The Importance of Good Role Models

The night was cold, and the air was stale. Eight teenagers wandered down oncoming traffic as if they owned the road. They ignored the loud car horns being blasted at them. Each pedestrian who past them knew they were up to no good. The group of teens was under the lead of one person, who they all knew was not messed with. They knew him as Switchblade. They stuck by Switchblade's side because they had nowhere to go, and they felt safe with him. The group was responsible for many of the cities lower level crimes.

One of the new members of the group was a boy named Skippy Calhoun. He joined the group because he was tired of being alone. His parents were always working, and were barely home. This was his first week with the gang, and he didn't quite know how they operated. Being the youngest member, he was expendable. If Switchblade had an unflattering task at hand, Skippy would have to step up.

They went down the block to a local jewelry store. Switchblade had been casing the fairly large diamond in the window. He wanted to sell it on the street for drugs. However, he did not want to get caught in the act, so he turned to young Skippy. He figured this would be a good initiation test for the kid.

"Skippy, you wanna prove you have what it takes?" Asked Switchblade.

"Of course I do!" Replied Skippy.

"You see that diamond by the window? I want you to break the window and take that diamond." Ordered Switchblade.

Skippy felt uneasy about the upcoming task. He had never committed a felony before, let alone any crime.

"I don't know, won't I get caught?". Asked Skippy.

Switchblade answered with a non-convincing answer.

"Nah, you won't get caught. Those diamond brains are too busy counting their cash to notice anything beyond whose picture is on the bill. Besides, if you do get caught, jail ain't so bad. I've been there plenty of times, and yet here I am."

Skippy wanted to please everyone in the group, so he reluctantly decided to do it. Switchblade and the rest of the group retreated out of sight. Skippy picked up a small chunk of concrete and shattered the window. After the glass finished falling to the ground, Skippy quickly went into the store and picked up the diamond. As he was running, he began to hear police sirens in the background. Skippy could hear his heart beating faster and faster. Not watching the ground, he slipped on a McDonalds's hamburger wrapper. The diamond went flying from his hands onto an old mattress. As Skippy fell to the ground, he hit his mouth on a lamppost. He painfully stood himself up. As he stood there, a police car rolled up. The officer got out of the car.

"Turn around and put your hands on the car!" yelled the officer.

After officer Alonzo Quinn put Skippy in handcuffs and placed him in his patrol car, they drove off. The ride back to the police station was a long and quite one. Officer Quinn said remained silent the whole time.

After they pulled up to the station, the 6'0 officer took Skippy out of the car and they both went into the building. The two went into the officer's quarters. Skippy was reluctant to sit down. The officer got Skippy some water, then he finally sat down.

"So what were you doing burglarizing that jewelry store?" Asked officer Quinn.

Skippy replied "I don't know. My friends told me to. I wanted them to respect me, so I did it."

The officer responded "It's tough being put in that situation. You want them to like you, but that still doesn't make it right to commit a criminal act."

Skippy admitted "I know."

Then the officer explained "You know, I wasn't always a law abiding citizen. When I was a kid, I used to get into trouble all the time. My parents were in jail all the time, so I felt free to do whatever I wanted. Then one day, I was eyeing an old man's gold watch. I ran up to him and tried to take it. I grabbed onto the watch, but then he blindly turned around and belted me in the face with his cane. He then saw I was just a kid."

(Past)

The old man yelled "What do you think you're doing? Huh? You think you can go up to people and take things from them? Hmm? Back in my day, people treated each other with respect. By the way, you broke my $300 watch. Do you have enough money to pay for that?

"No"

"Well you have two options, either I call the cops and have you arrested, or you can come to my house and help me fix some things I haven't been able to repair." Said the old man.

(Present)

"I came home with the old man and was luckily able to help him repair his things. He then told me that my attempted crime wasn't worth it. No one ever told me that before. I had always been able to get away with my crimes before that happened. I will never forget that. That was the one and only time I ever saw him. After that I decided to turn my life around. I wanted to pass on what I learned from him to other people. I've been a police officer for fifteen years now, and this would have never happened if it wasn't for him. So you see, we all need people to steer us in the right direction. So now I am telling you, what you're doing is not worth it. Luckily for you, you're not old enough to go to jail, plus I can tell you're a good kid who got mixed up with the wrong crowd. So take my advice and alter the course you are on. You're free to go."

Skippy got up from the chair and walked out of the station. As he was walking down the road, he saw someone was being mugged by another teen. He ran over to the other side of the street, and with a full head of steam he tackled the suspect. He then realized he tackled Switchblade. Skippy then knocked out Switchblade with a nearby two-by-four. Skippy then dragged the unconscious Switchblade to the police station and left him there.

Alternate Endings:

Skippy got up from the chair and walked out of the station. As he was walking down the road, he saw someone was being mugged by another teen. He ran over to the other side of the street, and with a full head of steam he tackled the suspect. He then realized he tackled Switchblade. Skippy then knocked out Switchblade with a nearby two-by-four. When Switchblade awoke, Skippy stood over him and said "Don't let me catch you doing this again." Skippy then went on to become Batman.

Skippy got up from the chair and walked out of the station. As he was walking down the road, he saw someone was being mugged by another teen. He ran over to the other side of the street, but before he could get to the other side he got hit by a car. Skippy died later that night.

Skippy got up from the chair and walked out of the station. As he was walking down the road he noticed someone left their car door open and engine on. Skippy got into the car and drove off. Skippy led police on along chase until his tires were popped. Skippy was charged with grand theft auto. Skippy was arraigned in federal court.