Not wanting to be outdone, Anthony and I ripped ours up as well. That made the principal really mad. I looked at Micheal and Robert pointedly and they ripped theirs in solidarity. The triplets and Leo were my friends and in the same grade. They also ripped theirs into pieces. Seeing all of us made more of the younger soccer team members get more courage. 9 of the freshmen and another 4 sophomores ripped their resignation forms. You only need 11 players to field a team. They had 14 now. "If you don't sign it, you will be expelled!" the principal yelled. I scoffed and said "And how will that make the school look to have to expel over 20 students in one day? Right after the tournaments too. You might even have to turn in the school medals if the other schools catch wind of this." That made him go silent. There was still murder in his eyes. "We'll see how many of you are ready to go by the time the tournament starts. Dismissed!" he said, dripping with malice. That was obviously a threat. I made sure to warn all the others about it. "Let's all go home together from now on." I offered to them.
Just as I had suspected, all the members of the soccer team that refused to sign the resignation forms either ended up in freak accidents around school or got pregnant by someone. It seemed that their was a code of conduct that said all sexual contact was forbidden when on a team because pregnancy and boy's sports were a no-go combination. That made sense. It was just odd that it targeted those boys in particular and no one else. Those who were pregnant were cut. Those injured from slip and falls or allergies were very unlikely to recover by the time we had to go. Only 14 had refused, there was no longer enough players. The principal had to do it by himself on the coach's advice. He still took a big hit for this stunt. All these "accidents" on school grounds were a double edged sword. It served as the perfect intimidation for others trying to defy him, but it also made him liable for several complaints from all of the parents who claimed the school was "unsafe". Normally he would just brush it off. 7 accidents in just 3 months was not something that could be brushed under the rug though.
The mayor himself had to come have a word with him. Almost losing his job for this made the principal even more bitter and angry. I wanted to protect all of my friends on the team, but I just needed my relay team to make it out of the island. I had all of their number on my cellphone. They all had mine as well. I told them to call if they were ever in trouble. I would run to save them wherever they were. They were important to my ability to leave the island and explore the full world. Without them, I would have to start looking into less legal ways of getting on a boat and sailing away from here. The day went by and I was on the street again. Roaming the streets, I cam to a bar in a seedy part of town. I was given looks as the current patrons sized me up. I did not care about them one bit. I just sat down at the bar. The bartenders did not serve me alcohol, but they gave me some coke. I had the money to pay. There was the bar, a billiards table, some booths and a dart board. All in all, it was pretty good. I decided to play a nice game. There was a guy playing pool. I joined him. I lost twice in a row to him.
