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Are you a 'good kid'?"Yes. And I thought of myself as a good kid in high school too. But I was misunderstood. I'd get into trouble - for drinking a beer in the parking lot or smoking a cigarette behind the gym, things like that - and people would look at me a lot differently. Especially the principal. He really didn't care for me."My father had died my first year in high school, and after that, when men would come down on me, I would feel cornered - I didn't have my father to talk to or go to for help. I'd feel, 'No way, buddy. You ain't telling me nothing.' And I'd stand up to them and say, 'Wait a second. You explain to me what you're talking about, so I can understand you.' And the principal didn't appreciate that attitude coming from a 16 year-old kid. But he never tried to get to know me, either. he never even tried."What do I wish he'd done? I sort of wish he'd have patted me on the shoulder once in a while and said, 'If you need to talk to anyone, I'll talk to you.'"Did I ever try to be a better kid? yeah, I was always trying to do that - trying to be good and stuff. That's what was so frustrating. Because, as I said, I felt that I was a good kid. But maybe I'm forgetting all the bad things I did."
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