- On Thursday, baseball practice is called off because the temperature is way too high. It's just too hot for them to be running around and throwing balls.
- Victor goes home to practice throwing a tennis ball against the wall while mulling over the new grown-ups in his life—namely Mrs. Worthington, Mr. Spiro, and Ara T.
- The heat eventually makes him sleepy so Victor goes inside and takes a nap. The next thing he knows, Mam is waking him up to start on his paper route.
- As he walks to the truck to pick up his papers, he sees Ara T and watches him closely. Then he gets to the truck and grabs his bundle of papers.
- One of the older carriers, a boy named Willie, starts making fun of Victor for his stutter before taking all of his papers and refusing to give them back. He laughs at him and calls him a "retard." What a jerk.
- Victor grabs a rock and almost throws it at Willie—but he doesn't have to. Willie looks back and accidentally hits a curb and goes tumbling onto the sidewalk. That's some comeuppance for you.
- Victor drops the rock and goes to a newspaper stand where he uses his own money to get the papers for the route.