- The book opens with the narrator, Victor, saying that he's going to write about the story of the stabbing because he can't say it out loud. Why not? Because he stutters.
- He's an eleven-year-old boy who lives with his parents and Mam, the black woman who works for their family. He also regularly sees a speech therapist to help him get past his stuttering.
- Heads up: Victor says he's going to be writing the story without commas because he hates how they stand for a pause. He feels like he pauses enough in his real speech, so this is a place where he finally doesn't have to worry about that.
- Victor absolutely loves Mam, whose real name is Miss Nellie Avent. She calls him Little Man and takes good care of him.
- He also has a best friend who he plays baseball with named Rat. His real name is Art, but Victor has a hard time saying that. Rat it is, then.
- Because Victor accidentally hit Rat in the mouth with a baseball, he promised to handle his friend's paper route for July while he's on vacation.
- He likes the throwing part of the paper route because he's an excellent baseball player with a good arm. But Victor is seriously worried about collecting the money from the houses—he's not exactly good at talking to strangers.
- When Victor sees Mam again, he asks her if she's ever had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen. She tells him that when she was growing up in Mississippi, a man who told the future said her brother would come to harm… and then he drowned that summer. Gulp.
- Victor admits that he's scared of collecting money for the paper route and Mam offers to go with him, but Victor says that he's growing up and he needs to do it on his own. You go, Victor.
- His dad comes home and tells Victor that he's sure that he'll do a good job on his paper route. Then Mam puts Victor to bed.