Here’s my theory on this attempted stabbing. According to Ben, his mom worked 2 or 3 jobs as a domestic - from 5 a.m. - 11 p.m. most days. That fact made me think that he and his brother Curtis were left to fend for themselves at times. So, I put the pieces together and came up with the scenario that it might have been his own brother he tried to stab. It could have been a fight over a radio station - or possibly because his brother stopped him from hitting his mom over the head with a hammer. Here’s the reason why I don’t believe it happened outside the home - he said it was a camping knife - in the movie the kid had a boom box type of radio - if this incident occurred at school - you just don’t carry boom boxes to school. If Ben was violent with his mother, you can bet he was with his brother as well. Right or wrong - I’m just playing detective and this makes sense to me. He said he ran home and locked himself in the bathroom. I’ll bet this happened at home. He also said the kid was wearing a large belt buckled under his shirt. People don’t wear belt buckles under their shirts - they wear them on the outside to hold up their pants. ( I found this information on google).
I believe that some kids did carry boom boxes to school back then. Maybe, maybe not but at any rate, he turned his life around. Are we supposed to hate him now for being less of a thug than he previously indicated?