Grayson had been a lonely man for many years. He was single and had no children. When Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee came into his life, he suddenly had a family for the first time in decades. Maniac made Grayson feel important and special by eagerly listening to the older man's stories. Grayson had been a Minor League baseball player when he was in his 20s. Grayson told Maniac a story about when he first arrived in a new town to join a new team. A gas station attendant tricked him into thinking that he could order free food at a local restaurant because he was the new baseball player in town. Grayson believed the man and ordered a large amount of food. Then the restaurant owner came after him when he left without paying. Grayson had to wash "dishes to work off a sixteen-ounce steak, half a broiled chicken, and two pieces of rhubarb pie." Grayson announced that he had to get back to work, and "after a story like that, Maniac couldn't just stay behind." He followed Grayson to work and helped him "raise a new fence around the children's petting farmyard." While they worked, Grayson told Maniac his baseball stories. Maniac began spending all day with Grayson. He attentively hung on every story he told.
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