Encouragement

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A Shake in the Line

My first encounter with the dreaded Silver Fox was as a freshman. His name was Brother Ward. He was the Dean of Discipline, AKA “The Enforcer”. He was the head honcho when it came to enforcing the rules. His prematurely gray hair added more authority to his already imposing physique and his demeanor spoke loudly that he had not always been a member of The Irish Christian Brothers Order. It was to be the first of many encounters with my nemesis, all of which I never would fair any better than Willy Coyote.

I was dealing three card Monty and cleaning out other unsuspecting freshman. He appeared to simply rise out of the cigarette smoke of the Seniors Section next to where I was dealing. I knew I was busted as he was on top of me before I could react. With that confidant Cheshire smile he must have employed often in his former career as a Marine drill sergeant, he simply said “I’ll make a deal with you, Maverick.” He then picked up the deck of cards and began to adeptly shuffle and then cut them several times, all with one hand and placed them before me. “Cut”, he said, “High card wins … you win … I walk away, I win … you are in detention for the rest of the year.” He had caught me red handed, what did I have to loose? Meekly I cut the cards … the Queen of Clubs! I had more than a good chance of winning and I returned his smile with a Cheshire of my own. Without looking, he quickly turned over the next card on the deck and said you loose; see you in Jug”, (Detention room) and he walked away never having looked at his card. I looked down and was greeted by the Ace of Spades staring back at me with that same gleeful grin The Silver Fox used to cut people down to size.

I sat there mortified. Not only was I facing a year of standing at attention for an hour every day after school, but I had suffered an extremely public, complete, and everlasting loss of face. The Silver Fox had out sharked me in front of the whole school! This pattern was to repeat itself many times over the next three and a half years until finally; Brother Ward was transferred to Oregon midway through my senior year. No one was more relieved to see him go than I, but I had to admit that I missed the chess game between us in spite of the inevitable disastrous outcomes. In fact, I had grown to respect my enemy, especially after he provided counseling for my mother who was having a hard time dealing with my behavioral lapses and my father’s alcoholism.

Seemingly in spite of myself, I made it to graduation with an academic scholarship to college to boot! I felt a twinge of sadness as I joined the long line outside of the cathedral that balmy June evening. I wished that Brother Ward could see me now. Shortly after the line began to move, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and was again greeting by that disarming smile … it was, from out of the vapors, The Silver Fox! He extended his hand and gave me a firm but warm shake as he uttered "Way to go, Maverick!”

That handshake was the talk of the entire graduation ceremony and its memory was singed into my soul forever. It has since gotten me through many a tough time and it never was a surprise to me that it came from a man of God.

Desperado
9-04-04
RED

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