Ron wants to play kickball, but his classmates will not let him join them. Ron complains to Louis, who is playing hopscotch with a group of students. After some arguing, they agree to let Ron play kickball, with Ron and Louis on one team against all of the others. Ron pitches, and Louis plays all other positions. It takes them 20 minutes to get the three outs, with the other team having scored 21 runs.

Ron and Louis have a turn at kicking. Ron does not score, but Louis scores two runs. When the end of lunch bell rings, the students return to class. The next day, Ron wants to play kickball again, so he and Louis join as a team against the others. They lose again—this time much worse—and Louis tries to convince Ron that kickball is not the game for him, given his lack of skills. Ron punches Louis, accusing him of being half responsible for their loss: “And he punched a heck of a lot harder than he kicked” (109).

There are three students in Mrs. Jewls’s class named Eric—Eric Fry, Eric Bacon, and Eric Ovens. Two of the Erics are overweight, so the other students assume that the third one is as well.