Dare To Be Successful Read online

PART two: TEACHING GRACE

  The challenge of helping one young girl turn her life around lit a fire within Daniel. For the first time in many years he became excited about his work. He reconnected with his passion for teaching and was granted a limitless flow of new ideas. Instead of regurgitating the same old boring curriculum, he felt compelled to explore, innovate, and ignite the imaginations of his students.

  As punishment for the stealing incident, Daniel required that Grace stay after school for two hours of detention every Friday for the remaining fourteen weeks of the school year. During these sessions, Daniel offered Grace a preview of the lectures he had planned for the following week and asked her for feedback. Daniel hoped the extra exposure would influence Grace to become interested in eventually learning the Principles of Grace and applying them to her life.

  He also convinced a juvenile court judge to sentence Grace to forty hours of community service at the Touch Outreach Foundation, an organization that provided free massage therapy for terminally ill children. His motives were threefold: First, he wanted to get her away from the other gang members during the problematic after-school hours. Second, he remembered Free Spirit saying that one of the best ways to overcome depression was to find someone in need of help and help that person in any way you can. Third, Emilee had mentioned that Grace would not allow anyone to hug her. Daniel knew that she needed some human contact in her life, and the foundation would give her free massage therapy for helping out. At first Grace was opposed to working, but she begrudgingly accepted the position when she found out her only responsibility was organizing games and other entertainment activities for the children while they were in the waiting room.

  During their first Friday detention session Daniel told Grace about his summer aboard the Awakening Grace, his mentor Captain Free Spirit, and how the wisdom of the medicine men had inspired him to become a Life Science teacher. In college, Daniel became fascinated by the uncanny parallels that existed between the life sciences and the Native Americans’ central belief that the universe functions as a single organism. He studied a wide variety of subjects and learned that the medicine men’s concept of a circle of life and the principle of unity are fundamental teachings in modern science.

  Daniel also discovered numerous books describing techniques that people could use to pursue purpose in life and fulfill their ambitions. He related Free Spirit’s final instruction: “The secret to success in life is ongoing personal development. Each generation is responsible for upgrading the Principles of Grace and sharing their discoveries with other people.” As a young man Daniel had taken this assignment seriously. He had written a doctoral thesis that compared the Principles of Grace with the wisdom literature of many contemporary authors. The comparative study had fueled Daniel’s own passion for personal development as he discovered a treasure trove of wisdom and knowledge. Thus, Daniel began to teach the Principles of Grace in the way he best understood them — through the writings of the authors he admired most.

  During the detention period Daniel attempted to make a connection with Grace, sharing stories from his life and encouraging her to discover her own sense of purpose. Unfortunately, it seemed to him that his initial efforts fell on deaf ears. Grace thought Mr. Benson was the most boring person on the planet and hated the idea of spending so much time with him. His stories were ridiculous, and he droned on and on about things that did not interest her; but Grace did not want to leave all her friends and attend a school for troubled youths, so she pretended to take notes while he was talking and occasionally humored him with a question about the wisdom of the medicine men.

  Daniel had Grace copy quotes from several authors onto the classroom blackboard. Then he explained how the universe functions on a principle of unity by reading a passage from the book Acknowledge the Wonder, by Frances Wosmek: “Everything in the universe, including our physical bodies, is comprised of atoms. The atom is a dynamic bundle of energy that consists of vibration and harmonic relations. Each atom broadcasts unique patterns of tones — music — that is in rhythm with the vibrations of the universe, like an infinite symphony. Expanding our vision of the universe, we can see that the sweeping movements of the gigantic galaxies are just as faithful to their own particular rhythms as are the atoms of a smallness equally incomprehensible. So precisely timed are the cyclic rhythms of those great cosmic communities and the bodies within them that the path of one hardly ever interferes with that of another. Within the larger rhythm of the galaxies, individual suns and planets with spins, rhythms, and oscillations of their own are each adding notes to the complex harmony of the whole.”80

  Daniel then referred to the quotes on the blackboard as he explained the theory of unity consciousness to Grace. “The atoms that make up your physical body are held together by an electro-magnetic field that is part of the earth’s electromagnetic field. When viewed through a quantum microscope, our physical reality is seen as an endless continuum of intimately interconnected electromagnetic fields, and all humans are enmeshed within the continuum. A person who has attained unity consciousness recognizes that his own consciousness connects with and affects the whole continuum. Thus, all of his thoughts and intentions focus on expressions of unity such as love, empathy, sharing, and compassion. It is important to understand that your electromagnetic field is a magnet. In a very real sense whatever intentions you send out into the world — either positive or negative — come back to you.”

  Grace couldn’t believe that her teacher expected her to learn all of that scientific mumbo jumbo. As he spoke, she daydreamed about her newfound friends who were members of the 15th Street gang. Grace had met them at Columbia Park a month earlier. The boys flirted with her, making her feel attractive. They drove boss low-rider cars, had their own lingo, and they had respect. Nobody dared mess with them. Grace thought the girls who dated them were cool. She loved their fashion, the way they did their makeup, and the way they wore their hair. Grace longed to be like them, and when the boys asked if she wanted to smoke a joint with them, she said, “Sure.”

  Grace had never previously smoked marijuana. Her first hit off the joint was memorable in that it caused her to cough uncontrollably. The other kids got a big laugh from her naiveté. Grace enjoyed getting high from the beginning because it enabled her to blunt the painful emotions associated with her parents’ terrible deaths. She also enjoyed the attention she got from the boys in the gang. Grace had always been teased by other kids because she was overweight. She had never been asked out on a date and had never even been kissed. She thought she was ugly, but that changed when she met Bobby Diaz, who the other gang members called “Sly” or “Big Homie.”

  Sly was the unquestionable leader of the 15th Street gang. It was a status he earned on the merits of his superior fighting skills. He was handsome, suave, and charismatic. He was also an unscrupulous drug dealer, a 17-year-old high school dropout who thought of himself as a slick entrepreneur. Sly was a ladies’ man who used his considerable charms to manipulate teenage girls. Grace fell for him immediately. Within a week Sly had Grace selling pot at her junior high school. Grace was unaware of the fact that Sly had induced several girls at other schools to do the same thing. She also didn’t know that he planned to do something perverted and sinister to her.

  The next week Daniel had Grace put six separate quotes on the classroom blackboard which conveyed the medicine men’s most fundamental teaching: Every person is born with unique gifts and passions, and when those innate abilities are used for the higher purpose of unity, they connect with the Universal Intelligence. This connection is frequently experienced as a receiving of new insights, epiphanies, and greater creativity and is commonly known as a state of grace.23 The connecting link between human energy and the divine energy of the spiritual realm is the emotions of the heart — love, passion, and compassion. The sparks that activate the connecting link are meaningful and noble intentions which draw divine energy into our lives.

  “Each and every one of y
ou has natural talents, something you are good at or passionate about. Your assignment right now is to tell me what you love to do, or what your special gift is,” Daniel said to the class. Then he began calling upon the students, and one by one they answered.

  Tommy: “I’m captain of the swim team. I’m a fast swimmer and a good teammate.”

  Sandy: “It’s embarrassing to say, but knitting. My grandmother taught me when I was five years old and I still enjoy it more than anything.”

  Frank: “I’m good at math. I don’t know why. It’s just easy and I always get A’s.”

  Grace: “I don’t know.”

  Daniel was not going to allow Grace to simply duck the assignment. He said, “Give it some thought, Grace. It can be anything you enjoy doing or something that comes naturally to you. Your mother told me that you used to like helping her in the garden. That’s a natural talent.”

  Suddenly, all of the other students were staring at Grace, and she wasn’t happy about it. “My mother’s dead,” she fired back quickly. “So, unless your Principles of Grace empower you to talk to dead people, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Daniel was stunned by her remark. Before he could formulate a response, Grace spoke again.

  “I don’t have any natural talents. Maybe I’m not special like the other kids.”

  She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, then winked at her friends. They cracked up laughing, and the rest of the class quickly followed suit.

  In the heat of the moment, Daniel surprised everyone in the classroom, including himself, by reframing the adversity. Instead of seeing only Grace’s blatant disrespect, he looked deeper, realizing that the young girl was confident, quick-witted, and in complete control of the room. “Grace,” he said, “you have just single-handedly disrupted my lesson for the day and elicited a laugh from every student in the class. That is undeniably a special talent. My question is, can you utilize your outgoing personality in a more positive manner? You are a bright young lady with unlimited potential.”

  The bell rang, ending class. Grace was relieved. She didn’t want to interact with Mr. Benson at all. It was becoming increasingly obvious that her goofy science teacher was taking a special interest in her, and she was beginning to think she might have to do something about the problem.

  Daniel was completely oblivious to Grace’s disdain. For him, the new teaching format was a revelation. He enjoyed revisiting the science that he found so fascinating during college, and was pleased to find himself drawing upon the Principles of Grace in the classroom setting. He hadn’t yet made the breakthrough he was looking for with Grace, but he felt confident that it would happen as she began to apply the Principles of Grace.

  The lesson plan for the following week focused on how the students could channel their natural talents and passions into a meaningful career. Daniel invited a series of guests to speak to the class. A man who excelled in math talked about engineering; a park ranger discussed his love of nature; and a woman who was passionate about shoes told the class about her career as a shoe designer. One speaker, an anthropologist, concluded his speech with a quote from Joseph Campbell, a respected professor and historian of mythology: “Any life career you choose should invoke a feeling of love and enable you to live in harmony with your inner self.”13

  Daniel designed a series of homework assignments that forced his students to look inward to contemplate their futures. During this exercise, one boy who loved baseball, but suffered from a physical handicap, realized that his aptitude for math could enable him to become a baseball statistician. A girl who was passionate about cooking envisioned herself as a chef in a fancy restaurant or maybe even the host of her own cooking show. Another young girl, who enjoyed going to art exhibits but did not have sufficient talent as an artist, discovered that she could immerse herself in the art world as an agent, a broker, or even a museum curator.

  The class also learned about the medicine men’s tradition of sending adolescents on a vision quest. As a way of helping them discover their purpose in life, the young braves were sent out alone into the wilderness. They were instructed to clear their minds of all thoughts and wait for the Universal Intelligence to tell them who they were and what their life’s mission would be. Only after receiving an epiphany would they be allowed to return to the tribe.

  Daniel arranged a field trip to the beach where he intended to guide his students through their own personal vision quest. He gave each student a notebook that included the Principles of Grace syllabus and all of the homework assignments, and he encouraged them to write about their career aspirations. In the serenity of nature, Daniel taught his students how to meditate — to clear their minds of all thoughts. He described a type of meditation called “Jappa” that was known to inspire divine revelations. Jappa meditation involves chanting “ah,” which is the root sound of the word “God” in nearly every spiritual tradition (Allah, Buddha, Ra, Jehovah, Krishna, Yahweh, God).33 According to ancient spiritual teachings, the “ah” vibration is God’s frequency.

  Daniel reminded the class of a previous lecture, when he taught them that everything in the universe is comprised of energy and vibrations. Then he instructed the class to put their hands over their hearts and say “ah.”

  “Do you feel the vibration in your chest?” Daniel asked.

  Yes, Grace thought, but she still had no clue as to what her teacher was babbling about. To Grace, everything that Mr. Benson taught was scientific gobbledygook.

  Daniel further instructed the students to say a silent prayer for the vision and wisdom to use their talents and passion for the higher purpose of unity. He asked all of the students to chant “ah” simultaneously.

  Grace thought the meditation exercise was a waste of time. As the other kids attempted to quiet their minds, Grace reminisced about her first date with Sly. He had taken her to a secluded beach, where he laid out a blanket and introduced her to heroin. After getting high they made out and engaged in pillow talk. To Grace’s surprise, Sly was a perfect gentleman. All he did was kiss

  her and shower her with compliments. Sly drove her home before dark. He asked Grace if she would be his girlfriend, and she said, “Yes.” Prior to leaving, Sly gave Grace a small bag of heroin so that she could get high whenever she desired. What Grace did not know was that Sly was a predator and she was his prey. Sly was a boy with deep psychological problems; he got off on sexually abusing young girls. He was a master manipulator who was motivated by ego gratification. As the leader of a wolf pack, nothing made Sly feel better than to deliver a fresh virgin to his sex-crazy homeboys.

  Sly’s seductions began with smoking and selling pot, which lowered the girls’ inhibitions and gave them the pocket money that every teenager craves. His objective was to get them addicted to pot, then introduce harder drugs, including heroin,

  PCP, and crack cocaine. The girls were also pampered in exciting new ways: cruising in a low-rider, attending parties, and hanging out with the so-called “cool kids.” Once the girls were hooked on drugs and the lifestyle, Sly told them they had to be initiated into the gang or they would be cut off. The initiation for a boy was to be rat-packed — beaten down and kicked mercilessly by all of the other gang members. For the girls the initiation involved being gangbanged — having sexual intercourse with every boy in the gang, one after another. Grace had no idea that Sly and his homies were plotting this. She thought that he liked her and wanted her to be his girlfriend.

  Daniel was unaware of Grace’s extracurricular activities or the treacherous people who planned to harm her. He continued to focus his attention on teaching the Principles of Grace. The following week’s lesson plan was devoted to developing a blueprint for the life’s journey of each of the students. Daniel instructed them to write about everything they hoped to accomplish in their lifetimes. He advised his students to be very specific and referred to an illustrative story about the actor Jim Carrey. In the early stages of his career, when Carrey struggled
to find work, his father was always there to provide emotional support. He encouraged Jim to keep pursuing his dreams in spite of numerous rejections and setbacks. Unfortunately, Jim’s father passed away before Jim realized his dream. At his father’s funeral, Carrey wrote himself a check for ten million dollars “for acting services” and placed it in his father’s casket. A few years later he was paid exactly that amount for the role he played in Dumb & Dumber.

  Daniel also encouraged the kids to develop a regular practice of visualizing the future they wanted to create. He told them about the work of Dr. Charles Garfield, a NASA psychiatrist who developed an extensive study of peak performance. Garfield found that almost all successful businessmen and world-class athletes use visualization; they see, feel, and experience success in their minds before they attain it.79 From that day Daniel began each class with ten minutes of silence so that his students could develop a daily practice of visualization. The students learned that by relentlessly repeating their visualizations, they were planting seeds in their consciousness that would help them stay focused on achieving their goals.

  The first time Daniel asked his students to do the visualization exercise, Grace put her head on the desk and slept for an hour. Daniel didn’t wake her, but when the period ended he held her after class to discuss her behavior.

  “Grace,” he began, “ten minutes to visualize your future does not mean naptime.”

  “I was visualizing,” Grace replied. “But I fell asleep because my future is very boring.”

  Again with the sarcasm, Daniel thought. Grace possessed a quick wit that was used primarily as a defense mechanism. To Daniel, she was a complete enigma. He was at a loss when

  trying to reach her, and he wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. He didn’t want to punish her with additional detention sessions; he preferred to attempt to find out what was going on in her head.

  “Tell me what you were visualizing,” he said.

  This query caught Grace off guard because she in fact had been visualizing before she fell asleep. She just didn’t want her teacher to know that it concerned Sly. Grace had been thinking about her second date with Sly. They had gone cruising in his low-rider and then parked at a spot with a remarkable view of the city. They got high on heroin again and made out. Like before, Sly was a perfect gentleman; yet, when he took her home that evening, he asked Grace if she was ready to sleep with him. Grace answered yes, because she knew that sex was a given with a gang member like Sly. She had been visualizing how romantic her first time might be. In her vision there were rose petals on the bed, candlelight, soft music, and Sly being a tender and caring lover. “Some things are private,” Grace told her teacher defensively. “I don’t like you prying into my personal life. You’re just a science teacher and it’s none of your business.”

  Later that day Sly picked up Grace from her after-school job at the Touch Outreach Foundation and took her to a remote area of Columbia Park that was closed during the winter months. After parking, they had to hop a fence and walk for ten minutes through the woods to a campground sector which Sly called “the shack” because it was where the kids went to shack up. There were picnic tables, barbeque pits, and a public restroom. All ten boys from the gang were already there, along with many of the teenage girls they hung out with, and a 15-year-old girl named Hanna, whom Grace had never met. They had a fire blazing in one of the barbeque pits, and were drinking and listening to rap music on a boom box. It was a fun party, but Grace could only stay for a couple of hours because she had a curfew. When Sly took her home, he gave Grace more heroin.

  Sly returned to the party. He and his homeboys took Hanna into the shack — the public restroom where they initiated her into the gang. All ten boys had their way with her on a dingy, blood-stained mattress they had strewn on the restroom floor. The sadistic ritual lasted for several hours. Many of the boys had sex with Hanna two or three times. Between turns they gave Hanna PCP and hits off a heroin pipe. Hanna was so high that she was incoherent at times, flashing in and out of consciousness. The gang members were completely out of control; they even used a broomstick and soda bottle on her. It was savage — and Sly loved every moment. He looked at Hanna’s once innocent face and saw that she was crying. Her psyche had been broken. She would never be the same. Sly smiled to himself. It was the moment he had been waiting for.

  At their Friday detention session Daniel had Grace put new information on the classroom blackboard, which pertained to the Connect With Your Cellular Intelligence principle. Daniel estimated Grace to be about 30 pounds overweight. He wanted to offer her some guidance in the area of weight loss, but at the same time didn’t wish to offend her. He decided to broach the subject in a subtle way from the perspective of the Principles of Grace concept.

  “Grace, I’d like for you to recall a previous lecture I gave that described everything in the universe as energy,” he began. “This principle also holds true for the food we eat. If you look up the word ‘calorie’ in the dictionary, you will see that it is defined as a unit of energy. The energy actually comes from the sun and is absorbed by plants.5 We get the energy by either consuming the plants directly or by eating the animals who fed on the plants. When we eat too much in one sitting, extra calories are stored in the fat cells. So, you can think of body fat as your body’s backup supply of energy.

  “If a person wants to lose weight they must create a negative energy balance that forces the body to burn fat for fuel. This involves simply staying active to burn more energy, or consuming less energy by choosing low calorie foods. Most man-made, processed foods are loaded with calories, yet have little nutritional value. I’ve noticed that you eat a lot of chips and cookies. If you want your body to perform at peak efficiency, you should try to eliminate those foods from your diet.”

  “So what?” Grace replied incredulously. “Now you are telling me what to eat?”

  “No, I’m not telling you what to eat. I’m trying to teach you basic nutrition principles and the direct relationship between food and how your body performs. If you develop better eating habits, you will lose weight and have more energy to pursue your goals in life.”

  “Are you calling me fat?” Grace exploded. “I can’t believe you are calling me fat! You are the meanest teacher I’ve ever had! Why do you always pick on me? Why do you hate me?”

  Grace put her head on the desk and started sobbing.

  The outburst left Daniel speechless. He hadn’t called this young girl fat…or had he? No. Daniel was certain he had approached the subject tactfully. He began to feel a surge of anxiety as he wondered why every well-meaning intention he had with Grace blew up. Why did she have so much animosity toward him? Daniel was distraught. He closed his eyes for a few minutes and breathed deeply to calm his nerves. When he opened his eyes, Grace was gone.

  Daniel gazed out the classroom window. He saw Grace getting into a low-rider car and suspected that her outburst and crying were nothing more than a ruse to escape detention. Daniel’s sense of disappointment quickly morphed into concern as he got a clear look at the boy who was behind the wheel. It was Sly. Daniel had a sinking feeling that something dreadful was going to happen to Grace. Initially, he dismissed the notion, believing that his premonition had been prompted by his distaste for her associate. He tried to stop thinking about her, but violent images continued to flood his mind. On some level, Daniel knew that Grace was in danger, and he turned out to be correct.

  At that moment, Sly was taking Grace to the shack where all of the homeboys were eagerly anticipating the gangbang they had planned for Grace. On the drive to Columbia Park, Sly told Grace about the initiation. At first she was aghast, but Sly told her that all the girls did it, and named several older girls that Grace knew and admired.

  Sly continued his sales pitch. “Most of the girls say it was the greatest sexual experience of their lives. You are my girlfriend and I want your first time to be special. In the beginning it will only be you and me. Then you have to let
all of the other homies have a go.”

  Initially Grace refused. Then, when they arrived at Columbia Park and parked the car, Sly changed his approach. He pulled out a baggy filled with heroin, and a glass pipe. He took a hit so Grace could smell the drug’s aroma, but he didn’t give her any.

  “Grace, I’m in love with you and I want you to be my girlfriend. But I can’t be with you if you are not in the gang. This sex thing with the homies is just a one-time thing. It’s an initiation. You have to prove your love for the hood just like Angela, Christie, Marissa, and Hanna did. That’s just the way it is. I might be the Big Homie, but I can’t change the rules. Once you do it, you are in for life. Then whatever is mine is yours.” He tapped the bag of heroin with his fingers and concluded, “I’ve always got it, so you will always have it. If you say yes, we can blaze out right now. If you get really high, I promise that you will enjoy it. If your answer is no, then I have to take you home, and you can’t hang out with any of us again. It’s up to you.”

  Grace had been getting high on heroin every day for the past two weeks. As Sly had planned, she was hooked and was currently experiencing withdrawals. Grace did not want to stop using heroin, nor did she want to stop hanging out with the kids from the 15th Street gang. Most of all, she did not want to lose Sly. He was the only boy who ever really liked her. Finally, Grace agreed to the gang initiation.

  Sly gave Grace a big hug and a kiss. He handed her the pipe and allowed her to smoke as much heroin as she wanted. After getting high, they left the car and headed for the shack.

  Meanwhile, Daniel had acted on his gut feeling that something terrible was going to happen to Grace. He had rushed out of the classroom and arrived at the school parking lot just as Sly was driving away with Grace. He hurried to his car and attempted to follow them, but Daniel couldn’t catch up. Sly’s car was over a block ahead when Daniel saw him make a left turn at a stoplight. Daniel lost them in traffic, but he did not stop searching.

  Sly and Grace hopped the fence and made the ten-minute walk through the woods to the campground area where the other homies were waiting for them. Sly told them that he and Grace were going into the shack alone at first, but that “it’s on.” The other gang members began to catcall at Grace, telling her that she was hot, whistling and saying sexual things they planned to do to her. Grace became apprehensive. Her instincts told her not to go through with it, yet she was so high that she couldn’t think clearly.

  Sly led Grace into the public restroom. It was dirty and smelled like rotting food. Grace saw the decrepit mattress on the floor and cringed. Sly sensed her fear and went to his secret weapon — the heroin pipe.

  Daniel continued to hunt for Grace. Eventually he drove through Columbia Park and discovered Sly’s car. Daniel parked and began to search for Grace on foot. He knew that something was wrong and felt a compelling need to find her.

  But Daniel was too late. At that very moment Grace was having sex with Sly. It was nothing like she imagined. It wasn’t romantic, and it was not pleasurable. In fact, it was quite painful. Grace closed her eyes tightly and hoped that the ordeal would be over quickly. When Sly finished, Grace opened her eyes and was startled to see that all the other gang members were now in the restroom. Some of the boys had stripped down to their boxers and others were completely naked and touching themselves.

  “I’m next,” a 15-year-old kid named Bugsy said as he mounted her.

  Grace felt every muscle in her body tense. She closed her eyes and attempted to disassociate herself from what was happening. The sex was too painful. She wanted to scream out, but didn’t because she wanted to prove she was strong enough to be in the gang. Grace needed to demonstrate her love for the hood.

  When Bugsy was done, another boy named Gangster got on top of her. The physical pain intensified. As she clenched her eyes to fight back the tears, Grace heard a voice inside her head say, “ This is wrong, this is wrong…” over and over again.

  Grace opened her eyes and was repulsed by the scene. Two of the boys were shooting up heroin, and others were masturbating. Her eyes focused on Sly. He was laughing and cutting it up with Bugsy. The moment became surreal as everything around her went silent and seemed to vanish. The only thing that existed was Sly’s conversation, and Grace heard every word.

  “Grace is a bag whore, just like the rest of them. After all the homies get their freak on, I’m going to kick her to the curb.”

  In that instant Grace perceived Sly for who he really was — a low-life, scumbag drug dealer who had deceived and manipulated her. She also realized what she had become — a heroin addict who would do anything to get high.

  “Get off me!” Grace suddenly screamed at Gangster, who had no intention of stopping until he was finished. Grace struggled to get away, but Gangster was too strong. He held her down and continued to violate her. When Grace realized that she couldn’t break his grasp, she began to cry uncontrollably.

  When Gangster finally stopped, another boy said, “I’m next!”

  “No way!” Grace screamed. She rose to her feet and began to search frantically for her clothes. “I’m not doing this! I don’t want to be in the gang!”

  “It’s too late now. You ain’t gonna give me no blue balls,” a naked kid named Danno said. He grabbed Grace and threw her back down onto the mattress.

  Grace, her sense of balance impaired by the drugs, staggered to her feet again. Danno punched her in the face, breaking Grace’s nose. Blood splattered everywhere.

  Sly intervened, grabbing Danno’s arm. “We don’t get down like that, homie. If she don’t want to do it, then it’s over. We ain’t gonna rape nobody.”

  In Sly’s warped sense of reality rape was wrong, yet his manipulation was somehow okay.

  As the two boys argued, Grace broke for the door. A couple of the gang members made half-hearted attempts to stop her, but Grace was swinging and clawing at them like a wild animal. They allowed her to escape.

  Grace came flying out of the public restroom and sprinted through the woods. Completely naked, blinded by tears, and disoriented from her drug use, she stumbled and fell repeatedly. Her body was covered with cuts, bruises, blood, and mud by the time she arrived at the parking lot.

  Daniel had been searching in vain throughout the park, and eventually decided to wait by Sly’s car. As Grace struggled to get over the fence, he spotted her. He was momentarily stunned by her naked, battered body and the blood streaming from her face. He grabbed a blanket from the back seat of his car and called out to her.

  Grace saw her teacher and ran to him. Daniel covered her in the blanket, and she collapsed into his arms. Grace was shaking and crying hysterically. Daniel held her tightly as he scanned the terrain for her attackers. He saw no one.

  Daniel put Grace in the front seat of his car, and she curled up into the fetal position. He drove straight for the nearest hospital. While driving, Daniel called 911 on his cell phone. “I need to report a rape,” he said.

  “No!” Grace shrieked. “It wasn’t a rape. Please don’t call the police. Please just hang up the phone.”

  Daniel was perplexed. He wanted to alert the police to Sly’s whereabouts before he could flee the area, but Grace’s urgent pleas stopped him. Then, between sobs, Grace told her teacher what had happened. She was ashamed, humiliated, and disgusted by what she had done. Daniel pulled the car to the side of the road and held Grace as she continued to sob. He made an attempt to reassure Grace that she had done nothing wrong. She was a victim who had been manipulated by an evil young man.