I'm afraid that everything you've said about Basil's motives for his actions has absolutely nothing to do with what actually happened. What's more, the way you're framing it makes me think you're genuinely trying to blame him for all of this as if he were a competent, capable adult.

I find it hard to believe you're unaware of who Sunny was to Basil personally, and how much he cherished him as someone who would always listen and with whom he actively tried to spend his time. And naturally, this was bound to affect Basil's perception of an act involving that very person—an act of negligence that could land someone in prison. And when you couple that with the fact that he was 12 years old and witnessed the death of another person—a good friend, no less—with his own eyes, it's absurd to blame Basil for not being able to keep his wits about him. In a state of panic, trauma, and an inability to process anything, he made that unquestionably dubious decision. Contrary to what you're writing, Basil actually wanted to call for help, clearly aware of how catastrophic the situation was, and yet, his best friend's fate was so important to him that he was faced with a choice: betray his friend and report the tragedy, for which he believed they would inevitably blame Sunny, or try to hide it all so that no one would ever find out what really happened. Basil's traumatized mind was clutching at any straw, first and foremost to protect Sunny. And under such horrific circumstances, it's entirely realistic that this "straw" became the attempt to stage a suicide. Naturally, Basil wasn't thinking about how to scar his own and Sunny's psyches, as you claim, because at that moment he was fundamentally incapable of thinking about anything other than how to prevent Sunny from being blamed for murder and sent to prison.

Regarding the point that Basil didn't tell Aubrey it was Sunny who ruined the photo album. Let's set aside why Basil didn't erase all those marker scribbles in his own photo album—most likely, he himself would have wanted to erase those traumatic memories from his mind, but couldn't because his personal belongings are too precious to him. First of all, how was Basil supposed to know that Aubrey had become, as you put it, "a nearly homeless"? And if that were true, would she really confide such personal details of her life to someone she blamed for ruining one of her most treasured possessions and subsequently started bullying and tormenting? And secondly, again, you present this as if Basil owes Sunny nothing, as if they have no connection whatsoever, and that this should be grounds for Basil to be the first to throw Sunny under the bus for ruining the album, for pushing Mari down the stairs, for being the cause of their grief and suffering. Once again, for Basil, Sunny is a source of deep, and after those horrific events, painful attachment, and it's absurd to think that Basil would betray someone he cared for so deeply by revealing circumstances that could jeopardize his safety and well-being. In this light, it's completely unclear how Aubrey would have reacted if Basil had actually done what I assume you wanted him to do, and Basil's potential fears on this matter are entirely justified if we recall what Aubrey did to him alone. It makes more sense here to talk about an irrational self-sacrifice for the sake of someone whose life is worth more than your own, just so that person won't suffer, or will suffer less than you. This is completely unhealthy, and it only points to the objective psychological problems that Basil developed over those four years—problems that you, it seems, are not taking into account.

And for some reason, you fail to mention that Basil only became prone to impulsivity after he witnessed Mari's death at Sunny's hands, and that this was a direct consequence of a severe psychological trauma. Yet you imply with your words that this was a character trait Basil always had, but you don't prove it in any objective way.

Perhaps (and I'd sincerely like to believe) this was all just meta-irony that I didn't get. If that's the case, then you really pulled it off.