Bud missed getting on the train with Bugs because he could not run fast enough to jump onto the boxcar and ended up staying in Flint. As fate would have it, missing the train turned out to be a good thing, particularly because Mr. Calloway turned out to be in Grand
Rapids, not Chicago. Another theme is selflessness. In spite of abusive people like the
Amoses, many people throughout the book looked out for Bud and each other, like the
"pretend family" that helped Bud get food from the mission. Also, Lefty Lewis who picked up Bud at the side of the road and took him