The search through the High School continued quietly. We completed the sweep through the top floor of the building. The Kalispell K-9 Officer's dog, Trigger, didn't find any drugs in any of the lockers on that floor.
"One floor down, and all is quiet," the Kalispell officer quipped.
"Only one more floor and the annexes to go," Officer Barnes gave a quip as we moved back to a flight of stairs nearby.
The main High School building was only two floors as it was originally built. I didn't know when it was built, but my best guess was that the present building was built between 1940 and 1960. And for awhile, this was all the school needed. It included the gym for basketball, volleyball, and indoor PE classes. In time of course, the school had to expand a bit, and a series of annexes were built in connection to the high school. These annexes included the present student center, computer labs, weight room, welding shop, Ag classrooms, and the wood-shop. At least, that was what I had read in the paperwork that the previous DARE officer had left for Officer Barnes and I when we took over.
And with the top floor done, we then moved down toward main floor. From there, the plan would be to make a quick sweep through the school's annexes and make sure no one was hiding anything there. As we moved, Trigger continued to do his job and largely ignoring me. And that let me feel a bit relaxed around the dog.
"So, I've followed a lot of the things on the news that have been going on here..." the Kalispell officer commented.
"The election, you mean?" I replied.
"Yeah," the Kalispell officer nodded, "and it's got me a bit curious... are you and your wife involved in helping... I think her name is Choir?"
"Tabitha Choir," I nodded back, "but no, my wife and I aren't really involved. We obviously support her, and will vote for her, but we aren't involved in running her campaign."
"Oh," the Kalispell officer gave a sigh as we began going down the main floor hallway. Again, Trigger wasn't picking up any scent of drugs. "You know... it's hard to believe that such a thing would be an issue anywhere anymore. All our racist problems were solved in the sixties."
"The Civil Rights Act wasn't the end of the problem," I told him, "those that hated African Americans before the Civil Rights Act didn't suddenly realize they were wrong. It just made it clear to them that they weren't going to get away with wanton acts of bigotry anymore... the hatred never really went away. And areas that never had a large racial mix have commonly trumpeted the end of racism in America when one can never be certain with them, because they're coming from homogeneous neighborhoods and areas... where the vast majority is one ethnic group."
The Kalispell officer gave me an odd look.
"The real test of how tolerant a society is of racial minorities is to introduce a group to them that is distinctly different, and in enough numbers that the "majority" has to sacrifice at least some... or at most significant amounts of authority to the minority introduced among them," I continued, "and to the people of Columbia Falls... my wife and I have become that sort of test. As Animal-People are a new "ethnic group" in the country and represent things that are very different."
"It looks like you're doing well," the Kalispell officer retorted.
"Now, yes," I nodded, "not that things were ever easy. I'm sure you saw the reports on the arrest of Pierre Beauregard."
The Kalispell officer nodded to that.
"That had to be rough," he admitted, "I still can not believe that such things would continue to go on in America... even with Animal People."
I gave a slight sigh. The Kalispell officer was clearly had a hard time accepting that things weren't perfect.
"As I said, my wife and I are very different," I gave a sigh, "by all our present DNA markers we aren't even human anymore... and that may have been part of the fuel behind the things that we have had to confront here. People look at us and see an animal that could easily dominate the area... killing people and livestock with little fear of death. And the fear that my wife and I were mindlessly controlled by our instincts was enough to fuel a lot of our "problems" here... it's something that Animal People are having to confront everywhere. People think we've lost many of the mental facilities that made us human before our transformations, and thus figure it is a practical idea to insure that we are not threats to them."
"I'd think you've proved that by now," the Kalispell officer commented.
"To a lot of people, Officer Wayne and his wife have," Officer Barnes spoke up, "the problem was that Beauregard, the guy who lit the fire that started all of this was an ass to begin with. From what, Officer Wayne has told me, he started R.A.M. because Mrs. Rhoer-Wayne decided not to work for him. The fear of their instincts and such was used as a cover for the man."
"Glad that lunatic is in prison then," the Kalispell officer answered, "and maybe things will quiet down."
"Hopefully," I agreed to that, "a victory by Mrs. Choir will go a long way to doing that."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ultimately Trigger never found anything in the High School. That came as good news to Officer Barnes and I, and we moved to inform the office that the High School was clean.
"How did things go?" one of the secretaries asked as we came in.
"We have good news," Officer Barnes said with a smile, "the high school is clean."
"Clean?"
"No drugs," I clarified, wondering if they were thinking about cleaning, not the reference used to describe someone who didn't have drugs.
"Well... that is good news," the secretary that had spoke replied, "I don't think we could take much more excitement."
That was a reference to the attack on Amy and Marcella, and Officer Barnes and I nodded to that. The fewer people that had to be arrested, the better.
"So, what will be your next mission?" the other secretary asked.
"We'll be going with the Kalispell K-9 Officer to the Middle School and running the same drug sweep there," Officer Barnes answered, "hopefully they'll be drug free too."
"And if anything happens here?" the secretary asked.
"We'll still have our radios," Officer Barnes spoke, "if something goes on, call the station and the Dispatch Officer will call us and we'll hurry as fast as we can."
"Okay then," the secretary sighed. She didn't sound entirely supportive of the idea, but our assignment to with the Kalispell officer and his dog couldn't be ended.
With the High School office staff informed that the school was clean, Officer Barnes and I made our way out to where the DARE care was parked. The students were let out to move to their next class as we left. And as we made our way out, the Kalispell officer was loading Trigger into the back of his car.
"We'll lead you to the Middle School," Officer Barnes spoke as we moved to our car, "I'm sure you know the way, but..."
"Yeah, I know," the Kalispell officer nodded, "shoot the Kalispell DARE officer does the same thing. A nice piece of protocol."
Officer Barnes nodded and climbed in behind the drivers seat. As I moved into the back seat, I noticed the Kalispell officer give a blink.
"They didn't enlarge your car?" the Kalispell officer asked.
"I don't think the guys in Detroit have put much energy into building a vehicle to fit a being of my size," I told him, "as when I was transformed, the Animatrix Serum wasn't on the market yet. With low demand they had no reason... and the state didn't have the money to have a car specially made."
The Kalispell officer slowly nodded.
"Some of that might be changing now, as the Animatrix Serum is on the market, but I haven't really paid that close attention to the actual models the automakers have been building," I finished.
And with that, I climbed into the backseat of the DARE car. And from there, we made our way to the Columbia Falls Middle School. According to what the previous DARE officer had left for Officer Barnes and I, the Middle School was a bit newer then the High School. It had only one floor, but took up almost as much land area as the High School did. As we arrived, I hoped things at the Middle School would be as clean as the High School had been.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Okay, here we go," the Kalispell officer commented as we began going down the row of lockers on one end of the school.
Officer Barnes and I had checked in with the Middle School Office Staff to inform them that we were here to run the mandatory drug search. This included the request that all the students remain in their classrooms while we did the search. With that done, we went back to the Kalispell officer who had moved to the spot where we would begin to go through the hallways. And from there, the search was on.
Trigger again quietly sniffed at each locker as he was lead to them and did his job very well. I hoped that things would go as well as they had at the High School. And through one row of lockers that seemed to be repeating itself.
"I almost hate to jinx us... but things have been going good," the Kalispell officer commented.
"Jinx?" I wondered.
"We've almost always had at least one violation," the Kalispell officer sighed as we rounded a corner, "as some kids get hooked and end up having some on them. The PE/Health Classes try, and DARE officers try... but you can't get rid of all drug violations. There is always at least one that's made the mistake."
"What do you do with the kid?" I asked.
"It depends on the age and how much," the Kalispell officer shrugged, "if they have a lot or are close to eighteen, they're arrested and taken to your station's jail to await either the standard proceedings or the proceedings related to criminal acts committed by juveniles. If they're young or there isn't much, we issue them a ticket and a summons to a juvenile court to set either their community service or whatever other punishment they deem appropriate."
We continued on quietly. The Kalispell officer lead the way with on hand on Trigger's leash. The dog continued to sniff each locker as he passed it. And so far, he hadn't found anything yet to indicate that there were any drugs to be found. Officer Barnes and I were at the rear of the group as we moved along. The hope that no drugs would be found continued until we got into the lockers assigned to the eighth graders.
We came to a locker in the corner of one hallway and where it intersected with another. At first Trigger moved on to the next locker, just as he'd done with the others. But then he stopped. I watched as the dog turned back and began to paw at the locker he had passed. There was something in there that Trigger caught the scent of.
"Nuts," the Kalispell officer sighed, "I told you there is at least one violation."
Officer Barnes and I sighed and looked at the locker itself. The fact that Trigger had smelled something meant that we would have to search the locker, just to make sure. The kid, however, had locked the locker with a personal pad-lock.
"I'll see if I can get a janitor," Officer Barnes commented and headed off.
"Couldn't you just yank the lock off?" the Kalispell officer asked.
"In theory, yes, but I'd probably take the handle with it," I managed, "and my claws are only bone, and can't cut through metal... at least not through metal that thick."
The Kalispell officer sighed, and we waited quietly for Officer Barnes to return with a custodian, who was carrying a set of bolt cutters. The Kalispell officer backed off enough to allow the custodian to get in and cut the lock loose.
"Thank you," he said to the custodian as he removed the lock and headed off.
And with that the locker was opened and the search of it began. Trigger was lead forward again to sniff through the locker to pinpoint where the drug scent was coming from. He started with the bottom of the locker, which appeared to be covered in papers. Nothing there. The Kalispell officer then got Trigger to jump up and rest his paws on the open door to sniff at a top level, which had a few papers and some books on it. Again there was nothing there. That left only one thing left, a backpack that was hanging from the bottom of the divider between the bottom of the locker and the top level of the locker. Trigger again pawed at it as he sniffed it.
The Kalispell officer quietly took out the backpack and began to open up the various compartments in it. This was done to find whatever drugs the kid had smuggled in. It ended up being a small bag of Marijuana and the paper used to roll it in. Not much and would probably mean that the kid would be allowed to finish the school day. There were no other drugs in the back.
"This was only a small amount," the Kalispell officer sighed, "enough to ticket and give him a summons with the "teen court" system. Which will be lucky for him. Facing actual drug charges would be worse for him."
Officer Barnes and I nodded. Officer Barnes began writing out the summons and ticket information with "Locker 32" written in the name spot since we didn't know who the kid actually was. When that was done, we resumed going through the school. Other then that one, Trigger found no other signs of drugs.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The last thing we did at the Middle School was deal with the discipline of the student who had the drugs in his/her locker. With no other lockers having drugs in them, this was a fairly easy operation. The Kalispell officer's job was done and he rapidly departed with Trigger. Officer Barnes and I meanwhile went to the Middle School's office with the evidence of the drugs in a plastic bag, the ticket and the juvenile court summons.
"Please don't tell me you found drugs..." the Middle School Secretary said nervously as we entered the office. She had apparently seen the evidence and paperwork that Officer Barnes was carrying.
"I'm afraid so," Officer Barnes sighed, "Do you know who has locker number thirty two?"
The secretary gave a sigh and nodded, "Yes... shall I call him to the office?"
"Yes," I nodded.
The kid, named Peter was called, and Officer Barnes and I then waited quietly for the kid to arrive in the office. Peter did arrive promptly and was fairly quiet as he approached.
"Yes, sirs?" Peter said with a slightly nervous tone in his voice.
"Your locker here is number thirty two?" I asked the kid.
"Yes, sirs," Peter answered.
"Do you know why we're here today?" I asked him.
"Not really," Peter admitted.
"We're running mandatory drug searches," Officer Barnes answered him, "and we found a small bag of Marijuana in Locker Thirty Two."
"It's not mine!" Peter blurted.
"Not yours?"
"Someone must of stashed in my locker," Peter insisted.
"We found it in your backpack," I answered.
"Someone put it in my backpack," Peter insisted.
"Someone went into your locker and stashed a bag of Marijuana in your backpack?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Without being seen?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know," Peter admitted.
"Please tell the truth son," Officer Barnes spoke, "the amount we found was small. All you have right now is a ticket for drug possession and a date with juvenile court to determine the exact punishment. If you make us have to pull every student out of class and ask them if they saw someone in your locker... or go through the security camera footage and no one breaks into your locker... what your doing could land you with obstruction charges and you've needlessly made your situation worse."
"Broke in..." Peter began.
"Your locker was locked," I answered, "we had to get bolt cutters to get into it. Which means that if some one broke into your locker, he had to have a key for it. Something that would be bound to attract attention."
"Can I have my lock back?" Peter asked.
"The lock is trashed, kid," Officer Barnes told him, "now, was the Marijuana yours or not?"
Peter looked very sheepish for a moment.
"Don't tell my dad," he said after a moment.
"That part, I'm afraid is the school's responsibility, for the moment," I told him, "all that we are required to do is give you the ticket and the summons to the juvenile court. If you don't show up... or don't pay the fine in a timely manner, THEN we will contact your parents."
"And I will be calling your father," the secretary said sternly, "this is an embarrassment to the school!"
Peter only looked down. Clearly he didn't want to be caught with the drugs and knew he'd be in trouble if he was. There was nothing that Officer Barnes or I could do. Drug possession was illegal and the schools all held zero tolerance rules on it.
"And you were doing so well," the secretary scolded again, sounding more like a disappointed parent.
Peter only continued to look down as Officer Barnes finished the ticket and the court summons.
"We will expect to see you at the juvenile hearing," Officer Barnes told him.
"Yes, sir," Peter said weakly.