"The flame is coming out of your nose." "That's a lie." "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's on a high lonesome again?" " Stevie B!" " Yo!" "Come on." "Light up my life one more time." "Put it on the tab." "Hey, give one to Bobby and Paulie and Gus here, he needs another drink." "Jesus Christ!" "It's Kimberly." "What did I tell you?" "Not even two months and she's coming back." "She looks good, doesn't she?" "She really looks great." "Christ." "She's with her fucking attorney." "That asshole." "He's the one that represented her in the divorce." "Do you believe that?" "Jesus Christ!" "Be cool." "Yeah." "He was probably dating her before the divorce, wasn't he?" " Jesus Christ!" " It's over, Rick." "Take it easy." "Yeah, take it easy." " This kind of shit happens." " Yeah, I know, man." " Let it go, man, be cool." " Okay, it's gone." "I'm gone, man." "It's cool, man." "I'm mellow." " Screw it, right?" " Screw it." "Screw it!" "Screw it!" "That son of a..." "Whoa, Rick!" " Hold it!" " Hey!" "Hey, pal, take it easy." "Come on." "Settle down, Rick!" "Rick, no!" "Rick!" "Now, wait a minute." "Rick!" "Hey!" "Come here!" " No!" " Come here, man!" " You crazy?" " Come on!" " Crazy fool!" "You stay away from me!" " Get over here!" "Come here!" "Goddamn it!" " Get out of the car!" " No!" " Get out of the fucking car, asshole!" " I don't have to!" " Come on, fucking asshole!" " No!" " Don't do it!" " Hey!" " Faggot!" "Get out!" " You leave this car alone!" "Jesus!" " What are you doing?" "You're crazy!" " Douche bag!" " Hey!" "Hey, stop it!" " Hey, come on, asshole!" "Take it easy, man!" "Will you stop that?" "You're tearing my car up!" "The guy is crazy!" "Get out of the fucking car!" "Motherfucker!" "My bat!" "Give me my bat!" "Give me that fucking bat, asshole!" "You bag of shit, motherfucker!" "Damn it." " Occupation?" " School teacher." "All right, bring them up." "Don't freak out." "The course is available next semester." "Thank you." "Linda, I want you wearing a bra to class." "It's not going to change your grade." "Here comes Mr. Toad." "Latimer?" "What're you going to do?" "You going to fire me?" "Ask me to resign?" "Neither." "We want to make you a principal." "Come on, Frank." " Isn't your sense of humor a little cruel?" " Maybe, but this isn't a joke." "You applied for an administration position, didn't you?" " It was a long time ago." " I know it was." "We have to fill a position immediately and I feel you're the right person for it." " A principal position?" " A principal position." "Where?" "Brandel." "Brandel?" "Why am I not excited, Frank?" "You don't have the luxury to pick and choose." "I got a school that needs a principal, and you need a job." "I need an answer yesterday." "Congratulations, you got the job." "Thank you." "Fuck you." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Oh, God!" " Come on, man!" " Split up." "Come on, man." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Jesus." "Oh, shit!" "Disneyland." "Hey, stop it!" "I said, stop it!" "Come on!" "Get up!" " Who the fuck is he?" " Come on, lighten up here!" "Turn around, motherfucking white boy!" "Let's smoke." " Now, come here!" " Yo!" " Lighten up!" " Yo, man!" "Come on!" "Let's go, man!" "I wasn't doing nothing!" "Yo, man!" "Yo, man!" "Where in the hell are you going?" "Hey, man, come back!" " Who the hell you think you are, man?" " I'm the principal." "I don't care who you are." "Let the fuck go of me!" " Cool it!" " I didn't do nothing!" "Cool it!" "Fuck!" "My head." "Hey, lighten up, man." " Is this the principal's office?" " Yes." " Good morning, ladies." " Good morning." "Okay, boys." "Hey, fuck you." " What?" "I didn't hear that." " That's his name:" "Fuck you." " Thank you." " Fuck you." "Yeah." "But you just call me Fuck." "Sweet." "And call this ugly asshole White Zac." "His name's too long to say." "White Zac O'Shit!" "Well, Mr. Shit, can you tell me what class this is for?" "Any class Victor Duncan tries to kill me in." "You shit!" "Get the fuck away from me." "Sit." "Like I said, we got all day." "Rick Latimer." " The teacher from Willoughby." " Right." " I was hoping to speak to you before this..." " This wonderful welcoming party?" "Sucker." "Be the last time you say Victor's name." "Sit down, man." " Get the fuck off me, man!" " Sit down!" "Why don't we start my first day off with some expulsion papers for Mr. Shit and Mr. Fuck?" " And call the police." " Hold your fire, Rick." "Let's take our time here." "Get up." "Hi." "Rick Latimer." "I'm the new principal." "No shit." "I said, get up!" " Excuse me?" " Get up!" "Rick Latimer." "I'm the new principal." "Excuse me, Mr. Principal." "Jake Phillips, head of security." "Well, that's great." "While you're here why don't you call the police?" "Mr. Darcy, why don't you get the papers?" "Right on." "Okay?" "Come on, let's go." "Rick?" "Did you get a look at the neighborhood..." "The school isn't exactly the highest priority for the police around here." "These guys are trying to cut each other's nuts off." "The cops would only ask you why you stopped them." "As far as expulsion goes most of the students here have already been expelled from someplace else permanently." "Excuse me, Mr. Latimer?" "If you would like a tour of the resort, just whistle." "Right." "They come from all over the district." "Condit High, Crosby, El Roble." "Burglary, weapons charges, truancy." "All them nice things." "They even come with their own customs and traditions." "I see I'm not the only one from Willoughby." "Yeah." "Tatawicz." "He's from Willoughby." "Part of that white gang that's trying to move in on Duncan's territory." "Drug dealing and all that shit, you know?" "Victor Duncan?" "Yeah." "I see you've met him." "No, not directly." " Here." "Follow me." " Okay." " Boys, check it out." "Hey, Steve." " ¡Bastante!" "What do we got here?" "Check it out." "You must have a great dance department here." "Great move." "I'm going have to learn that one, Jake." "Sweet kid." "Well, welcome to Brandel, Mr. Principal." "Right." "Oh, and if you need me, you just whistle." "Hello." "You're ever vigilant, I see." " Where we come from, they knock." " Where I come from, they pick locks." "With your permission, Mr. Principal, I'll replace your old rusty one with a new deadbolt." "The kind only.357 Magnums can open up." "Okay?" "Thanks, Jake, that's real encouraging." "I feel much better now." "Have some jellybeans." "Thank you very much." "Do you mind if I ask you a question I ask all imported principals?" "Sure." "What is a fine, white-bread boy like you doing in a place like this?" "Keeping my warm ass planted in this chair." "Right." " Till something better comes along, right?" " Yeah, right." "Right." "Didn't know why I should think it would be any different." "What's that?" "That's a scared kid." "Duncan's pals have been terrorizing him." "Hold tight, Arturo, I'll be out in a minute." "What are you looking at?" "Hi, Kimberly." " Rick, get the hell away from me." " Just a minute, honey." "A minute is all it takes for you to do huge damage, Latimer." "Come on, let's go out for a drink." "Let's talk." " It's too late for that." " It's not too late." "I put up with all the frat brat, Peter Pan bullshit I can take." "That's your therapist talking, that's not you." "At least somebody was talking." "You weren't." "I tried to make things work, Ricky." "I didn't run out and get plastered every time we had a problem." "I didn't quit on us, you did." "I did?" "That's a bunch of shit, you know?" "You let it go, you let everything go." "Three jobs you blew." "Your father gets you in at Willoughby." "You blow that." "That's not all my fault." "You had to show up in that bar with that guy." "Rick, grow up." "I'm trying." "I'm running a school now." "I'm in charge of it." "I'm the principal." "I heard." "At Brandel." "Now, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" "One, two, three." "What's happening?" "Okay, give me some." "You never shut up!" "One, two, three." "I know you're in here." "I saw you come in." "You're safe." "Those guys ran down the hall." "The coast is clear." "Come on, why don't you come out?" "We'll bullshit a little bit." "All right, if you want to be a fucking sissy, that's your prerogative." "I ain't no sissy, motherfucker!" "Oh, no?" "How come you were running so fast?" "You'd run, too, if you were on their shit list." "Hey, I'm on everybody's shit list, man." "I just can't run that fast." "Come on, how about it?" "Come on over here." "Let's go down to the office, talk a little bit." "You and me." "All right?" "Maybe I can help you." " Maybe we can do something about them." " Shit, like what?" "We'll get them expelled." "Busted." "Something." "Man, do you know where you are?" "You're at Brandel." "Ain't you heard what they say about this school?" "Garbage never leaves the dump, man." "So, they ain't going to leave." "Neither are you." "Me?" "What about me?" "What're you talking about?" "You're in the dump, too, sucker." "Word gets around fast at Brandel." "Let me tell you, man, everybody knows about you." " You're full of shit, kid, you know?" " No, you're full of shit." "You're that fuck-up teacher from Willoughby." "And that's the only reason your sorry ass is even in this place." "So, fuck you, man!" "Don't try to be no principal with me, man, because I don't need your sorry shit." "Son of a bitch!" "Can I have your attention, please?" "Can I have your attention?" "Thank you." "Harkley." "Don't you teach 11th grade social science class in Room 212 this period?" "I really find dialectic and class struggle rather dull." "Especially when it's being discussed with the double-digit vocabulary." "Harkley, I want you and everybody else in this room..." "Hold it, Darcy." "To help seat all the students in an all-school assembly in the auditorium, sixth period today." " An assembly?" " Yeah." "Are you mad?" "Do you know what can happen?" "What are you doing this for?" "I like the attention." "Holy shit." "Hey, get off my foot!" "You got another one." "I'm not go¡ng to stand up here and g¡ve you a lecture about the values of educat¡on." "Thank you, motherfucker!" "I just have two s¡mple words." "Yeah?" "No more." "Yo, man, I got two words for you:" "Fuck you!" "I'm very ¡mpressed." "They told me that you couldn't form complete sentences here at Brandel." "No more!" "You ain't such a dude!" "No more m¡ss¡ng classes." "No more gambl¡ng." "No more extort¡on." "No more sell¡ng drugs on th¡s campus." "No more gang ¡nt¡m¡dat¡on." "Arson, robbery, rape or whatever the hell you've been major¡ng ¡n here." "No more!" "You're probably say¡ng to yourself:" ""That son of a b¡tch can't do anyth¡ng."" "That you can't expel students from Brandel." "Well, that m¡ght be true." "That goes the same for pr¡nc¡pals." "You can't expel me, e¡ther." "So, as long as I'm here, I can prom¡se you one th¡ng:" "That I w¡ll do everyth¡ng ¡n my power to enforce my pa¡nfully s¡mple rule of "No more."" "I know what you're th¡nk¡ng." "You got to I¡ve w¡th me and I got to I¡ve w¡th..." "S¡t down." "I sa¡d, s¡t down!" "Usher, you want to show th¡s gentleman to h¡s seat, please?" "You talk too much." " All r¡ght, hold ¡t down." "Hold ¡t down now." " Shut this dumb shit down." "Stop ¡t!" "Jake!" "Usher, you want to show these gentlemen to the¡r seats?" "All r¡ght, s¡t down, everybody!" "Son of a bitch!" "Break it up!" "So much for that warm-ass-in-a-chair routine." "Okay, break it up." "Stop!" "Mr. Duncan, that was an admirable display of poise and leadership." "You work real hard and maybe I can get you a spot on the student council." "The principal is a funny guy." "Yeah, well, let me tell you something really funny:" "Classes and schoolwork." "Because from now on that's the only business you're going to be conducting at Brandel." " My only business?" " Lf you want to stay in my school, it is." "Your school?" "Your school is shit, clown!" "Classes and schoolwork?" "Do you want that to be my only business here at Brand X?" "You want that to be my only business, then you're going to need this." "Because this school here is my school." "And I make the rules." "Not anymore." "Hey, you think you're on a bus?" "Where did you get this?" "I said, where did you get this?" "Hey, what's he doing, man?" "I do not care." "Man, fuck this." "Man, he can't turn it off." "Cool, be cool." " Hey, get back in line, dickface." " Is this the exchange window?" "I'm afraid mine's been soaked in window fluid." "This is some good shit." "Don't touch until you made a deposit." " What're you doing?" " I'm making a deposit." "You stupid fuck, do you know who those belong to?" "I don't care who they belong to." "All I care about is I don't want to see you selling this shit in the school again." "Motherfucker, somebody will come looking for you." "Well, you tell that somebody that I'm in the office at the end of the hall." "Somebody's got to clean this place up." "Not me." "Latimer, this is not necessary." "Good morning." "I said the entire security force." "I heard you." " That's it?" " This is it." "All right." "Look." "I want every assistant from the athletic department." "Every class schedule and every student's attendance record in my office right now." " Right now?" " No, surprise me on my birthday." "Goddamn it, Latimer!" "That's Mr. Latimer to you, Darcy." "Now, look, I want these guys put on temporary payroll as security guards." " What?" " They're being deputized." " Give them some stinking badges, Darcy." " But they're teachers!" "They're big teachers." "Everybody out of the halls." "Put that thing out." "Move it, quick." "Right." "Motherfucker." "Come on, sleepy." "Come on, sweetheart." "Get in there." "Come on." "What, are your braces stuck together?" "Come on, go." "Hey, man, which one do you want?" "Hey, let go of my jacket!" "So, tell me." "How is it that an entire world war which killed 8.5 million people erupted all because of one politically minor assassination?" "Excuse me!" "Excuse me!" "This is a classroom." "These are students." "And look, how considerate." "They saved you a seat." "Get your motherfucking hands off me, fool!" " I'll bust your fucking eye, man." " Sit down." "Come on." "Shake a leg." "Baby Fat, what're you doing in here?" " You into this class shit?" " Come on, man, chill." "Well, Victor's going to really smoke you good, man." "Hey, Wet Willie, sit down!" "Go ahead." "Continue, Emile." " I wasn't saying nothing." " You was, you lying shit!" "You was talking about trying to drive us whites out of the school business." "Your tongue is so far up Victor's asshole, you can taste his breakfast." "Excellent description, Mr. Mawby." "Do you speak from experience?" "I want three journal pages from everyone." "Everyone!" "Tomorrow!" "That's three pages from you, too, Jojo." "See if you can fit it in between your Scout meetings and your charity work." "I feel real bad for you, Doughboy." " I'm real scared, Jojo." " Next time you won't be so lucky." "Sorry for the inconvenience." " Doing some remodeling." " That's what you're doing?" "Latimer, this is my classroom and these are my kids and I'm hanging on to this class by the skin of my teeth." "And you come bursting in here with these thugs." "I resent you, and I resent what you're doing in here." "You think you're so tough?" "Fuck you!" "Emile!" "I have a way with women." "You know, she likes me." "Hey!" " I can blow you away anytime I want, man." " Is that what you want?" "If that's what you want, man, I'm right here." "Come on, there's nobody else around." "Come on." "We could go down to the court, shoot some hoops." "Bullshit a little." " I heard you were really good." " Look, man!" "If you're trying to reach me I'll just cut your hand off." "I got another one." "Look, why don't you just do yourself a favor, okay?" "And go back to your white-bread, suburban, cesspool land while you still got a chance, all right?" "I can't." "Good morning." "Good morning, ladies." "Mr. Latimer?" " That's true." " I need your signature on this release form." "The girl you busted in the toilet wants to drop out." "It's one thing to incite riots with school assemblies but dumping animals in my classroom..." "Animals?" "I'd rather have animals." "They don't carry knives." " Knives?" " It was getting so much better." "Zarius stopped talking back to me." "Liz and Stacy started bringing in homework." "I was finally getting through to them, when, all of a sudden I have six more seated in my class who have absolutely no respect for anything." "They throw things and one of them urinated on the floor!" " Urinated on the floor?" " Urinated on the floor!" "I heard you!" "The whole class is in turmoil." "Nobody's learning anything." "It's pushed me back to the beginning." "I'm sorry." "I hoped that wouldn't have happened." "What are you going to do about it?" "Are those students on your attendance sheets?" "Yes." "But I don't..." "Then the law says that you have to teach them." "That's right." "Blame it on the law." "They don't have to be in there!" "They never were before!" "There's nothing stopping you from bending the law." "It's a tradition at Brandel." "Yeah?" "Well, that tradition is dead." "Come on, you people." "You can't pick and choose your students." "You got to take the students that the school gives you and teach them the best you can." "You can't teach the easy ones and throw the rest in the garbage." "You're having trouble dealing with a student then you come to me." "If he won't come out of the classroom, I'll come in and get him." "Now, look, every student we leave in the hallways, every student we leave in an alley every student we leave roaming around the parking lot is another brick off the foundation of this school." "Darcy?" "Darcy?" "Come back here." "Come on." "Now, look." "Lighten up." "Have a little courage." "Brave it through a little bit." "Look, stoneface, knives only hurt if it goes through you." "Urine only smells if you don't clean it up." "Come on." "I'll take care of this." "Man, that was pure poetry." "The part about each kid being a brick in this shithouse gave me goose pimples." "I got goose pimples running up my arm." "See?" "Look at that one right up over there." " Good." " Good." " Hi!" " Hi." "Bang!" " Hi." " Mom!" "Mom?" "What the fuck?" "What do you want?" " Mom?" " So, I have a kid." "Now, get out of here before somebody sees you out." "Okay." "What do you want?" "I want you to graduate." "I don't want you to drop out." "Treena, your grades are good enough." "Don't throw it away." "Throw it away?" "Nobody cares if I graduate or not." "I care." "Is that enough?" "I care." "Why?" "I ain't selling dope in your bathroom no more." " Plus, Victor got me a better job." " Victor?" "A better job?" "If you want a job, why don't you go out and get a real job?" "What's a real job to you?" "Motherfucking burger joint 10 miles away with a two-year waiting list?" "Get out of here." "You make me sick." "I'm going to tutor you." "All right?" "You come to Room 211 at 6:00 a." "M every morning this week, and I'll teach you." "What you going to do that for?" "Just show up. 6:00." " Then you can do whatever job you want." " Go ahead and be there!" "Hope you like teaching by yourself." "Fool." "You're late." "Okay." "What do you want to start with?" "The bathroom." "All right." "Hurry up." "My little Charles, he was asking about you." "My bike!" "My bike!" "Come on, goddamn it!" "What are you..." "My bike!" "Hey, stop it!" "What are..." "Phillips!" "Who did it?" " I know you saw it." "Who did it?" " We can't tell you." "We can put it back together if you want." "I do." "Like it was." "Hey, guess what?" "I'm giving you the day off." "Come on." "What did he spot you?" "$50, $60?" " I don't know what you're talking about." " I was trying to help you." "You don't know what help is." "You ever heard a baby cry because it was hungry?" "Yeah, sure." ""Yeah, sure."" "Then you know it's a crying nothing but food is going to fix." "When you listen to that, and ain't nothing you can do except get something in that kid's mouth, you do whatever it takes." "Okay, Mr. Principal?" "You got three months left until you graduate, Treena." "Look, screw it, man." "I'm sorry about what happened today." "Just leave." "That's it?" "Just go?" "You think I'm not dying to get out of this shithole?" "You think I want to live like this?" "You're wrong, sucker, because I don't." " Some of us don't have a choice like that." " That's bullshit!" "I gave you a choice." " And you screwed me!" " Then why you still wasting your time?" "Because if you quit, that means I let you quit." "That means I quit, too." "So, I want you in that classroom at 6:00 tomorrow morning." "And if you're not there, I'm going to come up here and I'm going to drag your ass in there." " You're crazy." " Yeah, I'm crazy." "You just show up!" "I said, like it was." "That looks all right." "We can give them bag number three, four, five." "Your choice." "I don't know what kind of type dealers..." "Yeah, why don't you..." "No, let me." " Kill that motherfucker!" " Go, man!" " Oh, fuck, man!" " Oh, my God!" "They're going to like you in prison, Victor." "You might get a surprise up that wise little ass of yours." " No one saw nothing." " Yeah?" "You think so?" "Home, James." "What the hell is wrong with you?" "That blow in the head give you brain damage?" " Anybody see anything?" " No!" "Nobody's going to identify him." "Man, you're lucky that I'm not scraping your dead ass off that street after that bullshit move." "Who do you think you are, Dirty Harry?" "Yeah." " I lost my head." " Yeah, it's a good thing that's all you lost." "I been protecting your ass here, but once we get out there outside these school grounds, you're on your own." "Yeah?" "Well, maybe now Duncan knows I'm not kidding around anymore." "Victor Duncan doesn't learn lessons." "But he'll come back and teach you one." "And you can believe that shit." " Jake?" " What?" "Why are you so afraid of him?" "Man, the only thing that I'm afraid of is if me and that boy lock horns either he's going to kill me or I'll kill him." "There won't be no overtime." "That is the only thing that I'm afraid of." "I took myself through this school, by myself." "Duncans will come and go." "One comes up, another one goes down." "There's always going to be one." "I'm lucky to get out of here with my face intact." "Why did you come back?" "Well, this was the launching pad, man." "Those were the glory days." "The glory days." "When there was a football team." "I had three consecutive 900-yard seasons." "The Phillips Head Screwdriver." "Led me to a diploma, a university scholarship." "And after two years I pleaded hardship." "Got drafted by the New York Titans." "I had one pretty promising season, though." "Then, pop." "I busted my knee." "In an exhibition game, too." "Shit, I didn't come back 100 percent." "I got axed." "No name." "No fame." "And no more of that long green I was really getting used to." "So, I came back here." "I came back to Brandel, to see if I could find that thing that sprung me out of here in the first place." "I'm glad you came back." " I'm glad you're here." " I know you're glad." "You'd be dead by now." "Is that what you want?" "Right now this is all I got." "This is it." "And you know what?" "I want to make a school out of this place." "That's for sure." "See you later." "This afternoon, we're going to be working on geometry." "This afternoon, we're going to be working on geometry." "Hey, Arturo." "What are you doing?" "Just, like, hanging out, man." " Why don't you hang out at home?" " What's at home?" "Well, hey, good job on the tank and the helmet." "Really inspiring work, you know?" "Come on, we got to get going." "We got to get out of here." "I was sort of waiting for Miss Orozco." "Got a little boner for Miss Orozco?" "Don't you think she's a little old for you?" "No!" "No!" "We have to lock up." " Shut up!" " God, no." "No!" "God, no!" "Don't need this no more." "That's the last time you ever make fun of me, bitch!" "Get up!" "Come on!" "You son of a bitch!" "I I¡ke to th¡nk somet¡mes when I'm s¡tt¡ng here that I can close my eyes and turn ¡nto a p¡geon and go gl¡d¡ng down the hall." "Harkley's head be all sp¡nn¡ng and sh¡t." "Somet¡mes at my house when me and the old man would cut l¡p I'd go up on the roof and th¡nk about be¡ng a p¡geon, too." "But then I see that there be too many p¡geons s¡tt¡ng up there do¡ng noth¡ng, flapp¡ng the¡r w¡ngs and sh¡t, go¡ng nowhere." "So, I th¡nk that, maybe screw that p¡geon stuff." "I'd l¡ke to be a hawk." "Because the hawk cops for h¡mself." "I can go gl¡d¡ng all the way to Spa¡n ¡f I want." "I cop for myself." "I'd l¡ke to be a rock star, or open my own body shop." "You know, Raym¡'s Body Shop." "But I know I just be dream¡ng." "And I get mad because ¡t hurt too much when you come down off the roof w¡th noth¡ng." "Noth¡ng but p¡geon sh¡t on your shoes." "Hospital said her wrist was fractured." "And she's pretty bruised up, pretty rattled." "No one's sure when she'll come back." "Now you know what it takes to get a kid expelled from school." "Someone's been snorting their happy dust today." "Yeah, he's high." "Because White Zac's been jailed." "He's celebrating his new reign of undisputed king of the school." "Except for Pete Rose here, of course." " Who, me?" " Yeah, you." "Come on, Screwdriver, I told you I'm making you the principal." "I told you what you can do with your job." "I can't do that today." "Hey, Raymi, come here." " I did something wrong?" " Yeah, you write this?" " Yeah." " This is good." "You did a good job." " You liked it?" " Yeah." "Can you write some more?" " Shit, yeah." " All right." "You write it, come to my office." "We got a lot to talk about." "You can't pay a substitute enough to work here." "You can't pay anyone enough." "Sure, you're right." "Sure, you're right." " What?" "What?" " Sit down." "Sit down!" "Sit." "Come on." "What are you doing?" "Come on, in your seats." "Sit down." "Okay, Emile, this ought to be a good one." "Let's hear it." "I don't know what it be." "Homeboy just started hitting me." " Just out of the blue?" " Yeah." "You should be in jail, man!" " He helped White Zac get Miss Orozco." " Man, I didn't!" " Fuck you, man!" " Hey!" "Sit down." "Lighten up." "But we don't have no teacher." "He left." "Well, you have one now." "You're the principal, man!" " That's right." " I know there's a law against this." "Okay, let's see, the journal assignment was:" ""Why did they call World War I 'the war to end all wars'?"" "It wasn't the last world war, or it wouldn't have a number one after it." "So, what was their reason of thinking that this was going to be the last war?" "Yeah." "Because if you kill off all your enemies there won't be no one left to fight you." "That's true, that's good thinking." "That's a stupid reason, Ricky." "Is that an invitation?" "I mean, do you want to join me after school for 200 pushups, Emile?" "I don't want that shit, man." "Okay, any other answers?" "Yes." "Because it would change all the differences they would ever have." "That's what they were thinking." "Very good." "Who is you?" "Miss Albert Einstein?" "Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty." "You got something to tell me about Miss Orozco?" "I don't know nothing about that." "You don't?" "All right, come on." "Start pushing the floor." "Let's go." "Thirty-one." "Thirty-two." "Thirty-one." "Thirty-one, two..." "What're you looking at?" "Thirty-four." "Go clean something." "Bathrooms stink." "Go do that." "Thirty-six." "Hey, old Ricky." "Somebody be here for you, man." "Come on in." " Did you want to see me, sir?" " Yeah, I want to see you." "Am I in trouble or something?" "You want to explain this?" "Miss Orozco said I can do it just so I can turn something in." "I'm taking Miss Orozco's class for the next few days." "Unfortunately, I can't read alien." "You want to do me a favor and write in English?" " But..." " Just like everybody else, okay?" "But she said I can do that till I learn better." "Yeah?" "She was teaching me this at lunchtime every day." "What's that?" "Give it here." "Let's see it." " You can't read?" " I'm almost finished with it." "She says she has another one for me." "Keep your nose down!" "Come on, keep pushing." " Fifty-one, fifty-two." " Want to finish it now?" "Fifty-three." " All right, pull up a chair." " Fifty-four." "Fifty-five." " We'll knock these suckers right out." " Fifty-six." " Where we at?" "Here?" " Yeah." "All right, go ahead." ""'I cannot be a dog,' said Tootle."" "Tootle?" "Let's say an "ur" sound, like in "turd."" " Turd?" " Yeah." " Turtle?" " Yeah, very good." " Turtle." " Sounds like a baby book!" "What you be reading a baby book for?" "Hey, I don't want to hear nothing out of you but sucking wind!" "Look at that." "Homeboy be learning to read and shit." " You got a problem with that?" " No, man!" "I got a problem with you!" "Hold it right there!" "Okay, Shakespeare." " Go ahead." "Read anything." "Go on!" " "'No, you cannot do that,' said Pig." ""'I cannot be a dog,' said Turtle." "'I do not want to be a dog."'" "Mom taught us at bedtime." "Well, good!" "Go home." "Come on." "Get out." "Don't worry about him." "Come on, sit down." "Okay." "All I got is these three pages and I'm done." "That's right." "Three more pages and this book's history." "Yo!" "Ricky!" "You be history, too, man!" "Yeah, something's wrong with that kid." "Victor's gang." "I heard he quit them." "I heard he left today." "Oh, God!" "What's happening?" "Look, I didn't mean to laugh at him." "I think it's good he be trying to read and shit." "That's not what I want to hear." "You got a story to tell." "I want to hear that." " I ain't got no story, man!" " Come on." "They wanted me to write this note to Miss Orozco asking her to meet me after school, but I wouldn't!" "That's the truth!" "All right." "Who wrote it?" "Who wrote the letter?" "Victor be doing it for White Zac." "He help Zac put the black paper in the window." "He help him out so he could be our homeboy help us get rid of some other whites." "They say you all that's left, man." "They going to make you behave." "I appreciate that." "Hey, man, talk to me." "They wanted me to take out some homeboy today." "I wouldn't." " I told them no." " You did the right thing." "I don't know, Ricky." "When you be with Victor, you can go wherever you want." "Do whatever you want." "Jesus." "What are you, a wuss?" " Say what?" " I said, are you a wuss?" "You keep sucking up to those guys you'll follow them down the tubes." " You know that?" " Hey, man." "I said no to them, didn't I?" " I ain't going back." " You "ain't" going back?" "I'm not going back." "All right, then." "Okay!" "Give five, up high!" "On the side." "Down low." "Too slow." " You're too slow." " God, man!" "Jump on the back." "I'll give you a ride home." "No." "I ain't no wuss, Ricky." "I stay nearby." "But, you be careful, man." "Oh, yeah." "I'll behave." "All right." "I want three journal pages by tomorrow, all right?" " All right." " By tomorrow!" "All right." "Or you'll be doing 200 pushups on your knuckles." "All right." " Latimer." "Hi." " Hi." "Do you happen to have an extra copy of a Sam and Jane book?" "You know, the one where they go to the zoo?" " So, you've read Arturo's journals?" " Yeah." "Come on in." " Nice plant." " Thanks." "Wow, great tunes." " Do you meditate?" " I meditate all the time." "That's why I'm on such an even keel." "I'm sorry." "I'm really sorry that that happened." "Don't be." "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here." "But I could've done something." "I could've got there a little earlier." " I could've checked the doors before I left." " Well, you should have worn your cape." "Make sure he reads at least three pages a day." "He'll try to get out of it." "Look, take your time." "You know?" "Take all the time you need." "We need you, but don't hurry." "Thank you." "I can take care of World War I by myself for a little while." "Rick." "Would you like to stay for dinner?" "Dinner?" "You mean a dinner-dinner?" " Dinner-dinner." " Not a microwave dinner?" "Yes." "Like a sit-down-at-the-table, kind of food-dinner?" "Plates and silverware and glasses, yes." "You're not a vegetarian, are you?" "Emile!" "Son of a bitch!" "Emile." "Shit!" "Help!" "Son of a bitch!" "Help!" " Come on, let's split, man." " Yeah, what a bummer." "Hey!" "Emile!" "You look like shit." "God, I'm sorry." "I'm so fucking sorry." "I thought I was doing something good, you know?" "Something right." "You know, Emile yeah, I fucked up with my old man." "I fucked up my marriage." "I fucked up at Willoughby." "I run a school of fuck-ups and I even fucked that up." "Jesus, I'm sorry, man." "You know, I didn't mean for you to get hurt." "I didn't want that to happen." "I don't know why I thought I could change things there." "I can't." "I just can't, man." "Wuss." "Wuss." "You mean I got my ass kicked for nothing, Ricky?" "Yo!" "Rick!" "What's up?" "Like, how's it hanging, dude?" "Want some chips?" "Want some chips?" "Fuck!" "Son of a bitch!" "That kid is hanging on by a thread!" " You know that?" " I'll kill you, you fucker!" "I want you in prison, man!" "But I can't because nobody saw what you did to Emile!" "But I'm going to catch you and you'll wish you were in prison when I do." " Fuck you!" " No." "Fuck you!" "I expel you, you fucker!" "You're expelled!" "You're not the principal here anymore, fucker!" "If you come back tomorrow, you're going home in a body bag!" "You threatening me?" "You're a dead man if you come here tomorrow!" "I expel you, you fucker!" "You're dead!" "You hear me?" "You're dead!" "Thank you." "What?" "When it rains at Brandel, it sure pours, don't it?" "What?" "That was the police." "White Zac, he jumped bail." "Son of a bitch!" "If the police can't prevent that from happening what do you think they'll do about a threat?" "Why?" "Do you think Victor's a man of his word, or what?" "Well, let me put it this way:" "You'd best call in sick tomorrow." "Nope." "I'll be here tomorrow, Screwdriver." "Hey, Rick." "I'll be here, too, man." "You're a very stupid man." "Yeah, I know." "What can I do?" "Good night." "Good night, Mr. Latimer." "Good night." "Hi, Rick." "Hi!" "Come on in." "You don't mind, I haven't cleaned up." "The maid." "I haven't really paid her anything." "That's why she's not coming." "Because they're on strike or something." "Come on in." "Actually, I have something very important to tell you." "Okay." "You found out about White Zac?" "Well, you don't have to come back until he's caught." "Well, that's exactly why I'm here." "I've applied to a boarding school in Connecticut and I've been accepted." " I hope you understand." " Sure, I understand." "I think that's great." "Thanks a lot." " Good luck." " All right." "'Bye." "Okay." "Okay, what did the privacy of the automobile allow us?" "Gave them a place to fuck." "Okay." "All right." "Then what did that do for the moral climate of the times?" "Treena." "It kind of made the people a little looser and wilder." "I guess that's why they called the '20s, "roaring."" "All right." "Very good." ""'We can take this to Bear.'" ""'I will take this,' said Biard." " "'Bear will..."'" " No, wait, wait." " It's got an "er" sound, like in..." " Turtle?" "Yeah, turtle." "Try it again." " "'I will take this,' said Bird."" " Bird." "Good." ""'Bear will have fun with this.'" ""'Yes, it will be fun,' said Chip." ""'Now come and help."'" "What are you doing here?" "It's my classroom and that's my student." "None of the students have left yet." "They're still here." "Can you take Arturo home?" "No, man." "I don't need no one to take me home." "I ain't afraid of them." "I'll walk home by myself." "I'll walk right through them." "Arturo, why don't you take Miss Orozco to her car?" "Yeah." "Something's up." "They all can't be waiting to go to school tomorrow." " Is everybody out?" " Yep." "It's just you and me, Stick." " Okay." " You have a plan, Mr. Principal?" "I'll have them write on the blackboard 1,000 times:" ""Do not kill the principal."" "You got to teach them to write first." "All right." "We'll give them another minute, and then we'll go home." "It's time to go home." "No, it's not." "Look, right there." "All right." "You call the police." "I'll go get the chains." "Chain the door." "Shit." "Jake!" "Jake!" "Jake!" "Shit!" "Who's there?" "All right, motherfucker, don't you play no games with me." "I said, open up this door!" "Goddamn it!" "Go check that shit out." "Somebody's cheating." "Good morning, Mr. Latimer." "Drop the fucking stick, Ricky." "Drop the stick!" "Didn't I tell you if you came here today you were going home in a body bag?" "Now you're going to die." "You're going to bleed, Rick." "Cut this pig." "Don't do it." " Cut him." " Don't do it!" "You want to play football, boy?" "Cut him, I said." "Cut this sack of shit!" "Come on, Victor!" "Enough of this shit, man!" " We got him scared shitless here!" " Don't talk back to me, Jo." "Don't do it, man." "Cut that pig now!" "Don't listen to him." "You got a chance, man." "That kid we threw off the building, man." "He could die." "If he dies, man, we're going down." " Cut him!" " No, man." "Shut up." "Shut up." "I ain't doing life for nobody." "You want to kill this piece of shit, you do it your damn self." "God!" "You hear that sound, old man?" "Your boy's dead." "Yeah?" "Well, I'm taking you out!" "You're going to die now, Ricky." "How's it feel to know you're going to die?" "Tell me." "You're the teacher." "I want to know." "Hey, motherfucker!" "Bastard!" "Piece of shit!" "What are you going to do now?" "My turn." "No, please, no more." "You're goddamn right!" "No more!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "What the fuck is up with you, man?" "No more!" "Am I going to see you here tomorrow?" "Yeah, I'll be here." " We are very stupid men." " Yeah, I know." "What can you do?" "Hey, man, who in the hell do you think you are?" "He's the principal, man!" "I'm the principal, man."