Laurie speaks insolently to his
parents, spills the babys milk, and calls his father names.
Lauries parents seem to have no idea that the boy whose bad behavior he describes every
day is actually him. Lauries behavior at home clearly demonstrates that he is a handful, but
his parents are distracted by the increasingly bizarre behavior he reports every day from his
classmate .
At home, Laurie often slams doors, yells, and treats his parents
disrespectfully. His parents make no connection between this behavior and Charless school
antics. They do not even seem to notice that their son is obnoxious at home. They have a new
baby that often takes some of their attention.
On Lauries first day, he comes
home slamming the door and yelling because no one instantly acknowledged his presence.
At lunch he spoke insolently to his father, spilled his baby sisters
milk, and remarked that his teacher said we were not to take the name of the Lord in
vain.
His parents do not seem to make the connection
between this behavior and the descriptions of the behavior of Charles. Laurie goes seamlessly
from his gleeful accounts of the fictional Charless bad behavior to being bad himself at home
with his parents. His parents either ignore it or are distracted by Charles.
What did he do? I asked.
He just sat there,
Laurie said, climbing into his chair at the table. Hi, Pop, yold dust mop.
Charles had to stay after school today, I told my husband. Everyone stayed with
him.
Lauries parents seem unaware that their son is
struggling in school, and apparently the teacher thinks it is better to just sit back and wait
until he settles down. He does begin to behave more appropriately as time goes on, and by the
time Lauries mother finally makes it to a parent-teacher conference, he is no longer the Charles
he has been describing for so long.
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