Breaking down the Chunk

Once we all received our assignments, Jeff and Michael turned to me and in unison said, "No kicking Chunk out of a window!" Why not, I asked. "Remember, 'No lasting physical harm' was the only request Chunk's father made." Since when has anyone getting kicked out of a window suffered 'lasting physical harm'? I've kicked Henri Petit out of dozens of windows, and all he does is grunts, sighs and gets right back to whatever horrible activity he was engaged in. "Regardless", they said. "Don't do it."

Whatever.

I went to meet with Chunk, with no real idea of what I was going to say to this kid to get him back on track. I don't know what makes kids tick! I found him in his cabin, ripping the tags off of everyone's mattresses.

"Hey Chunk. Come here. I want to talk to you."
"Okay."
"Do you know why you're here?"
"Kinda. My parents want you to teach me not to be a menace."
"Yes, that's right."
"But here's the thing; I don't know about the other two, but I did all that stuff so I would get sent here!"
"Oh. Really?"
"Yeah, I even rigged the hat draw so that you would pick my name!"
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I want you to teach me how to kick people out of windows."
"Oh. Oh my. That's... that's great."
"Dude. Are you crying?"
"No! But come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"Over to Henri Petit's house. You're going to be just fine, Chunk."