The following morning Buddy gets up and cleans the whole house as he was embarrassed that it wasn’t as clean as the Rybeero’s. When his dad comes down for breakfast, Buddy is proud of his work and his dad asks him how much he charges. Buddy says he doesn’t want any money but his dad insists and hands him two £5 notes. This is suspicious to Buddy because he got in so much trouble for stealing £5 at the beginning of the book.
When Buddy asks his dad where the money came from, he replies, “ask no questions and I won’t tell you no lies.” This shows that his dad may be trying to hide something.
His dad then tells Buddy that they’re going to the shops. On the way, they stop at the pub and his dad buys Buddy a half-pint of beer and offers him a cigarette. Buddy doesn’t take the cigarette but takes the beer and pretends to like it. His dad buys more drinks and four bags of crisps as he didn’t know what flavour to pick. It’s clear that his dad has a lot of money to spend.
They then went to a clothes shop and Buddy finally gets a pair of trousers for school, despite his dad wanting him to get something a bit more trendy. His dad tells him that he might buy another record shop and Buddy remembers his dad’s old store, where he sold records but it burned down one night and it turned out that his dad didn’t have insurance, which caused a huge row at home.
Despite everything seeming much brighter, Buddy was worried and thought about how his dad had gone to prison after the shop burned down. It’s at this point that he brings up the idea of his dad becoming a taxi driver. His dad laughs and makes a racist comment about the Rybeeros, which angers Buddy.
His dad gets angry with Buddy as he doesn’t seem to appreciate the money he has spent on him but Buddy is simply worried that his dad might get in trouble. Buddy wonders why his dad can’t be more like other dads but then he thought there were times that his dad was really cool and these contrasting feelings left him very confused.
Questions:
- Why do you think Buddy cleaned the whole house?
- What type of parent is Buddy’s dad? Explain your answer with reference to the text. PQE
- Why is Buddy so worried about the money that his dad is spending?
- Why does his dad get annoyed when Buddy suggests he become a taxi driver?
- In your opinion, how has Buddy’s dad got so much money?
Enda's English Notes 
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