The cemetery is where John and his friends go to drink, so it is kind of a hang out for them where they can do things they aren't necessarily supposed to do and not get caught.  John also finds the cemetery interesting, and "one of the loveliest places to be...the hills and green grass and flowers are much nicer than what you get when you're alive".  John also finds that the cemetery is a good place to be alone and just think.  It's kind of an escape for him, and he notes, "I think I'm really looking for ghosts...I'm looking for anything to prove that when I drop dead there's a chance I'll be doing something a little more exciting than decaying" (Chapter 7).

Although she feels badly about Mr. Pignati spending so much money on her and John, she accepts his gifts because she knows he is lonely, and that it really makes him happy to be able to take them shopping and buy things for them.  She notices how depressed he looks when she tells the saleslady she is not his daughter, and how he smiles when she offers that she is his niece.  Mr. Pignati almost begs them to let him buy them gifts, and Lorraine, who gets little from her mother who is always griping about money, admits that "it (feels) good...no one had ever gought me stuff like this before - something I just liked and didn't need and didn't even ask for" (Chapter 8).