An Unexpected Gift by Brandon Carlisle

Author:Brandon Carlisle [Carlisle, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Andy is Growing Up

Isaac

That fall, Andy stepped through the doors of Lowell High School into the tenth grade. He acclimated to school with little difficulty even though he was a year older than most of the other students. It was much larger than his original high school, and a lot more diverse. Lowell High School was merit based compared to a normal high school, so the students were there because they wanted to be, not because it was a requirement. He found his clique with the art students and felt at home. His biggest difficulty was the structure of the art classes. From Abby we learned that after the first week his teacher was more of an "oh, that's what you want to try", then they would do it. When he complained to Abby, she laughed and told him that was what she did when she taught, so he needed to get used to it.

I had now been with the foundation for three months and it was a major change. My biggest worry was if I was actually needed or if Sebastian was just trying to make a place for me. Well, it turned out I was actually helping. I was organizing proposals for projects and a sounding board for ideas. I felt useful. After the first few weeks I even started giving suggestions of my own.

In early November, The Briggs Initiative failed on the ballot. It would have barred us from being able to teach in California, among other limitations of our rights. We were ecstatic over the result. But the joy of that victory was short lived. Shortly after that on November 18th, we heard on the news about the mass suicide in Jonestown. Reverend Jim Jones had a church here known as the Peoples Temple. He relocated his congregation to Guyana. Some of the people in Reverend Jones' congregation worked on Harvey's campaign, but we didn't know any of them. A US Congressman sent to investigate was murdered before Jones ordered the mass suicide. The city and nation were stunned.

Then, only nine days later, just after 11 a.m., on November 27th, 1978, Tim, one of our office clerks, raised his voice and told everyone to quiet down. He had the radio quietly playing on his desk, and said there was to be an important announcement from City Hall.

I overheard him and stepped into the room to find out what was so important. I knew Sebastian was on a call with Arthur and had his door closed. The announcer stated that Board of Supervisors President Diane Feinstein was stepping up to the microphone. The announcer made a comment that she looked visibly shaken. "As President of the Board of Supervisors, it is my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect is Supervisor Dan White."

I steadied myself against a desk as gasps and screams filled the room. This couldn't be happening. Murdered? In City Hall? There had to be a mistake.

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