Not only could he perfectly imitate the speech of cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo and SpongeBob SquarePants, but he could also mimic any teacher or student in Sallami Middle School, a talent that made him popular each morning in the hallway.
On this particular September day, Samantha Spade – the town’s greatest amateur detective – and her friend, Billy Archer, were part of a small crowd of seventh-graders gathered around Porter’s locker.
“Hey, Porter, do Mr. Cunkel,” said Aaron Posthaste.
Mr. Cunkel was the shop teacher, a tall, lumbering man with a very high voice. Behind his back, kids called him Canary Cunkel.
“No problem – for two bucks,” Larry replied, holding out his open palm. Aaron dug into his pocket and produced a one-dollar bill.
“This is all it’s worth to me,” Aaron said, waving the dollar in front of Larry’s face.
Frowning, Larry grabbed the dollar and stuffed it into his wallet. The Boy of 1,000 Voices had long ago learned to capitalize on his talent.
With payment made, Larry puckered his lips as if to kiss a lemon and squeezed shut his eyes. He was getting into character. When he spoke next, his voice was a dead-ringer imitation of the shop teacher.
“Aaron, put down that hammer and get out your shop project!” he squeaked. Everybody except Samantha and Billy roared with laughter. They both thought that Mr. Cunkel was a nice man and a good teacher.
“Porter, you’re a card!” said Aaron, clapping Larry on the back. “Better save that one for posterity.”
“Good idea,” said Larry, still imitating Mr. Cunkel. He reached into his pocket and fished out a small cassette recorder. Larry lived in constant dread of the day his voice would change and leave him unable to do funny imitations, so he carried a cassette recorder with him at all times.
With the “Record” button pressed, he imitated what Mr. Cunkel might sound like if he smashed his finger in a vice.
“OK, OK, break it up, kids,” said Mrs. Young as she came out of her. Larry stuffed the cassette player into his pocket before she realized what he was doing. “Everybody to their homerooms, pronto!”
As Samantha walked to her desk, she heard Aaron ask Mrs. Young if they could get a drink before the morning bell rang. The teacher said yes. A minute or so later, Larry asked the same question and was also given permission.
During the Pledge of Allegiance, Samantha saw Aaron stroll into the room and throw something into the trashcan before going to his desk.
As Mrs. Young was taking attendance, Larry burst into the room, his shirt ripped, his hair in disarray. He tripped over a chair and landed flat on his face.
“My goodness, Larry, what happened?” cried Mrs. Young as she picked him up from the floor.
“He – he stole my dollar!” shouted Larry, pointing toward Aaron.
“That’s a lie!” said Aaron, outraged.
Amid much blubbering, Larry told his story. He said that after the two boys had gotten a drink, Aaron started pushing Larry, demanding back his dollar. When Larry told him no, Aaron pulled him into the boys' bathroom and threatened to beat him up.
“When I saw what he was going to do, I hit the ‘record’ button on my cassette player when he wasn’t looking,” Larry sniveled. “I got the whole thing on tape.”
“He’s lying, Mrs. Young!” Aaron repeated.
Mrs. Young asked for the cassette.
“See, that’s the problem,” Larry continued. “When I told Aaron that the whole conversation was taped, he grabbed the recorder, took out the cassette and ran out of the bathroom. I only have the recorder now because he dropped it on the way out.”
Samantha raised her hand. “Mrs. Young, I saw Aaron throw something away when he came into the room.”
The teacher went to the wastebasket and peered into it. Sure enough, she found a micro-cassette.
Larry placed the cassette into his player and immediately hit “Play.” The first thing everybody heard was his voice imitating the shop teacher. Mrs. Young folded her arms across her chest and frowned.
Soon, they heard Larry’s own voice, begging Aaron not to push him again. A voice that sounded like Aaron’s demanded the dollar. Then, several thumps and bumps, followed by Larry explaining that the whole incident was on tape.
“Give me that,” they heard Aaron say. There was a click, then nothing but the hiss of the cassette tape.
Aaron stood up and repeated, “He’s lying, Mrs. Young. It didn’t happen that way at all!”
According to Aaron, he met Larry coming back from the drinking fountain. Larry had given him the dollar and the cassette tape, said that he was ashamed of himself for mocking a teacher, and asked Aaron to throw away the tape. He even waved the dollar bill for the class to see, not realizing that it made him appear even guiltier.
“But, Aaron, that’s your voice on the tape, demanding the money,” said Mrs. Young.
That doesn’t prove anything,” said Aaron. “He’s the Kid of 1,000 Voices! He was imitating me!”
Mrs. Young conceded that Aaron had a point. She said she wasn’t sure which story to believe.
“I am, Mrs. Young,” said Samantha, standing up. “That cassette tape is all the evidence you need.”
WHICH VERSION OF THE STORY IS TRUE, AND HOW CAN SAMANTHA BE SO SURE? SEE BELOW FOR THE SOLUTION.
Larry said that Aaron had snatched the cassette tape out of his recorder as soon as he knew about it. But when he played the tape to the class, it had already been rewound.
Aaron would have no way to rewind the tape without the player; only Larry could do that.
Larry, angry that his imitation had earned him one dollar less than expected, saw a chance to get even when he heard Aaron ask to get a drink. After receiving permission to do the same, Larry recorded the fake bathroom confrontation on the way to the drinking fountain, then gave Aaron the dollar and asked him to throw away the tape.
If no one had witnessed Aaron throwing the tape away, Larry would have volunteered to check all the area wastebaskets himself, to “prove” his story.
Larry received an after-school detention for imitating Mr. Cunkel’s voice, and spent it cleaning and sweeping the shop classroom.
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