What reason does Charles give for leaving home when he was fifteen

The fact that Dr. Charles Dunford left home at fifteen indicates that all was not well with his home life. But Charles doesn't talk about it all that much. In fact, he never really talks that much about his family in general, except for his brother GL, who is quite a colorful character to say the least. Whenever he is asked why he left home at such a young age, Charles always answers that it's because they didn't have a Negro high school and so he moved to Knoxville instead where he stayed with his cousin and went to school.
Given the time when the story is set, Charles' reasons for leaving home as a teenager seem perfectly valid. The system of segregated education in the South meant that it was often very difficult for African-American children to find a good school. So it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary for someone as intelligent as Charles to move to a large town to further his education. But as later events demonstrate, this is only part of the story. Family tensions were also an important factor in Charles' decision to leave home.