Russell describes hearing his family talking in the middle of the night, a regular occurrence. In the depths of the Depression, talking was one of the few affordable ways to entertain oneself. Sitting up with the adults until his designated bedtime, Russell was astonished to hear of “the great fortune” his family had lost over two hundred years ago. He believed the tale at first, but after Doris told him she did not, he stopped believing, determined to be skeptical.

Listening to the grownups talk, Russell absorbed certain attitudes toward the world—in particular, negativity toward almost all political entities. The adults also argued about popular culture and other topics. Another family story he heard was about his mother’s cousin Edwin, who was wealthy and would not visit them. Through working at a newspaper, Edwin had become well-known. He wrote a weekly column, which the family always passed around and read. Though Russell’s mother did not particularly want her son to be like Edwin, Russell himself believed that he was most likely to be successful as a writer, especially after failing dramatically at sales and music. When Russell revealed this to his mother, she encouraged him to work hard at his writing, and he was successful, even having a school composition published in the newspaper.

Baker recalls a bully, Walter, who tormented him and often beat him. One day, his three friends, the sons of Italian immigrants, saved him from Walter. But they set the two up to fight fairly. Russell, who hated violence, initially refused. When the others began to taunt him, he managed to throw one punch at Walter but then gave up. Unfortunately, Russell’s family was biased against his Italian friends. His mother disapproved of his spending time with them, because they were low on the social ladder and as poor as his family. Slowly, Russell worked to improve his mother’s opinion of his friends. When he brought them over to introduce them, they won Elizabeth over with their charm.

On another occasion, the boys gathered to watch one of their number, Frankie, kiss a girl on a park bench, which had been prearranged. They hid in the bushes and watched the kiss. Baker recalls that his mother never told him about sex. Her brother, Uncle Jack, was designated to tell him, but he just talked to him about baseball instead.

Russell was happy in Belleville, but Uncle Hal planned to move the family to Baltimore as soon as possible. There, Elizabeth’s family would have a home of their own. But after he moved there himself, Hal kept asking for more and more money from Elizabeth. Ultimately, Elizabeth decided to move her family to Baltimore on her own, as she still had some money saved. Russell did not want to leave Belleville. Baker remembers a moment just before they left, when he watched his mother playing piano. That day he realized how alone she really was.