Why not believe him? That delays the bad news for what? One day? The weekend? Surely he didn't try to peddle that he was never going to get one?
I don't know what my fool son thought was going to happen over the weekend when he couldn't produce that report card. It was a Friday. He must have thought he'd bought himself at least two days' grace. I know he didn't think he'd get this whopper past his dad, though. (He was terrified of his dad, a fact I didn't discover for years. I thought he adored his dad. Okay, I admit to having been stupid as well as naive!) No corporal punishment from his dad. Just a Leo who didn't know how to be a dad because his own had been somewhat cold and distant. Plus he didn't talk politics with his son, and that was a lost opportunity. It's such a good way to introduce your kids to the real world and how things work. Despite my ultimate failure in that regard!