The memoir “Bad Boy” tells the story of a young African American boy, named Walter who lives in Harlem, and the difficulties that he had to face because of his race and speech impediment. Walter starts off as a tough but mischievous child who is always getting himself into trouble. An example of his mischief, would be the time when he threw a book in Mrs. Conway’s (teacher) classroom, because one of his classmates made fun of him when he was reading a book. At first, when Walter was born, his parents got a divorce and he went to live with Florence Dean (Adoptive mother) in Harlem. As he grew older, he started to love Harlem. He loved everything, from the nature all the way to the history behind Harlem’s literature. Another part of growing …show more content…
He would practice daily, and would often be one of the best player on his team. One tragic afternoon, Walter tried to hang on the back bumper of a taxi that was driving in the thoroughfare. Sadly, he was thrown off the car and he badly hurt his legs. When he got home, he went to his room and laid in his bed. When it was time for dinner, he went to eat and his father asked him about his legs. He answered back “Mamma beat me with a stick”. I could not believe that he would say that but he sadly did. After he was sent to his room, his father scolded his mother, and told her to never lay hands on Walter again. For the next two weeks, Walter did not go to school and he did not strike up any conversation with his mom. A few months later, Walter was supposed to have a birthday party but his uncle Lee who had just gotten out of prison was murdered. After Lee was buried, Walter’s father fell into a yearlong depression which consisted of him going to work and listening to the radio all night long. Years later, Walter took a test for Stuyvesant High, and he passed. As the year went on his grades dropped because he had too much work to do every day, and because he was starting to get low scores on his tests and