How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
When Roy returned to the car, his mother asked: "Why are those two people wrestling on the porch?"
"The one in the pajamas is the kid who tried to choke me on the bus. The other one, that's his mother. They're fighting over my apology letter." (4.105-106)
The relationships between Dana and is mother is so foreign to Roy and Mrs. Eberhardt that they sit in wonder at what is unraveling before their eyes. We highly doubt that Roy and his mother would ever wrestle over anything.
Quote #2
The truth was, Lonna didn't know where the boy had gone and didn't intend to go looking for him. She was "fed up with the little monster," or so Beatrice overheard her say on the telephone. As for Leon Leep, he displayed no curiosity beyond what his wife had told him about her wayward offspring. Leon didn't even notice when the tuition bills from the military school stopped coming. (10.52)
One parent doesn't care and the other doesn't notice. Lonna and Leon are far from being shining examples of good parenting. But luckily for Mullet Fingers what he does have is a phenomenal stepsister...
Quote #3
Long before his mother sent him away from the last time, the boy and his stepsister had forged a quiet alliance. [...] She agreed to keep his whereabouts a secret, knowing that Lonna would call the juvenile authorities if she ever found out.
That concern was what had prompted Beatrice Leep to confront Roy Eberhardt after she saw him chasing her stepbrother that first day. She did what any big sister would have done. (10.53-54)
Beatrice and Mullet Fingers share an incredible bond. And since Roy is an only child, this is one relationship to which he has nothing to compare.