When confronted, people do some odd things

I called a parent today and out poured excuses, defensive statements and finally: "I don't know."

This parent is:
(a) in denial
(b) defiant
(c) stupid, naive
(d) bound to fight physically with her child later
(e) all of the above

which one?

The child in question is not without good points, but his "being good" time duration is miniscule in contrast to the other behaviors, to which the perfunctory response is, "[another person's name] is lyin' on me."
You'd think, after thousands of responses like this, the mother would be less inclined to believe her son, yes? Sadly, that where my above question comes in important.

Couple with this, the relative unavailability to call the parent, as disregarding the class, even when put on a time-consuming project, can be disastrous. I lucked out by doing so while the rest of the class was in a special class -- Music.
++++++
In another story:
A boy, often way off, is smart, but won't work. This isn't to be confused with the spiderman dialogue, for certainly being caught and penalized repeatedly doesn't show true intelligence. I called his father, who sounded like I interrupted a high. His initial responses were off-topic, then came the geyser of excuses.
Within 6 days of my calling him, it was reported to me by faculty that his new trick was pinching girls' butts. Despite what CNN & FOX might have reported on the illegitamacy of charging an elementary student of sexual harrassment, fondling takes it to a whole new level. Why?
What would the father do, how would he react if his son was being fondled by another boy student? I think, despite any long-winded writing on homosexuality being a different classification (to which I would differ), it is harrassment and needs to be stopped immediately.

He is someone I don't think I'll want to meet when he's an adult; undisciplined, uncontrolled impulsivity, asocialism, none of which are diagnosable infirmaties, but rather developmental selfishness and ultimately evil.

I digress. I got hugs from three of the kids today which really makes the end of the exhausting day, fairly worthwhile. I was also asked to eat lunch with a student in 4th grade. How sweet! Sadly, I'm in a different building tomorrow.