One day, Henry tells Mr. Hairston about Mr. Levine's village, who becomes strangely interested. Later, Henry asks Mr. Hairston if he can somehow find him a good gravestone to put over Eddie's grave, which he surprisingly agrees to buy for him, and shows him a sketch of the gravestone, of a bat and baseball, because of Eddie's love for the game. Later on, Henry peeks at the drawing of the grave to find that Mr. Hairston had drawn a large black X on it. Mr. Hairston one day tells Henry that he will be fired at the end of the week for no reason and that he no longer receives the gravestone from him. Henry returns home and finds that his father is being sent to the hospital, to be treated for depression.