LOTF: Before and After

Roger Conroy

The only person in the world who didn't seem to think that there might be something wrong with Roger Conroy was Roger Conroy.

Ever since he was rather young, his parents worried about his behavior. As a toddler, he laughed when he saw someone trip and fall, when his big brother bonked his head, or when other kids cried in his preschool class. He had no interest in watching kids shows, and would usually find some other way to entertain himself. This included but was not limited to ripping the heads off his brother's action figures, wrecking his parents' furniture with permanent marker, or shoving his mother's favourite dresses into the unflushed toilet.

After he started kindergarten, it wasn't long before Rhonda and Gregory Conroy were called into the school to discuss their youngest son's behavior. The Conroy boys' elementary school had eldest brother Malcom five years ahead of Roger. It wasn't that Malcom Conroy was an overachieving, pleasant-to-be-around, goody goody, but he certainly looked like it standing next to his little brother. Malcom often got into trouble too, but for things like picking on underdogs, skipping class to wander the halls with his friends, and spitballing at teachers during their lessons. And he wasn't the only kid in the fourth grade who was behaving in such ways. His five year old brother, however, didn't learn his behavior from Malcom. Roger's delinquent antics included things like trying to pull little girls' skirts off, writing curse words in permanent marker on the walls, beating the water fountain with a baseball bat, throwing food at the lunchroom monitors' heads, and beating the spit out of other smaller kids just for the hell of it.

Compared to his little brother, Malcom Conroy was an angel. His brother's triumphant entrance into kindergarten made it much easier for Malcom to start getting away with far less detrimental acts of rebellion. While his parents were hyper focused on figuring out what was wrong with Roger, Malcom was able to fly under the radar. Suddenly, skipping ten minutes of class and calling girls names wasn't such a big deal to Rhonda and Gregory, or to West Brookhaven Elementary School.

Halfway through his kindergarten year, Roger was evaluated by a child psychologist at the request of both the school and his concerned parents. The psychologist determined that young Roger was exhibiting signs of emotional detachment, and l lacked the capacity for empathy in any form. The words 'psychopath' or 'sociopath' were not used based on the fact that underage children couldn't be diagnosed with such conditions, but Rhonda Conroy could tell that the psychologist was holding back. She knew that there was something much deeper going on with her youngest son, and her husband agreed. The worst part about it was that there was nothing more they could do than monitor his behavior. And as he continued to progress into first and then second and third grade, the school-known 'Roger problem' only got worse.

In the last few months of his third grade year, Roger's teacher and guidance counselor began the discussion around the need for Roger to attend a more rigorous school that was equipped to handle behavior like his. They worried that the Conroy parents wouldn't take the suggestion well, but to their surprise, Rhonda and Gregory were open to the idea. After months of research and discussion, the Conroy parents landed on military school. The staff at these schools wouldn't take any shit from a kid like Roger, and they'd be strict in their punishment and handling of his behavior. There probably wasn't anyone better prepared to deal with kids like Roger than trained military men. And just maybe, it'd be enough to scare him straight.

The first part of that statement turned out to be true, but the second part not so much. Roger started fourth grade at Bainbridge Military Academy. The rigorous military school had its share of experience dealing with kids like Roger, but it sure as shit didn't scare him straight. It took less than a day for Roger to wind up in the principal's office for tormenting his new roommate. Before he had the chance to sleep the night in a room with his assigned roommate, Roger was moved for the other boy's security and placed in isolation in an empty dorm room.