Why does Roy retaliate against Dana in Hoot?
The answer to your question is found in chapter eight of Carl Hiaasen's novel Hoot. Roy has moved ten times in his life due to his father's job. Because of this frequent moving, he has encountered many bullies. In chapter eight, Roy has been experiencing bullying from Dana Matherson. He has been bullied both physically and verbally. In Roy's estimation, he and Dana are even because Roy wrote him an apology letter. Roy was required to write the apology after he punched Dana in the nose when Dana was choking him on the bus. Dana is not willing to let things go, and Roy is not willing to cower in Dana's presence. Dana begins provoking Roy, and Roy talks back to him. Dana is shocked by this and asks him what he just said. Roy responds, mocking his lisp:
"I thay you need to get your hearing checked, partner, along...
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with your I.Q." Dana is lisping due to the damage Roy did to his face when he punched him in the nose.
The narrator explains:
Roy wasn't sure what possessed him to wise off to such a violent kid. He didn't particularly enjoy being roughed up, but the alternative was to cower and beg, which he couldn't lower himself to do.
Why did Dana choke Roy in Hoot?
Dana Matherson is the resident bully at Trace Middle School. As Roy is the new kid, he immediately becomes a soft target for Dana, and so he picks on him relentlessly. One day on the school bus Roy looks out the window and sees a barefoot boy running through the streets. Roy is intrigued by this strange creature, who in actual fact is Mullet Fingers, as he'll eventually discover. In fact, Roy is so intrigued that he tries to get off the bus to investigate.
However, Dana won't let him. Bullying Roy on the school bus is pretty much the highlight of his day, and he's damned if he's going to be deprived of his fun. So he grabs hold of Roy and smashes his face against the window. Just for good measure he starts choking him too. Thankfully, Roy manages to escape Dana's evil clutches by swinging round and breaking his nose. But it won't be the last run-in that Roy has with this thoroughly nasty piece of work.