Paperboy Chapter 4 Summary

  • Even though the next day is a Saturday, Victor wakes up super early. Big Sack is mowing their lawn.
  • Mam tells Victor to give Big Sack three dollars, and he does; then Big Sack asks if he can talk to Mam.
  • Mam goes out to meet him, and when she comes back, she gives Victor a look and asks him if he's been talking to Ara T. Uh-oh… busted.
  • Victor admits to running into Ara T but doesn't say anything about his knife; he really doesn't want to tell Mam that he sought Ara T out.
  • The newspaper truck comes later on Saturdays, so Victor has some time to practice baseball before his route. He also sees Ara T again and asks him if he can have his knife back.
  • Ara T makes fun of his stutter and tells him that he can't have his knife back until he can say it properly. Then he just leaves without giving Victor back his knife. Oh uh-uh…
  • Victor goes through his route and notices that the boy at the one house is still watching TV pretty avidly while the rest of his family hangs out together. He wonders how the kid can be so engrossed that he doesn't pay attention to anything else.
  • When he gets to Mr. Spiro's house, Victor leaves a note thanking him for helping him after he passed out.
  • He's all excited to get to Mrs. Worthington's house and see the pretty lady again, but when he gets there he sees an unfamiliar car in the driveway. He rings the doorbell and a man comes out—and it's not Mr. Worthington.
  • The man says that he's Mrs. Worthington's cousin, but Victor knows that it's a lie. He just hands over the newspaper and leaves.
  • When he's done with his route, Victor sees Ara T walking down the road again. He wants to get his knife back, so he decides to follow Ara T to find out where he stashes his stuff. Then maybe he can come back during the day when Ara T isn't there to find his knife…
  • He stashes his raincoat and newspaper bags into a bush and sneaks behind Ara T as he walks along.
  • Finally, Ara T stops in the back of a big house. There's a shed in the back and Ara T opens it up and brings his cart inside. So this is where he keeps his stash…
  • Victor goes to get his raincoat and newspaper bags when he hears Mrs. Worthington crying. He can also hear her glass clinking. Looks like she's drinking again.
  • He's about to leave when he hears a glass crash to the floor. Victor climbs up the steps to the porch and sees that Mrs. Worthington is lying on the swing and not moving. He sweeps the glass slivers into a little pile with his newspaper bag.
  • Because he doesn't know what else to do, Victor just leaves her there and runs all the way home with his newspaper bags and his raincoat.