How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I knew if I told Mam that Ara T had my knife and wouldn't give it back that she would search him out and get my knife back in nothing flat. But I couldn't tell Mam I had talked to Ara T again. Anyway. If I was going to be collecting and handling the route on my own then I needed to start figuring out how to solve my own problems. (4.43)
Victor is getting to the age where he doesn't want to have to rely on his mom, his dad, or Mam to fight his battles for him. He wants to be able to do things himself, and sometimes that means confronting some scary characters like Ara T.
Quote #8
I would be glad to be a grown-up for two reasons. The first reason was that I was hoping to get over my stutter. I knew that some grown-ups stuttered but I also knew that some lucky kids grew out of it… The second reason was that I would be smarter and could figure out what to do with the feelings down inside me. I wanted to help Mam more than anything and I wanted to help Mrs. Worthington but I didn't have any answers. (9.20)
Victor doesn't just want to be a grown-up so that he can solve his own problems; je also wants to be smarter and taken more seriously so that he can help other people, like Mam and Mrs. Worthington.
Quote #9
I know a kid is supposed to respect grown-ups who make the rules and also respect God who knows how everything is supposed to work but I couldn't get over the feeling that neither one of them was doing a very good job. (11.59)
As he grows older, Victor starts to develop his own opinions about things instead of just blindly following authority figures. And he decides that all these rules about racial segregation are completely ridiculous.