Oh. Am I supposed to laugh now.
This isn't a story. It's supposed to be a joke.
But it falls flat.
The problem is that in the last sentence we are told the "Hard Guy" is only eleven years old.
So....why wait till then to tell us that. Throughout the previous bit of this fragment, we are led to believe that the "Hard Guy" is a full grown adult. Allbeit one who is in a somewhat "ragged" condition.
The implication is that the driver who picked up the hitchhiking man had no idea he was a youngster around eleven years old.
But if he knew the hitchhiker was only eleven years old, obviously he was just playing along with him.
I guess that is what is supposed to be the joke.
Not particularly funny when told this way.
Now what would have been funny, is the reader knew, when the hitchhiker was picked up, he was eleven years old. In that situation, there is ample room for humour to abound, if this youngster starts acting like a "Hard Guy". The reader then is able to play along with the silliness and he have a good laugh at the same time.
Some writers don't know how to tell a joke.