"Have you heard the rumors that I'm retiring?" asked Tim Wilkinson as I sat across from him in his office. "It is true; I am planning on retiring at the end of the school year. I figure 33 years in this school is long enough, and I have you to thank for the push."
"Me?" I asked incredulously. My thoughts suddenly became panicked, trying to figure out what I had done to make my principal retire. "Why me?"
"Calm down, Brucie, you haven't done anything wrong. In fact, the opposite is true." He got up, closed and locked the door, and sat back down in his tall, leather chair. He then took off what appeared to be a class ring and set it on the desk in front of me. "When I first came to this school as a teacher 33 years ago, I was an idealist, much like you were when you came here four years ago. In my fifth year, Mr. Walton called me into his office and told me he was retiring, much like I'm having this conversation with you now.
"He told me of his secret for keeping the school running as well as it had, and his desire to be relieved of the burden, such that it was. He had wanted to retire for a few years, but needed someone he could trust with the secret before he left."
I remembered Mr. Walton vaguely, mostly from stories my parents told me. He was the principal when they went to Central. The school prospered under his leadership, I had heard. He was legendary for his ability to create harmony and compromise among groups of people, his faculty adored him, and the students all respected him. The same could be said about Mr. Wilkinson.
"What does that have to do with me, Mr. Wilkinson?" I asked.
"Please, Bruce, I appreciate the tone of respect, but you've been here four years. I'm not your old teacher anymore; I'm your professional colleague. Call me Tim. I've said that before. Anyway, I find myself much in the same situation that Mr. Walton was in. I've wanted to retire for a few years, but I needed someone I could trust to pass the secret on to. Frankly, I was waiting to see if you were going to stay or bolt out the door for another school once you got tenure. I'm glad you stayed, and I think you will be as well."
My panic attack subsided a bit, but I was still confused. "I have no intention of leaving, Tim. I went to school here, my parents went to school here, and I was thrilled to be asked to join the faculty here. I owe a debt to the teachers of this school, and I intend to repay it by being one of those teachers who builds others up like I was."
"That's what I had hoped to hear you say," Mr. Wilkinson said. "Have you ever wondered what the secret to keeping this school running as peaceably and efficiently as it has been? It's all in that ring on the desk." He lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned forward. "That innocent looking ring allows the wearer to influence the thoughts and actions of other people. That's the secret to how I can get what I want around the school, around the community, and especially out of the school board. I needed someone I could trust to give the ring to; someone who I knew was loyal to Central and would stay here. The ring doesn't work unless you are working here. It's an old Central High School class ring that was enchanted years ago. I don't know how or by whom, but I have an idea of the purpose." I stared at the ring while he kept talking to me. "You can get anything you want, pretty much. The only rule, if you call it that, that I have found is that if the ring thinks you are getting too selfish, it will start to tighten around your finger. Slowly at first, enough to let you know it is paying attention. If you continue to be selfish, it will tighten more, causing pain and suffering. Mr. Walton told me that one of the first to wear the ring couldn't stop himself from wanting more and more, and the ring eventually crushed his bone and the doctors had to amputate his finger in order to get it off."
I looked up at him, then back at the ring, then up at him again. "And you want to give this to me? Why?"
"Because I trust you. I know you will do what is right for Central High, and that you will stay here. Your loyalties are obvious to everyone who knows you professionally and personally. Your character is unquestioned, and you are the obvious choice for me. You will, of course, need to work your way into an administrative position of power around here to do what is best for the school. But, don't be afraid to use it for a little personal gain. The ring will allow that, as long as you don't get too selfish, like I said. I've had it squeeze me two or three times, and I always backed off of what I was wanting at the time."
Mr. Wilkinson stood up and put the ring on, went to unlock the door, and then sat back down and pressed the intercom button. "Ms. Wallace," he said, "could you come in for a few minutes? I need you to do something for me."
"Certainly, Mr. Wilkinson," came the cheery voice over the phone. "Let me finish this phone call and I'll be right in."
As we waited, I sat there in silence. It was much to absorb, and I wasn't sure if I believed it all or not. Mr. Wilkinson had been my favorite teacher in high school, the only one to make social studies interesting. He had been as much an entertainer as he was a history teacher, and we learned about the ancient world as much through his stories and dress-up performances as we did from the textbook.
My silence was broken by the sound of Linda Wallace coming in the office. A real stunner, she was, all 5'6" of her with her short cropped brown hair, her thin waist making her average sized breasts look larger than they really were, her ass held prominently in place by the tight skirts she wore most days, including this one. "Linda, lock the door and turn down the door shade, please," Mr. Wilkinson said to her as he turned the ring one time around on his finger. She turned and did so as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. "Remember you and me talking about me retiring if I could find someone loyal enough to the school to trust? Well, Bruce is that person. But he needs a demonstration of how the secret works."