Confessions

Ok, so I have been harboring this little gem for roughly what, 12 years? I was in middle school band at the time, and we geared up for a performance at New Mexico State University for a competition that we had all practiced for months to go to. It was a big deal, we got off school early, packed our crap into three buses and made the 60 mile journey to Las Cruces for this competition.

Now, I wasn't the most popular in school, well, ever. I hung out with the few friends I had in school, and one of them (which my parent's never liked) was my friend Hector. Well, we actually placed well in our competition, considering in the middle of one of our best pieces our tubular bells literally collapsed in the middle of a pause between pieces. I remember wanting to laugh really hard, but was also scared shitless thinking we lost our chance of winning. Holding my trumpet perfectly still, I remember my eyes, as well as everyone else's widened at the sound, but we never panicked. After about 5 seconds we resumed the piece, without the bells.

Well, afterward, the judges found that the equipment loaned to us to use was faulty, so we weren't penalized, placed first, and were told to enjoy the rest of the performances in the audience. I met up with my parents and got the standard praises and was told to enjoy the rest of the evening with my classmates as they got into the car and went home. I met up with my friend Hector, found ourselves some seats and started to get bored.

Sitting behind Hector and I, was our assistant band director Mr. Castillo. Mr. Castillo was one of those late 20-something year olds with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas and an attitude problem that made us wonder if he was really pissed he wasn't the head band director, instead of playing second fiddle to a younger female. Miss Blaine was a really good instructor, had an ear that could find an instrument just a hare out of tune & correct it and could play each instrument as if she did for years. You could tell there was some animosity between them, but rarely if ever let it show.

Mr. Castillo was single. This meant he was always on the lookout for some pussy to fuck, or some hot chick to talk to and get intimate with. Looking back I didn't know what the fuck he was doing, but it's obvious now. Well, Mr. Castillo sat about three rows above us with another single female instructor. He was woo-ing this trollop with more than likely his worst pickup lines when he saw Hector bothering me. Hector was pushing my head to one side & I was just about ready to get up and change seats when Mr. Castillo walked in front of the two of us, verbally scolded us & told us our dinner privileges were now taken away. We would then eat our dinner on the bus for misbehaving in front of other schools blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Well, we left the NMSU campus & went to get something cheap from Burger King. Hector and I were under strict orders to get our food and get back into the bus. The bus was hot and dark, we ate and waited what seemed like hours for everyone to finish and return. Mr. Castillo joined Hector and I in the bus and started to get pissed off at us telling us that we could have blown the competition because of what we did. Honestly, I don't think that would have happened, we were in the audience, in the dark, and no one but people above us saw us. Which is also why Mr. Castillo and his female friend were at the highest row in the auditorium...

So, we painfully slowly make our way back home to El Paso. All along the way Mr. Castillo tells Hector and me that he is going to talk to our parents when we get back to the school yard. IM fucking scared at this point, because I don't want my parents to flip out about something that I didn't start, and tried to stop. I saw my parent's car in the parking lot when we got there. Everyone got off the bus before Hector and I, Mr. Castillo told us to get our instruments and wait by our parents so he could talk to us. I got off the bus, saw my parents went to them, got in our car and left. I looked back to see Mr. Castillo talk to Hector's parents as we drove away.

The next day passed almost without incident. Hector was grounded for a month for what happened, and I thought that was the end of it. I remember at lunch Mr. Castillo was outside the school calling my name. I just looked around, saw him, stood still as he came up to me and got angry that I didn't stay so he could talk to my parents. At this time it was already over and I didn't care. Our ranking was still #1 and at that point there was nothing that could happen that could change it. Mr. Castillo then said he was going to call my parents and tell them on the phone what happened that night. He never did. I think he knew I knew what was really happening that night. He was with someone he shouldn't have been with, she saw what me and Hector were doing & spoke up. He was busted with her & was in more hot water than I was with Hector.

I thought it was interesting that he never told Miss Blaine about the incident.