That night, Steven dreams that he is playing ball with Jeffrey. Every time the ball accidentally hits Jeffrey, part of his body turns black, and eventually Jeffrey sinks into the ground. Steven begins to have this nightmare every night, and his parents start having Steven see a counselor to help him cope with Jeffrey’s illness. At school, Steven repairs his relationship with Renee by offering her gum on the bus one day. When she asks if he’s afraid she’ll “contaminate” it, he tells her he was only protecting his baby brother and that he failed his math final “if it’s any consolation” (179). Renee apologizes for getting mad at him.

One day, Steven asks his social studies teacher if he can go talk to Mrs. Galley. He tells her about his recurring nightmare and about how “out of control” he feels because he can’t make any of his family’s problems go away (183). Mrs. Galley says that she thinks he is doing a great job supporting his family and gives him some parting advice: “Instead of agonizing about the things you can’t change, why don’t you try working on the things you CAN change?” (184). Although Steven continues to have the nightmare, Mrs.