Chapter 12

Sam's victory had repercussions all over the school. He severely damaged Joel's clout as a tough thug, since he couldn't beat a guy nearly three times his age. Joel's fellow gang members disbanded, and seeing the resistance from the students, a couple requested to be transferred to other schools. The others faded into the population, morally beaten down into submission, because without their leader they didn't have the courage to stand on their own. Sam became a hero to those who thought they were unable to go against Joel and his friends before this. But not everyone was happy with his methods.

After his triumph, Sam expected to finish out the week as substitute, because the real teacher took advantage of the situation and went on a long cruise with his wife. He wouldn't be back until the next week. Wednesday night, since Sam knew Yvette would be over at Maddie's with the kids, he decided to stay late and ready the classroom for the next day and correct some papers.

"Mr. Axe?"

He looked up and met the eyes of someone he didn't know. "Yes. May I help you?"

"I'm Mr. Sanborn. I'm with the school board." Sanborn came forward and took the hand Sam offered as he stood.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Sanborn. Something I can do for you, Sir?"

He smiled at Sam's politeness. "I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Axe, and your teaching methods. I'm quite impressed."

"Thank you, Sir."

"I, rather, we, the board, heard about your challenge against a student, Joel Hagan. It caused quite the disruption around here."

"Yes, Sir, and I'm sorry about that. It wasn't meant to get out like that, but you know how kids are..." He gave him a weak smile.

"Yes, well..." He leaned closer to Sam and lowered his voice. "I had a nice little chat with Mr. Larkin, and he told me that he hired you to come in and flush out the riff raff. That he brought you in and you don't even have a license to teach. Never mind that you don't belong to the teacher's union!"

"That's all correct, Sir. But look at what we accomplished!"

"The end doesn't justify the means, Mr. Axe. You're lucky we don't prosecute you."

"For what? Last I checked, there was no law against impersonating a teacher."

Sanborn narrowed his eyes and his expression turned sour. "You're expected to be at the board meeting tonight, Mr. Axe. It's in a half hour." He turned on his heel and strode out the door, leaving Sam no chance to reply.

He considered not going, but he wasn't sure what the ramifications would be. He called Michael on his way to the auditorium where the meeting would be held. "Hey Mike, it's me. Looks like I got myself into hot water with the school board. Some guy named Sanborn came to my classroom and demanded I be at the meeting in a half hour."

"Are you going?"

"Yeah, I'm going! I don't think I should skip out. I'll just tell 'em the facts, and let them speak for me. I don't know what they can do. Fire me?" He laughed nervously.

"If you need some support..."

"Nothing tactical, but moral support would be great."

"I'll call Jack and we'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Thanks, brother."

Sam waited outside the auditorium for Michael and Jack, but then he realized that he was only perpetuating the strength in numbers mentality that made Joel so successful. He heard a gavel and a voice inside, glanced at his watch, and his stomach lurched. Jack and Mike were late. So Sam turned, pushed the door open and entered the auditorium alone. The door squeaked announcing his arrival, and the board members looked up from their agendas as they sat on stage at a long table. Their faces registered their unhappiness. Sam hesitated, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly as he approached the stage.

"Mr. Axe, you can be seated up here," Mr. Sanborn said as he indicated for Sam to sit in a chair under the hot lights, and it seemed as if every one of them was trained on it. He sat, crossed his legs, and rested his hands in his lap. As he made eye contact with everyone on the board one by one, they stared back and seemed to frown even more. It reminded him of the last time he faced a tribunal not unlike this one, but for far different reasons.

"Mr. Axe," a man at the far end of the table whose plaque read Mr. Diaz, spoke first. "Who hired you to work as a substitute at this school?"

"Mr. Carl Larkin, Sir."

"Was Mr. Larkin aware that you did not have a license to teach?" Ms. Johnson asked.

"I'm pretty sure he knew I didn't have a license, but you'd have to ask him that yourself." The corner of his mouth tipped up. "Ms. Johnson, may I ask why everyone is so hung up on my not having a license to teach? Is it not true the the board regularly hires people in the community to instruct in various subjects even though they have no license, and have in fact taken no teaching classes whatsoever?"

"That is true, Mr. Axe. However..."

"In my past as a team leader, I had plenty of opportunity to teach non-comms and lower grade officers in various skills such as weapons firing and handling, tactics, survival, water rescue, and..."

"That's enough, Mr. Axe!" Sanborn raised his voice and banged his gavel.

Sam barely batted an eyelash. "I'm sorry, Sir. I was merely stating my qualifications to teach, and questioning how others are hired without the magic license and without the...persecution...that I'm being forced to deal with right now. And, for your information, as further evidence of my qualifications, I taught my daughter at home and prepared her for the second grade. When we started she could barely speak English, and in six months she was at grade level and above in some subjects. She passed the state tests. They're on file if you care to see them."

"No, Mr. Axe." Mr. Chase, a man who appeared to be quite wealthy, judging by his suit and grooming, spoke as he folded his hands on the table. Sam wondered if the school was named after him. "Our concern is that you came into this school without board permission to complete a task that was not sanctioned by us."

"Ah, so you're upset that Larkin took the initiative to rid this school of some problems that threatened to put a cork in your charter school system if word got out. And for that you want to crucify me?" He leaned back, glanced up at the rafters, and returned his gaze to them. "You should be grateful. He did you a favor."

"It created publicity that we did not want."

Sam uncrossed his legs, leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his knees. "Think of the publicity you would have had if some kid tried to go up against them and failed. What if a student got hurt, or even killed, by these punks? How would that have looked on your precious school's résumé?" Sam sighed and stood. "You know what, if this is such a problem, I'll be happy to give up my position. I'm only here until Friday anyway, but if you want to be rid of me, fine. I'm gone. As for how I got here, I told you what I know, we did the job, and it's over. No use crying over spilled milk, as they say."

He turned with precision and began to walk off-stage. "Mr. Axe." He stopped, turned, and faced them. Mr. Sanborn stood. "Thank you for your service to our country, and our school. We'll take this matter up with Mr. Larkin."

"You're welcome, Mr. Sanborn. And thanks. There are some really good students in this school, and I actually enjoyed teaching them." He gave them a bittersweet smile. He suddenly realized that he would miss the kids.

"If you should decide to continue teaching on a more permanent basis, please get your license and come back. We would be happy to have you."

"I'll think about it." Maybe after the school board elections.