From across the street, a young man observes the lives of his neighbor, Mrs. Satterstein, and her four sons. The youngest son is named Laurence. He’s the bad egg of the pack. Mrs. Satterstein is constantly reprimanding Laurence for not doing his work correctly, for being picked on by the other boys, for being useless around the house. One day, Laurence decides to rebel and locks Mrs. Satterstein out of her house while the young man watches from across the street. The scene gets too hysterical, and the young man must close his eyes. Upon reflecting on the rebellion, he concludes that Laurence’s life will turn out to be as messy and disastrous as his childhood indicates. He may be wrong, but he may be right, he figures.