"Don't listen to cops, kid." - Mr. Tapster to Austin

Heads up, talking about cops and the law is briefly mentioned in this!!!! Okay time to talk about these two

Besides Cindy, Mr. Tapster is also really close with Austin!

When Mr. Tapster first transferred to the third school, Austin saw him and already liked him from how he looked. But was too shy to approach.

Austin was one of the kids that Mr. Tapster first noticed because of his punk appearance, he did say hi to Austin but he was too nervous to say anything. Mr. Tapster understood though and decided to let Austin approach him when he felt ready.

Which is what ended up happening, one time Austin gathered enough courage to properly approach Mr. Tapster and the first thing he asked him was how to properly throw a rock. (Because all cool people know how to throw rocks, right??)

Mr. Tapster did him one better and decided to teach him how to properly throw a baseball! Because Mr. Tapster used to play baseball as a kid

As Mr. Tapster was teaching him how to throw a ball, he was also giving him tips from his own teen years, because Austin reminds Mr. Tapster of how he was as a teen. Much like how Cindy reminds him of when he was a kid

One of his first pieces of advice he told Austin was "Don't listen to the cops!"

"Now listen, Austin. Ya parents told ya to listen to the cops and obey the law, right?"

"Yeah, so I won't get into any trouble!"

"They're lyin'! Cops are no good. Don't respect them."

"What? I thought they were heroes?"

"Not heroes. But pigs for sure. Just trust me, kid. I know from experience."

"Wow, I have a lot to learn from you, Mr. T!"

While Mr. Tapster has an uncle relationship with most of the kids, Austin is one of the kids that views him as a father. He even looks up to him, so much that he draws facial hair on himself to look like him (facial hair is punk, am i right??)

Mr. Tapster really likes Austin, he hopes his future is bright and his teen years is better than how his turned out.

Mr. Tapster lets Austin come into the library whenever he wants! And gives him cool comic books to read. (Or maybe Mr. Tapster reads them to him??)

I can definitely see a situation of Austin and Cindy getting along because of their relationship with Mr. Tapster, of course at first Cindy wouldn't like it but she'd grow to like it

Because of the big cat symbolism, Austin is a puma!