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 Entertainment Archive 2017








Russell and Gamby are getting rid
of the threats at North Jackson High
by Nathan'ette Burdine: October 28, 2017
 


There’s only one objective…and that’s getting rid of all the threats; the threats being the teachers and the students at North Jackson High School.

The teachers pose a threat to Russell’s reign as the principal of North Jackson High, while the students pose a threat to Gamby’s safety.

Russell and Gamby use their regular tactics of fear and intimidation in order to get as much info as they possibly can from their intended targets.

Russell snoops in on the teachers and gathers important information like the fact that the teachers don’t like him and at least one, Ms. LeBlanc, says his “breath stinks.”

Russell takes this information, makes a list, and checks it twice to see who’s all been naughty because it’s not in them to be nice.

Ms. LeBlanc, Bruce, and Ruth Anne have all made it onto Russell’s “Naughty List” because they see him for who he is, the INTERIM principal.

Meanwhile, Gamby is busy jacking up students, trying to get as much info on his shooter as he possibly can get.

The only problem is that Gamby’s tactics of whupp as now and ask questions maybe are leading him to a dead end.

Gamby’s rough rider tactics have caused Police Officer Willows to say to him, “I can’t keep following your fucked up leads Gamby. If you want to do this, you have to do it by the book.”

Gamby, however, doesn’t do anything by the book unless it involves him using the book to beat the hell out of somebody.

Seeing that he is getting nowhere on his own, Gamby turns to the man, Dayshawn, who found him in piss, blood, and sweat for help.

Gamby figures that since Dayshawn is the one who found him than he probably got a good look at the shooter.

So, Gamby invites Dayshawn over for a rib dinner with he, Ray, Gale, and Janelle to talk about the case.

During the rib dinner, Gamby takes out a book of suspects. This is a thick book, mind you.

Dayshawn looks at the book and at Gamby as if to say, “What the are you trying to get me into?!”

Dayshawn looks at those Gamby has narrowed down as his suspects and notices that they have quite the amount of melanin in their skin. “All of these kids are black,” Dayshawn says to Gamby.

Gamby lets Dayshawn know that that is his fault because he gave him the description of the shooter as tall, having greasy hair, and quick reflexes. And there’s only one group of folks who fit that description. At least, that’s what poor ol’ Gamby there thinks.

Dayshawn let Gamby know that he didn’t hear him right and that the group he was describing with the heavy amount of pigmentation was not Afro-American but Native American. Profiling, not everybody can do it.

Gamby looked at Dayshawn with a “hmm” look and decided that he better expand his search to include local trailer park resident/drug dealer/former student Robin Shandrell.

Shandrell is a Native of America, but he is not a Native American. He does, however, satisfy one of Gamby’s qualifications.

Shandrell, like many students, can’t stand Gamby for good reasons. Gamby got Shandrell kicked out of school after he planted drugs in Shandrell’s locker.

Shandrell hasn’t forgoteen what Gamby did to him and lets him know this much when he sees him again.

Next day at school, Gamby is getting ready to go and approach Shandrell about shooting him.

Nash pops up and says she wants to “tag along.” Gamby tries talking her out of it but she persists, citing Russell who she says told her she needs to be “mixing it up with the crowd.”

Gamby lets her tag along and they head out to Shandrell’s job. Shandrell is working at a meat factory.

The job is so bad that it can easily make a 17-year-old boy look 57-years-old in a year.

The job requires folks to chop up hogs, get rid of the blood and guts, and then hang ‘em upside down. It’s hell, I tell you. Hell!

Gamby and Nash spot Shandrell leaving this hell hole. They follow the boy to his trailer park community.

They try to be incognito but Shandrell spots them. Shandrell speeds walks over to the car, beats on the car window with his fist, and yells, “Get out of the fucking car Gamby…You spying on me? I saw you at my work.”

Gamby gets out and tries to deny the obvious at first. But then, Gamby decides to admit to his crime of stalking an underage minor: “Maybe I fucking was. I’m on to you. You freak piece of shit. I know you the one who shot me,” Gamby says.

Shandrell tells him he’s not the one who shot him, even though he knows Gamby framed him.

Gamby denies any wrong doing. Shandrell quickly turns around and walks away. As Shandrell is walking away, Gamby sends Nash after him. Nash tells the young fella to turn around or she’ll “knock his melon off.”

Once she catches up to him, Shandrell greets her face with his fist. And rightfully so, might I add. Hell, she had no business tagging along with Gamby, stalking that young man at his work and then at his home. She had no dog in this fight. Therefore, Shandrell busting her in her mouth was the right thing to do.

That’s what happens when you stalk folk at their work and their home. You get your ass whupped.

While Gamby was helping Nash to get an ass whupping, Russell was busy making his situation with the teachers worse.

The night before, Russell confided in his wife Christine that he really doesn’t like the fact that the teachers now hate him.

Christine tells him the ol’ “you’ll catch more flies with honey” saying. This causes a light bulb to come on and Russell decides that he’ll give it a try.

So, he shows up with Sushi during the teachers break hours. Sushi which, by the way, Seychells lets him know smells a day old.

Russell tells the teachers, “My new mission is to be the coolest goddamn boss in the whole world.”

Ms. LeBlanc, who’s made herself the spokeswoman for the teachers, tells him “a boss” he is not and that they work for the school district, not him. “You wouldn’t even be the principal if two other people hadn’t crapped out on us. You are not the king of the heap. You are the last man standing,” Ms. LeBlanc told Russell.

This sends Russell reeling. He throws the Sushi on the floor and tells the teachers, “You can take my attempt at a loving gesture and eat it off the fucking floor.”

Nobody took his “loving gesture” and ate “it of the fucking floor,” but they did get a good laugh at watching how their hate for him made him spazz out.

After failing to get Shandrell to confess to shooting him, Gamby goes back to Officer Willows and tells him he needs him to use his badge to force the information out of Shandrell.

Willows lets Gamby know he’s not about to risk his paycheck and good health insurance for his witch hunt.

And Gamby being the fool he is asked Willows if he can use his badge in order to get Sandrell to admit to shooting him.

Willows looks at Gamby as if he’s as crazy as a Looney Toon and then tells him no again.

Gamby scurries on off to go and get himself a hold of some bo’ cutters. He then makes it to the school gymnasium where he finds Russell sulking over the fact that the teachers don’t like him the way they use to when he was a vice principal.

Russell tells Gamby, “I’m all alone Gamby. Teachers hate me now. You are my one true ally.”

Gamby tells him to go have a coke and a smile and pay no never mind to the fact that the teachers hate him.

Russell then looks at Gamby and a slight smile comes across his face. Russell realizes that Gamby is about to do wrong and he wants in: “You doing investigation stuff without me. I told you I’ll help you with that Gamby,” Russell said to Gamby.

Gamby resists at first because he doesn’t want to jeopardize Russell’s new job and new life. But, like with Nash, Gamby gives in and lets Russell tag alone to Sandrell’s trailer park home.

They make it to Robin Shandrell’s trailer. Gamby heads to the back of the house where he uses the bo cutters to cut his way in through the window.

Russell knocks on the door and convinces Shandrell’s mama, who’s standing in the doorway with a tank top and shorts on, that he’s ok.

While in the trailer, Russell tells Sandrell that he risk going to jail for hitting Vice Principal Nash.

Shandrell’s mama shoots a look at him and ask him if he hit a woman. Shandrell says to his mama, “I didn’t do anything fucking wrong. They are the ones fucking spying on me. I’m not going to fucking apologize to your vice principal shit. I didn’t do anything fucking wrong.”

As Shandrell is yelling at Russell that he isn’t going to admit to anything regarding Nash, a rustling noise can be heard in the background.

The rustling noise is coming from none other than Gamby, who has just stepped onto grandpa’s oxygen tank.

The noise from grandpa causes Shandrell to run to the back of the room, Russell to run out of the trailer, and Gamby to run and hide in the closet.

But get this, something happens. Gamby grows a heart while he sees Shandrell interacting with his grandpa who Shandrell tells, “I’ll always take care of you grandpa.”

After witnessing this also touching moment between grandson and grandfather, Gamby gets cold feet. Later on that night, Gamby admits that he feels bad about setting Shandrell up.

However, Russell doesn’t see the problem with setting up a child in order to make one look as if he is doing right.

Russell said to Gamby, “Well it takes somebody mighty dirty to do something that is that beautiful. That’s what I’m talking about. No nonsense…I think that’s super fresh.”

Gamby stops and looks at Russell. Gamby tells Russell again that what he did wasn’t right and that maybe the Gamby promise of “You break the law, I fuck you raw” is not something he should be following.

Russell isn’t fazed by any of the remorse Gamby is showing. Instead, Russell is looking at all of this as a sign of what he needs to do.

And what Russell thinks he needs to do is to “send a message the Neal Gamby way.”

So, Russell has Nash round up all the teachers and take them to the last place where they did Dr. Belinda Brown in.

While standing on the railroad tracks, Russell lets the teachers know that they’ve come to a cross roads and the end for them is now.

Russell says to the teachers, “Now I brought you here because you all need a lesson in respecting your superiors.”

Bruce ask Russell if he’s joking and Russell tells him he is “as serious as a heart attack that you had last year.”

Russell then motions for the teachers to put their badges in the trash, which he has doused with gasoline.

After they are forced to throw their badges in the trash, Russell lights the trash on fire. Ms. LeBlanc begins quoting Euripides, which results in Russell telling her, “take your Euripides and shove it up your ass?”

Ruth Anne pleads that she is too old to find work but Russell tells her she’ll be alright. After expelling all of the teachers on his naughty list, Russell turns to Gamby and tells him that he’s brought him a present.

And the present is none other than Gamby’s ex-girlfriend Ms. Snodgrass’ ex-boyfriend, Bill Hayden.

Gamby tries telling Russell that he really doesn’t care, but Russell continues on and tells Bill Hayden it’s time to drop his teacher’s badge into the fire and get to steppin’.

Hayden tells Russell he doesn’t mind because he was sick of working at North Jackson High anyway.

As Hayden is leaving, Gamby stands back, looking a shame and mad all at the same time.

And oh yeah, Nash finds Dr. Brown’s tiger shoe; which causes Nash to get a “hmmm” look across her face.

After all of that hoopla and havoc that Russell causes, Gamby decides he better cleanse his soul by going down to the meat factory where Shandrell works and offering him the chance to return to school.

Gamby says to Shandrell, “This is no life for a boy your age.” Shandrell tells Gamby to stop lying because he knows he doesn’t “give a fuck.”

Shandrell letting Gamby know he knows how he really sees him causes Gamby to admit to his wrong of getting the young man kicked out of school: “No, it’s not true. I very much do give a fuck. You and I both know that what I did to you wasn’t right. I want to change that,” Gamby tells Shandrell.

Gamby lets the young fella know that he can’t sell drugs and he must come to school and do his work if he wants Gamby to keep his end of the bargain.

The young fella agrees and the two shake hands and are good for now.




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