Rusty Gordon (Malone)

Rusty Gordon is a schoolboy troublemaker in the town of Odyssey. He is a close friend of Rodney Rathbone and runs with Rodney's gang, the Bones of Rath. Rusty has a talent for petty schemes. He tricks younger kids into gang "initiation missions," demands lunch money on the wooded paths, and sells a greeting-card verse to a desperate classmate as an original poem. He trades favors for stolen test scores and once sneaks cherry bombs into Edwin Blackgaard's theater to settle a grudge. Alongside Rodney, he mocks kids who stand out, like a young backyard inventor with big dreams. He is also a capable athlete. At basketball camp his defense repeatedly humiliates a hotshot rival. Loud and bullying, Rusty backs down when someone finally stands up to him.