- Victor goes up to his desk and opens the envelope that Mr. Spiro left for him. There's the money for the paper along with the last piece of the dollar, which has "seeker" on it.
- There's also a letter inside. On one side of the paper is Victor's poem, and on the other side is a note from Mr. Spiro saying that he wishes they could have talked before he left, but that when he returns in the autumn they will continue their studies.
- Later that day, Rat comes over. He's all tan from being on his grandparents' farm and tells Victor all about what he did during the summer.
- They do the paper route together and Rat asks him where his knife went. Victor says he lost it, and Rat says that maybe he'll get Victor one for his birthday.
- Victor wants to tell Rat about everything that happened over the past month, but doesn't know how to start, so instead he says goodbye and goes home to see his parents, who are finally returning from their vacation.
- His mother comes up to see him first with a box of pralines with pecans… even though he hates them. They're her favorite candy and not his.
- Instead of throwing them away, though, he finally tells her that he doesn't like them and gives them back to her.
- He overhears his mother asking Mam what's wrong with him, but Mam just says he's growing up; this is all totally normal.
- Then Victor's father comes into the room and starts asking him about the paper route and tells him that he's proud. He hands Victor a twenty-dollar bill because his birthday coming up.
- And even though his dad is probably exhausted from traveling, he asks Victor if he wants to go outside and play some ball.
- They go outside and start throwing the ball back and forth. As they do, Victor realizes that even if his father isn't biologically related to him, it doesn't matter—he's still his real dad, the one who's raised and loved him.
- As they throw the ball back and forth, Victor yells out the words that Mr. Spiro wrote on the dollar bill. He tells his dad that it's a speech exercise, but really he's trying to share something personal with his dad.