The Seventh Most Important Thing

The judge doesn’t believe Arthur’s story. Arthur’s father was a high school dropout, had been arrested for several biker crimes, and died in a motorcycle accident. The judge figures Arthur is just like his dad, saying “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” (17).

Mr. Hampton asks to speak with the judge, which takes a couple of hours. When the hearing readjourns, the judge tells Arthur that James Hampton requested that Arthur be “assigned to work for him until his arm has healed” rather than being sentenced to juvie (20). Arthur asks what kind of work Mr. Hampton does. The judge says Arthur will find out and sends Arthur home.

Arthur shares a bedroom with his sister. The things at home that annoyed Arthur before, like his sister’s pink bedspread, don’t bother him so much now. He’s just glad to have “a bedroom he could walk into” (22).

Arthur’s mother is concerned about Arthur becoming more like his dad. She lays down some new house rules: Arthur will talk about things that bother him; he won’t get in trouble at school; he’ll come straight home after school to watch his sister; money is tight. Arthur already comes home to watch his sister, and the last rule doesn’t sound like a rule to him.