Three Amigos: Last Hurrah

So you've read about the three amigos and now it's time to end this series. All good things have to come to an end. For the three amigos the end came when I left for Philadelphia on December 22, 1999. But days before that, as expected, we got in trouble with our teachers. This time it was very serious.

Some background information is needed to tell the story. It was about a week before I was to leave for Philly and all aspects of my life went on as usual (school, friends, etc.). My father had packed up everything and we were getting ready to leave China...barring any unexpected events. Well...three days before I was to leave one of our friends found 100 yuan (Chinese currency) in school. For 8 year old kids this was like winning the lottery. This friend, who had a twin sister, was kind enough to give us 50 yuan to spend on tarps. The three amigos had a fiesta that day. Food, toys, BB guns, trading cards, etc, etc, etc. I went home that day with an arm full of toys but my father didn't mind and asked no questions (after all we were leaving in a few days and I won't have toys).

The next day that stupid twin sister shot her mouth off about how her sister found 100 yuan and wasted it all on tarps. Of course, a teacher's pet told on us and we were named as accomplices. Our teacher made us stand in front of class during homeroom and suspended a day of class to find out whose money it was and how we were to be punished. I was splashing water in the aisles when I was named (I was trying to look dutiful and innocent). This procedure took all morning, included the principal and countless other teachers. In the afternoon all our parents were called in to account for their children. It was raining that day, I remember clearly because my father came in all wet and was not happy about it. The teachers caught the parents up on what happened and they all deliberated on what was to happen. I can't remember exactly what my punishment was but my father and I just went home at the end of the day. That was my last day of school in China. I guess you can say I left with a bang.

We were so stupid. 100 yuan was a lot of money for people in my city and the teachers took it very seriously as they should have. Very few lived in luxury and certainly no one had 100 yuan to lose. But 100 yuan was a lot of money and we were blinded by greed. When I went back to visit a few years ago, the three amigos reunited to reminisce on the past. I realized that the last time we were all together in the same room 5 years ago was this event. It was an appropriate end to an awesome eight years. And a new adventure was in front of me: America.