How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
And while Young Arthur is proud to be called your catcher, methinks he is more proud to call you his friend. Thus, all that is vital to know is that you have won and continue to earn the friendship and respect of a fellow traveler. That constitutes the tote and sum in my book. (3.101)
Mr. Spiro tells Victor that he's heard a lot about him from Rat (whose real name is Arthur). Apparently Rat doesn't talk about Victor's stutter or anything like that, though; he likes being friends with Victor because he's a good kid and an awesome baseball player.
Quote #5
Going to sleep would have been hard if I started thinking about Rat and all the great dirt-clod fights he was having on the farm with his cousins. I got the pillow from the other twin bed and put it on top of me and put my arms around it. Whenever I started feeling all alone it felt good to have something to hang on to. (6.67)
Poor Victor. He doesn't have a ton of friends in his life (that darn stutter complicates things), so when Rat goes away for a month it's hard on him. He wants to be hanging out with his best friend again.
Quote #6
Mr. Spiro was smiling with his big arms folded across his chest. He looked at me for a while without saying anything and then stood.
My bias against poetry has been properly challenged. A wonderful poem. I'm grateful to you for sharing, my Stuttering Poet. (8.168-169)
As soon as Victor meets Mr. Spiro, he recognizes that this is someone that he can trust with his deepest darkest secrets. He even trusts him enough to share a poem with him—something he wouldn't do with anyone else.