefitted from any of it. I later learned from neighbors the parents were going out all the time without the boy. They finally figured out he was being locked in the closet. They never heard him crying or anything. It just wasn't normal. At the time children were like property and there wasn't many laws to protect them. Arthur's parents were very cleaver about making excuses for his injures and school absences. A truant officer was sent to order him to school. Then he started running away, fighting in school and stealing."
"I called on the apartment a couple of times to talk to Arthur's parents about after school programs and summer camps offered at no charge for city youth. The father met me at the door with curses and threats of violence. The mother was no better, her parents died in an apartment fire. They'd left a small sum for Arthur's education. His father promptly got ahold of it and drunk himself to death. By then the lad was fourteen and beyond any ones control. He never stayed still long enough for me or anyone else to talk to him. He has only been caught doing petty crimes. Sending him to a penitentiary would only ensure he becomes a career criminal. Since he is seventeen I propose he go into the Army far from this environment. I still know a lot of people in the service that can keep an eye on him. I've seen a lot worse come out productive citizens this way. " Yea. Rick thought, or come out a psycho that knows a lot of ways to kill. Still, the Army had done him a lot of good. The Priest must know what he's talking about. "But he's already mentioned to me he that he wouldn't go into the Army." Rick said. " I Know the people that can convince him" the Priest replied with a wry smile. "Doesn't he need a parents signature to get in at that age?" asked Rick. " I'm sure I can get it " replied the Priest. Rick agreed not to press charges so West could go into the Army with a clean record. The Priest thanked him, shook hands and left.
Later as Rick walked home he considered West. Had he singled out the boy because he was the most demonstratively disturbed? He always did hated a wisecracking smart ass and West was the ringleader in most of the trouble. He had really lost his professional composure when West used obscenities in his class. Maybe he shouldn't have struck the boy forcing him to react so violently. Perhaps West hadn't done so bad on the intelligence tests, after all he was working with one hand tied behind his back. Falling behind in the formative years has a lasting effect. West had done well to keep up with boys his age. Rick had forgotten to blame the parents in his long list of those he held responsible for the state of schools and the delinquency problem.
Rick and his wife had wanted a baby so badly but were unable to. Yet these people with nothing to offer a child had exploited and brutalized their son. As he walked past the tenements he could hear the usual bickering coming from some of the apartments. He wondered how many new delinquents are being created at this moment?
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