Unjustified Penalty

(Continuation of Previous Story, "Chronic Issue")

Philly got caught smoking weed on campus. Of all places, Philly and his homies decided to light up right behind the Student Life Center which is located at the center of campus. There was no fence or anything else blocking the trio from being seen, but they expected to puff and pass undetected. Although they weren't seen, the fresh smell of bud alerted the building administrator that some students were getting high nearby.

A couple of Police officers showed up and caught Philly with the blunt in his hand. According to the police report, he resisted initially but upon realizing the severity of the situation, Philly cooperated and took a walk to the Dean's office. At that point he was asked to return at a later date for a more formal meeting to address the matter.

At the follow-up meeting, Philly was given a police report to review. After reading through it with the Dean, he opted to plea "no contest" since a trial in front of the judicial board meant he could potentially be expelled from the college. He accepted a lesser punishment which involved being barred from playing basketball for at least half of the next season, and having the infraction attached to his student record. He signed the form and went on his merry way.

All the while, I waited patiently for Philly to tell me about the incident. I saw him in the Athletic Center two weeks after the fact and chopped it up with him for a bit, pretending to know nothing about the episode. He didn't say a word about the violation, or ensuing penalty. During that encounter his eyes were blood shot and he smelled like he had just smoked, but I didn't care to investigate since I had already decided to cut him loose for the entire upcoming season.

After a full month, I informed Philly that I knew about what happened and decided to suspend him for the upcoming season. He feigned ignorance about signing the plea that incriminated him. I even had the Dean send him another copy as a reminder of what he confessed. He still played stupid. The exchange we had about the matter infuriated me so much that I decided to block his phone calls and text messages.

Philly: Why am I being suspended for the season?
Me: What do you mean? I gave you a full month to tell me about what happened and you didn't. Now you have to face the consequence.
Philly: I don't understand. I wasn't even smokin! These cops are lyin!!
Me: They caught you with a blunt in your hand. I saw the police report.
Philly: Okay but they said I was smoking. I wasn't smokin no blunt, coach. I ain't dumb enough to smoke on campus.
Me: Oh. You were just holding the blunt with no intention of smoking it?
Philly: I'm just sayin that I wasn't smokin and I don't see why you're suspending me for the season. That's wack!
Me: Wack?!?! You never came to me about this whole incident and now you want to say this is wack?! Are you kidding me?!?!
Philly: As my coach you supposed to have my back. That's all I'm sayin. I ain't ever give you no trouble before and this is how you play me?


TO BE CONTINUED...