A/N: The Icelandic is via Google translate… So, if it is not accurate, I apologize.
Chapter 35- Going through Graduation Plans
March 20th, 2000
Gunnar's POV
Today just seemed like an ordinary day, the new administration was getting their feet wet today and the teachers were being harder than ever. Then I heard during the fourth period the following announcement.
"Attention all seniors, please report to the cafeteria for your fifth period class. Again, Seniors please report to the cafeteria for your fifth period class. That is all."
"Yall why do we have to go to the cafeteria for 5th period?" Dwayne asked.
"I have no idea. Gunnar do you know what in the f-, He double hockey sticks is going on?" Russ asked, looking at Dr. Madigan who was staring at him. He knew that if he got into trouble one more time he would have to appear before Dr. Donovan or Dr. West for using crude wording.
"HMM," Dr. Madigan said as she moved back to the front of the classroom.
"Maybe they are going to let us eat early today," Goldberg said.
"Goldberg not likely," I said.
When the bell rang, we gathered our stuff and I headed down for Adam's locker, we were put in alphabetical order for our lockers and Adam's locker was closer to the door to go out to the cafeteria. I didn't even meet Adam after class outside the classrooms. We were told not to share lockers at the beginning of the year, but I knew that Adam would not care that I was storing stuff in his locker. We had given the combination to each other's lockers every year since I came here. My locker was clear on the other end of the hall and around the corner near the computer lab from the science rooms.
"I figured that I might find you here," Adam said as he walked up to the locker.
"Yeah sorry, I wanted to get my stuff put away and your teacher held you over," I said.
"Yeah tell me about it, he wanted to make sure that we understood that there was a large assignment that was coming up and a few things that were going to be on the exam in a few weeks," Adam said.
"Oh," I said as I slid out of the way to let Adam have access to his locker.
"Thanks," Adam said and quickly put his books in, shut the door and locked it.
We made it to the cafeteria just before the bell rang and sat down at the ducks table.
"All right seniors, listen up," Dr. West yelled out.
The seniors all kept talking, a few stopped and paid attention.
Portman stood up and yelled, "HEY SHUT UP!"
At that moment you could hear a pin drop.
"Thank you Mr. Portman," Dr. West said.
Portman gave a half of a wave as he sat back down.
"We need to discuss your graduation coming up here in a few weeks. We have the Jostens representative here for the next few days to get your order for your open houses. We will have a 10-ticket limit for each graduate to see your graduation in the bowl. If you wish to invite more than the ten ticket limit they will have to go to the ice rink where we will be streaming the event there. Please do not lose your tickets as we will not be able to reprint your tickets. You will need to order your invitations, a class ring, any other class paraphilia that you may want and your cap and gown. You need to be cleared by Dr. Turner, Dr. Donovan, or Myself before you will go to see the Jostens representative to get your ordering materials and get measured for your cap and gown. Once you have finished getting measured for your cap and gown you will return to your classroom. This will go by your last name. If your last name begins with the letter's A through H will see Dr. Turner. If your last name begins with the letter's I through P you will see Dr. Donovan. If your last name begins with the letters Q through Z you will see me. We will give you your graduation tickets. If you wish to go to your dorms to drop the materials off before going to class you are welcome to do so. Questions?" Dr. West asked.
Nobody asked a question.
"Good I want an orderly fashion, if you haven't seen the Josten's representative you may remain until you have seen the representative, try to get through your lunch quickly and join your sixth period as soon as possible. All right let's go," Dr. West said.
Dwayne started to head for Dr. Turner's table when Charlie asked, "Dwayne what are you doing?"
"Going to see Dr. Turner to get my graduation stuff," Dwayne said.
"Oh, Dwayne you need to go to the person that corresponds with your last name. Your last name is Robertson, you need to go and see Dr. West," Bella said.
"Oh, right," Dwayne said.
"Come on let's go," Russ said to Dwayne.
"And he is going to the University of Texas at Austin? How in the hell did he get in there?" Connie said after Russ and Dwayne walked away.
Then Bella, Adam, Charlie, and I all shrugged our shoulders.
I waited until the following Saturday to call home to talk about Graduation. Coach and Ms. Michele both asked me if I wanted to order graduation announcements. I didn't know why I should. All of my family lives in Iceland and I am sure they would not want to come here to watch me walk across some stage. Even though they both said that it was the closing of one chapter and the opening of another.
"Halló mamma og faðir, (Hello Mother and Father)" I said.
"Sæll Gunnar, hvernig hefurðu það? Líður þér vel? Hvernig gengur skólaganga þín? og teymið þitt? (Hello Gunnar, how are you? Are you well? How is your schooling going? and your team?)" Mamma asked, she was always excited to hear from me. I could not blame her after my sister of course.
"Ég er góður. Allt er vel. Við unnum Ríkismeistarakeppnina fyrr í þessum mánuði. Ég var með sigurmarkið, (I am fine. Everything is well. We won the State Championship earlier this month. I had the winning goal,)" I said.
"THAT IS WONDERFUL GUNNAR, COACH KOLEKSSON WOULD BE VERY HAPPY TO HEAR THIS. YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE FACE OF TEAM ÍSLAND. AND WHAT IS BETTER YOU WON'T BE STOPPED BY A STUPID QUACKING DUCK," Father said.
I hung my head in shame. I knew that Father had been talking to the men's national team for hockey and their coach Vladimir Koleksson. I was told he was a winner, inside and out. Granted he wasn't no Coach Stansson but still. That and father trashed the team that I knew and loved for the past 3 years.
"I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE HOME AND YOU CAN GO HÁSKÓLI (University). YOU ARE GOING TO KNOCK ALL OF THE GIRLS DEAD," Father said.
"Já (Yeah)," I said slowly. I had been avoiding the subject about university for the majority of the year with them. Because I wasn't sure of how to break it to my parents of my intention to return to Minnesota next year and go to The U with Adam. We have even been picking out where we wanted to live on campus. And as much as Adam wanted to stay home to save money, I wanted to experience the entire college life. Bella and Charlie were not going to have a choice but to live in the dorms at Wisconsin. Same with Connie and Guy since they were going to be an hour southwest of us in Mankato. Guy had been working hard since the end of the season at Long John Silvers on the weekends to get them a set of wheels. His amma og afi (Grandma and Grandpa) had promised him to finance half of a good, safe working car, if he came up with 3,000 dollars. Every paycheck went to the car fund.
"Gunnar, hvað er að, sonur? Þú hljómar svo sorgmæddur? (Gunnar, what is wrong, son? You sound so sad?)" Mamma asked concerned.
"Ekkert mamma, heiðarleg. Það er, það hefur verið löng vika, (Nothing Mama, honest. It's, it's been a long week,)" I said.
"Jóhanna, það er nóg, (Jóhanna, that is enough,)" Father said.
"Stahl, Gunnar er sonur minn. Ég hef rétt til að hafa áhyggjur af honum, (Stahl, Gunnar is my son. I have a right to be concerned about him,) Mamma said.
"Þú þarft að hætta að vera svo áhyggjufullur að hann sé maður núna, tími fyrir hann að fljúga á sinn eigin, (YOU NEED TO QUIT BEING SO CONCERNED HE IS A MAN NOW, TIME FOR HIM TO FLY ON HIS OWN,)" Father yelled.
"HANN ER SONUR MINN, STAHL, SONUR MINN! ÉG HEF EKKI SÉÐ HANN Í ÞRJÚ ÁR. ÉG Á RÉTT Á AÐ HAFA ÁHUGA ÞEGAR SONUR MINN ER SÖGUR. ÞÚ SETTIR HANN Í LÍKAMA minn. ÉG ÞURFTI AÐ GANGA Í GEGNUM 9 MÁNAÐA AF BLÓÐ, SVITA OG TÁR TIL AÐ KOMA LÍKAMA HANS Í ÞESSA HEIM. Svo ekki sé minnst á 24 STUNDA LÍÐINU TIL AÐ KOMA LÍKAMA SÍNUM INN Í ÞESSA HEIM! SVO, Á ÉG RÉTT Á AÐ HAFA ÁHYGGJUM AF HANN…(HE IS MY SON, STAHL, MY SON! I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM IN THREE YEARS. I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED WHEN MY SON IS SAD. YOU PUT HIM INTO MY BODY. I HAD TO GO THROUGH 9 MONTHS OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS TO BRING HIS BODY TO THIS WORLD. NOT TO MENTION THE 24 HOURS OF AGONY TO BRING HIS BODY INTO THIS WORLD! SO, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE WORRIED ABOUT HIM….)" Mamma yelled.
"ÞAÐ ER EKKI MYNDIN AÐ ÞÚ FARIÐ EKKI ... (IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT YOU WON'T FLY….)" Father yelled.
"VILTU BÆÐI ÞEGJA? Ég hata það þegar þú berst, (WOULD YOU BOTH SHUT UP? I HATE IT WHEN YOU FIGHT,)" I yelled.
"GUNNAR ÀSLÀKUR PÈTUR STAHLSSON ! ÞÚ SEGIR EKKI ÞESSI ORÐ. Drottinn Guð mun refsa þér fyrir notkun þessara orða,(GUNNAR ÀSLÀKUR PÈTUR STAHLSSON! YOU DO NOT SAY THOSE WORDS. THE LORD GOD WILL PUNISH YOU FOR THE USE OF THOSE WORDS,)" Mamma yelled at me.
"EINS OG MÉR SÉ EKKI SAMA? Ég hata það þegar þú berst ! (LIKE I CARE? I HATE IT WHEN YOU FIGHT!)" I yelled.
"GUNNAR ÀSLÀKUR PÈTUR STAHLSSON YOU WILL CARE YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO ARGUE WITH YOUR MOTHER…" FATHER YELLED.
"ÉG ER SORGUR ELSKUM. Ég var að reyna að koma punkti yfir, (I'M SORRY MY LOVES. I was trying to get a point across,)" Mama said quickly.
"Það er allt í lagi mamma ég fyrirgef þér. Og mér þykir það líka leitt, (It's okay Mama I forgive you. And I am sorry as well,)" I said.
"Það er allt í lagi, Gunnar sonur minn. Svo um hvað ertu að hringja? (It's okay, Gunnar my son. So, what are you calling about?)" Mamma asked.
" Ég er að hringja um útskrift. Ég var að velta fyrir mér hvort þú ætlaðir að mæta. Við erum með tíu miða á hvern útskriftarnema, (I am calling about graduation. I was wondering if you were planning on attending. We have ten tickets per graduate,)" I said.
"Hvenær er útskriftin? (When is graduation?)" Mamma asked.
"14. Maí, (May 14th,)" I said.
"JÁ. Ég er svo spenntur…(YES. I am so excited…)" Mama started.
"NEI (NO)," Father yelled.
"Faðir af hverju? (Father why?)" I asked.
"Númer eitt sem þú mamma flýgur ekki. NÚMER TVÖ Ég kem ekki 9093 KILOMETERS. BARA AÐ taka þátt í heimskulegum amerískum viðskiptum. ÞÚ OG ÁSTRÍÐUR ERU ALLTAF ÁSTUR Í AMERÍKU ÉG TAPA EKKI FÉLAGI Í FJÖLSKYLDU minni í því heimska landi og heimskulegum viðskiptum, (NUMBER ONE YOU MOTHER DOES NOT FLY. NUMBER TWO I AM NOT COMING 9093 KILOMETERS. JUST TO PARTAKE IN A STUPID AMERICAN TRADITION. YOU AND ASTRID ARE ALREADY IN LOVE WITH AMERICA I WILL NOT LOSE ANYMORE MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY TO THAT STUPID COUNTRY AND ITS STUPID TRADITIONS,)" Father yelled.
"Stahl," Mamma said.
"ÉG SAGÐI NEI OG ÞETTA ER LOKA SVARIÐ mitt, (I SAID NO AND THAT'S MY FINAL ANSWER,)" Father yelled.
"En faðir (But father)" I started to say.
"EKKI ER, OG ER EÐA EN UM ÞAÐ GUNNAR. BLESS, (NO IF'S, AND'S OR BUT'S ABOUT IT GUNNAR. GOODBYE,)" Father yelled and the next thing I knew I heard a dial tone.
"FJANDINN HAFI ÞAÐ! (DAMN IT!)" I yelled.
"Gunnar are you okay?" Ms. Michele asked.
"No, Mamma wants to come but Father put his foot down. Said he doesn't want to take part in a stupid American tradition," I said.
"I'm sorry, Gunnar," Ms. Michele asked.
"I just don't know what to do," I said.
"Well, if I were you I would hold onto enough tickets for your immediate family to come, then the rest we can give away. Like to Dwayne's family. How many do you think might come?" Ms. Michele asked.
"I don't know maybe Astrid and my parents. I don't think that Keldan and Ingrid have passports so I think that they would stay in Ísland with my older sister Elísabeth," I said.
"Well why would Elizabeth not come?" Ms. Michele asked.
"Because she can't," I said.
"Why?" Ms. Michele asked.
"Because she can't, she can't fly," I said and then I quickly left the kitchen, went to my room, and slammed the door. Adam came down to check on me, but I didn't want to talk about it. There was no point in bothering Adam with the problems my family, particularly my father, caused. In the end I decided to keep five tickets, just in case my family decided to come.
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