Alfred runs early in the park until two policemen step out from behind the bushes and tell him to stop. They ask Alfred why he is running at this time of the morning; when he tells them he is in training for boxing, they do not believe him. One of them even teases him about being the next heavyweight champion. Alfred is a little afraid, but he tells them he has just started training with Mr. Donatelli, his manager.

This adds some credibility to his story, as one of the officers has heard of Donatelli, a man who has had three champions, two of them at one time. One of the officers asks the boy’s name; when Alfred tells him, the officer tells him to continue his training and he and his partner will watch for his picture in the newspaper. They are teasing him, but they let Alfred continue his training run.

Now his side hurts, he smells the gas fumes, and hears the noise of traffic. The magic of the morning is gone, so he plods back home where Aunt Pearl is getting his cousins ready for school. Immediately she assumes Alfred has been out all night, but he tells her he just took a walk. His aunt is distracted; but once the girls leave for school, she continues her questioning.

Alfred claims he could not sleep and went for a walk, but Aunt Pearl knows he took her alarm clock and assumes he is in some kind of trouble. When he denies it, she quits pressing him because he works a man’s job and should not be treated like a boy. Yesterday she overheard Uncle Wilson bragging about his son and wants Alfred to know she is proud of him for working when so many do not even try to get a job. All Alfred can manage to say is that he is going to be “somebody special,” but Aunt Pearl fears he may be planning to do something awful to achieve his goal.

At the grocery store, Lou Epstein (the oldest of the three Epstein brothers) asks Alfred what he knows about the attempted break-in Friday night. Nothing was stolen so James will be released on probation, but the others got away. The Epsteins want to trust Alfred, but it is difficult.

It is a tense morning in the store, and Alfred eats his lunch alone. That afternoon, several detectives talk to Lou Epstein. James looks at James through the store window, and there is a “cold, hard look” in his eyes before he turns away, swaggering like Major. As Alfred sweeps the floor, he considers disarming the alarm and bringing James back here Friday night to prove that had not deliberately trapped James. But Alfred knows he cannot do it, and he feels hopeless. Just then Henry walks by and asks when Alfred will be coming to the gym. Donatelli asked Henry about Alfred, but before Alfred can get any more information, Henry is gone.