During the rest of lunch and recess, Leland retraced his steps from the schoolhouse to his house. He was thankful Green Meadow was a small town, or else he'd be in big trouble, even more trouble than he was going to get in for skipping school, although he didn't really think it was skipping, since it wasn't technically during class time. In any case, he nearly made it back to his house when he bumped into Officer Growler, literally.

"Uh oh," he said.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school, Leland?" Officer Growler asked.

"Uhh, well, I was just looking for my book report," Leland said. "See, I had to race out of the house this morning, and I know I had my book report when I left, and then when I got to school, I didn't have it, so Montgomery said I probably dropped it, so I was just looking for it, and it's in the middle of lunch and recess now, so . . . ."

Officer Growler was giving Leland a Look. No way was he buying this, even if it was the truth. Leland nervously turned around, and headed back to school. Officer Growler followed him, to make sure he went back, and not try to skip school again. By the time they got back, recess was over. Miss Deering wasn't too pleased when Officer Growler came into the classroom and informed her he caught Leland skipping school. Miss Deering immediately gave him detention on the spot.

"I knew you'd get caught," Bingo said, as Leland walked to his desk.

"Did you have any luck finding your book report?" Montgomery asked.

"No," Leland sighed. "Boy, I'm really gonna get it when I get home today."

"Don't sweat it, Leland," Gosalyn said. "I used to get detention all the time when I lived in St. Canard! It's no big deal."

"I know," Leland said. "I get it all the time for being late. And it's not the detention that I'm worried about!"

"Oh, I get it," Gosalyn said. "It's what your folks are gonna do, right? Well, if your dad is anything like my dad, the worse he'll do is ground you and take away your allowance for a week or three."

"My dad and my mom are out of town," Leland said. "And they don't get too bent out of shape over when I get detention for being late to school. In fact, they're kind of used to it. And so's my grandfather. He lives with us. And he's a firm believer in what he calls 'good old-fashioned discipline.' When he finds out I got detention for skipping school . . . . well, let's just say I'll be lucky if I'm able to sit down after he gets through with me!"

"I get the message," Gosalyn said, grimacing. "Ouch!"

After school, while everyone else left, Leland remained seated at his desk for half an hour, continuing to look for his book report. He couldn't think of what in the world had happened to it. Once his detention period was over, Miss Deering called Leland to her desk before he left.

"This is happening too much, Leland," she said. "You're not turning in homework, you fail almost every test I give you, and you're barely passing the class to begin with. You're doing better with getting to school on time, but you're still late pretty often. If this keeps up, I'm afraid you'll have to be let back. I don't think you're a bad student. You just need to try harder. I'd like you to give this note to your parents when you get home."

"My grandfather is going to kill me," Leland groaned, as Miss Deering handed him a note.

Leland somewhat dawdled on the way home. His grandfather expected him to get good grades, and Leland usually got mostly D's and F's. Grandpa Lizard usually blew a gasket whenever that happened. His parents weren't too crazy about his grades, either, and Leland was just glad they were out of town. He didn't think he'd be able to handle a triple lecture.

When Leland walked through the front door, he hoped his grandfather was sleeping. Grandpa Lizard was the heaviest sleeper in all of Green Meadow. He could sleep through a sonic boom. Unfortunately, Leland wasn't so lucky that day. Grandpa Lizard was in the kitchen, and he heard Leland coming in.

"Leland, is that you?" he called.

"Uhh, yeah, Grandpa, it's me," Leland replied.

"You're late."

"Yeah, uhhh . . . . I know."

"Detention again?"

"Yeah . . . . . but not for being late to school . . . . ."

"What did you do this time, boy?"

Leland wasn't sure if he could bring himself to tell his grandfather he had lost his book report on the way to school that day, and then got caught when he left school to look for it. And he especially didn't want to give his grandfather the note Miss Deering sent home with him. He didn't say anything, but Grandpa Lizard knew something was up. Leland dug through his backpack, pulled out the note from Miss Deering, and handed it to his grandfather. Grandpa Lizard unfolded it, and read through it. Leland braced himself for the explosion.

"What I would like to know is how can you lose a book report when you had it in your hand when you left the house?" Grandpa Lizard shouted.

"Well, I was in a hurry, and I guess it fell out of my notebook when I was running to school," Leland said.

"And then you left school to go look for it? What in the world were you thinking?"

"I guess I wasn't."

"As usual! What's the matter with you, boy? It's like you don't have a brain in that head of yours!"

Leland didn't say anything. Catchum often said that Leland was brainless, but he wasn't so sure if he wanted to say that to his grandfather. He wouldn't have been able to get a word in edgewise, anyway, since Grandpa Lizard was in the middle of a rant.

"This is the third time this semester you haven't turned in your homework!" he shouted, giving Leland a slight swat upside the head. "And skipping school on top of it all! Trouble with you is you don't work hard enough! You read more of those consarn comic books than you do your school books! You'll never learn anything that way! You'll never amount to anything, Leland, you hear me?"

"Yes sir," Leland said, feebly. There wasn't much he could do about this. This was a normal lecture for him. His grandfather often told him that he'd never amount to anything when he yelled at Leland over school.

Grandpa Lizard then took away Leland's allowance, as well as his television privileges for a month, and sent Leland to his room to do his homework.

"And you'd better work on it, too!" he shouted. "I'm gonna come in there in two minutes, and if you're reading comic books instead of doing your homework, I'll do more than just yell at ya, boy!"

"Yes, sir," Leland said. He figured he'd better get started on his homework right away, and not stop until he finished it, or else his grandfather was going to have a fit. He knew exactly what his grandfather had in mind when he said he was going to do more than yell at him.

Almost exactly two minutes later, Grandpa Lizard walked into Leland's room, and found him working on his homework. He was satisfied.

"Glad to see my talk got through to you," he said.

"Mm hmm," Leland said with a nod. That was all. He didn't consider what his grandfather had just given him a talk. It was more like a verbal massacre, but Leland knew better than to say that.

"You know what your problem is, boy?" Grandpa Lizard asked. "You're a lazy lizard. You give up too quickly. You gotta try harder! When the going gets tough, the tough gets going! Remember that, boy. Try harder!"

Leland didn't answer. He just pretended to concentrate on his homework. He hated it when he was being watched while doing it, especially his grandfather. It made him incredibly nervous. It pressured him a bit, to make sure he did a good job on it, and because of that, he was prone to making mistakes. After a few minutes, Grandpa Lizard left. Leland heaved a sigh of relief.

"I've got to find a way to do better in school," he said. "I've just got to!