JustLurk said:
A job for the father, don't you think? Where was his father? Everything seems educational, until I read the "uncle" part. Why is the uncle involved in this?
One would imagine it's because the father isn't there. And by uncle its probably the mom's brother. I mean, if one thought about it for two seconds that's probably the conclusion one would reach.
*edit*
I got old school whippings like that when I was a kid from my dad, uncle, mom, grandma. Grandma was the worse. She would make you go and pick your own switch off of a tree and bring it back to her. They would have never tolerated that fake thug behavior. They grew up poor but were fair and honest and believed you should act accordingly.
My uncle was always telling me to buck up and be a man. He would fight me like man but pull his punches, taught me how to 'take a licking and keep on tickin' as he called it. They always told me it was a difference between being tough and acting tough. And that's what a lot of these kids these days don't understand. Acting tough is a bluff that is best called at home instead of in the street as this kid found out.