Note: Takes place shortly after "A Chicken In Every Plot."

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It was a sunny, early April Wednesday. The bell just rang, signaling the end of the school day. It only took a few moments before kids began coming out the front doors in throngs.

Some of the kids remained, however. Around the back of the school, on the athletics field, the track team was preparing for practice by stretching, then doing short sprints. Three boys came out last, chatting with one another. The first had short, wavy brown hair, and stood a few inches taller than the other two. The second had shoulder length, straight brown hair, and the third had longish blond, curly hair.

"I had an idea for a senior prank we could pull," the one with the long straight hair said.

"You didn’t hurt yourself by thinking, did you, Tom?" the one with the short hair asked, laughing.

"That was really nice, Mike," the blond commented.

Mike turned a look at the blond. "Which reminds me, Ralph, you are joining in on the prank, right? No weaseling out this time."

Ralph paused a moment before answering, perhaps a little over enthusiastic, "Of course, I’m joining in!"

"Well, that’s good," Tom began, "because I was thinking that we might hotwire Knight’s car and get a little... detailing job done on it." He flung an arm around Ralph’s shoulders. "And we figured we needed someone who could run fast so as not to be spotted getting into the car."

"Yeah, Knight leaves it unlocked." Mike winked. "I know."

"But..." Ralph began, earning glares from the other two. He shrugged and gave a sheepish grin, "I don’t know how to hotwire a car."

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A 1962 Convertible Chevy sat parked at a shopping plaza. Three familiar boys sat in it, two in the back, one in the front.

Tom and Mike leaned over the backs of the front seats, and Tom pointed at the dash. "What you need are the ignition wires, detach them, and tie the loose ends together, then detach the starter motor wire from the ignition wire and touch it to a powered wire on the other side of the ignition switch. Got it?"

Ralph turned a dull glare back at Tom. "I got it." He sighed. "Don’t know why I have to practice on my own car."

"Knight’s also got a Chevy. It works out perfectly," Mike commented. "Now, you gonna try it or what?"

"Fine," Ralph agreed, then bent over to look under the dash.

"You really gotta get under there," Tom said.

"Okay." Ralph gave a half grin, then swung his legs up over the back of the seats, nearly hitting the other two.

"Watch the feet, man!" Mike complained.

"Sorry," Ralph responded, now with his head under the dashboard. He found the two ignition wires, detached them, then tied them together. Next he looked for the starter motor wire. He found that and detached it, then looked for a powered wire to touch it to, and found one. He touched the ignition wire to the starter wire... and hoped he wouldn’t get zapped.

The car’s engine came to life, causing Mike and Tom to cheer. Ralph, still under the dash, frowned. How did he end up in the middle of this? He sat up and was immediately congratulated by his friends, neither realizing that Ralph was still frowning.

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The next day, the trio of boys took advantage of their study hall to sneak out to the faculty parking lot. Mike and Tom led the way, while Ralph hung back, looking unsure.

"There’s Knight’s car," Mike pointed out, and all three looked at the 1967 black Chevy.

"Okay, man," Tom said, turning to Ralph, "go to it."

"Guys, I don’t know about this--" Ralph began.

"Weasel, weasel, weasel! Geez!" Mike complained, then Tom gave Ralph a shove out into the lot.

Ralph sprinted across two aisles, then crouched down next to the principal’s car. He glanced back and saw the other two take off, headed for the lot’s exit.

"What am I doing?" Ralph asked no one, then opened the door and got into the car, slamming the door. He turned in the driver’s seat to lean under the dash and after a bit of searching for the wires, he made the connections and the car came to life. Ralph righted himself in the seat and glanced around. Seeing it clear in the lot, he shifted gears into reverse and backed out of the parking spot.

Ralph drove to the exit where Tom and Mike were waiting... and nearly swerved when he saw Principal Knight standing with his two friends. He pulled the car up, shifted into park, and thumped his head onto the steering wheel.

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"Hold on, there, Mr. H," Tony interrupted.

Ralph paused in his story. "What is it, Tony?"

"Knight was principal back then, too?" Tony asked, and the other students gave questioning looks.

"Hey, now, come on, this wasn’t that long ago, only nine, almost ten years," Ralph corrected. "But, no, it was actually Knight’s father that was principal then." His face then flushed a little in embarrassment, "Knight Sr. ended up teaching college classes after he left at the end of that year.

"Because of your prank?" Cyler asked.

"It was the last straw for him," Ralph said, then sighed. "I’m not proud of it. I still don’t know why I went along with it."

"What’s that gotta do with how you became a teacher, Mr. H?" Paco asked.

"Well, at the time I was deciding between a couple possibilities and, realizing that, in teaching, perhaps I could keep students from making the same mistake I did, it’d be worth it," Ralph answered.

"Didja get suspended?" Tony asked, with a grin.

"No, I didn’t because I didn’t have any priors, Tony. I only got a strong warning... and a phone call home. My mom was not too pleased about that call," Ralph said.

The bell rang and the kids got up. Ralph moved around behind his desk as Tony walked up.

"Okay, Mr. H, you got us with that one. But you gotta admit that knowing how to hotwire that jeep was necessary," Tony said.

"At the moment, it was, yes. But later on, Bill... Mr. Maxwell ended up finding the keys to it," Ralph said.

Tony thought for a moment. "You got anymore stories like that one?"

Ralph grinned. "Well, I never got to tell you that one of my other options I’d been considering to study in college was music."

Tony scoffed. "Yeah, right, Mr. H." He turned. "See ya later." He left the classroom.

Ralph closed up his briefcase and said to the empty room, "I could’ve been bigger than the Beatles." He laughed, shaking his head, and left the classroom.