undue influence

"I was scared of what you said, so I didn't go."

I consider the implications. "Well, good. " I am amused and satisfied.

"It was just me who didn't go," he said, trying to minimize. I shrug back at the boy who's feeling stupid for staying away from someplace he should not have been, not that anything really came of it, but we didn't know that at the time.

Sometimes I forget how much they do believe me. Friday, word got around that a June grad was having a birthday party in a hotel. Obviously, no good was gonna come. So obviously, some of them were planning.

Out of the blue, in the midst of the talk, I said, "I think I'll call the cops." I'm getting better at the straight face, kept it through all the wonder and exclaiming. When they asked why, I let them fill in their own blanks. Raised an eyebrow, waited. Repeated. A second thought certainly couldn't hurt. Just because I would have done it doesn't mean they should.

In the end, I didn't. I had no concrete information, and in the end my job was done. All I really wanted, not that I really thought it out, was for someone to make a smarter decision. And against his will, one did.