The Young Landlords

When Paul arrives at The Joint the next morning, a crowd has gathered listening to Tina shout, “We all going to be dead any minute now” (130). Paul learns that Pete has a still in the basement. Pete tells Paul he will break down the still momentarily. Believing the still could explode at any moment, Tina calls the police, who arrive just as a loud noise erupts from the basement. Paul finds Pete and his wife putting out a fire and cleaning up the residue. The police call the bomb squad, giving Pete time to disassemble and hide the still. Paul receives a summons for a building violation.

Gloria arrives prior to Mrs. Brown coming to the office in tears, saying Jack Johnson, the heavy weight boxer who died in 1946 car accident, had just died of a heart attack. Gloria takes Mrs. Brown to her apartment and stays with her for two hours. Afterward, Paul tells Gloria, “I really think you’re okay […] I really mean it” (135).

Gloria’s girlfriend Karen comes by The Joint with a copy of the Village Voice that contains an article about slumlords in New York City. Paul finds himself listed as the owner of The Joint and described as having “possible mob connections” (137). The group wants to do whatever they can to fix up the Stratford Arms, but they have no money. They decide that, if they got the reward money for proving Chris innocent, they could use it for their building.

Pender tells the group that they only have five tenants paying their rent on time each month. He tells them that they have three weeks’ worth of money left before they go broke. In looking at the books, Paul realizes that Pender is not taking a salary for himself. Also, when Pender asks Mr. Gilfond for his rent, Gilfond responds with hostility.

Paul’s father suggests that they get booths from New York City and rent them out to people who would like to participate in their street fair. Pender suggests that they rent out the rental office of The Joint for $100 a month.

The Action Group finally gets the serial numbers of the stereo equipment stolen from Mr. Reynolds’s store from Chris’s attorney. Accidentally, Paul discovers where the secret warehouse is when he sees A.B. on the street with his girlfriend. He tells other members of the Action Group that he is going to check out the warehouse for the stolen goods, but no one is willing to go with him. As Paul prepares to go to the secret warehouse that night, Dean calls and says he will join him, though it is against his better judgment.

When Paul and Dean go to The Joint for a flashlight, they find Gloria there. She asks to go with them. Standing across the street from the warehouse, the boys asked Gloria to wait there for them while they go inside. They tell her that they’ll be back in 30 minutes and that she should call for the police if she hears them yelling for help.

The door to the warehouse is unlocked, and it is totally dark inside. The boys find stairs and climb to the third floor. As they open the door, someone asks who is there. They hear something land against the door and realize someone is shooting at them. Dean calls out, “Shoot him” (148). Whoever is shooting takes cover, giving the boys a chance to get back down the stairs. They find the door to the exterior and run across the street to Gloria, telling her to run as well. They sprint all the way back to The Joint.

Dean leaves. Standing alone with Gloria, Paul feels something come over him and tells Gloria that he loves her. Gloria begins to laugh. Paul turns and walks out the door even as Gloria calls out to him.

The next morning, Gloria calls twice, but Paul does not speak to her. He goes to The Joint, where he finds Kenobi with an oddly dressed woman, Selassie Tafari, whom Kenobi calls the Silver Face woman. Kenobi says she is his queen. He hands an eviction notice back to Paul as he and the woman leave. Mrs. Brown tells Paul that Jack Johnson is pleased with the way he runs the apartment.

Back at his home that evening, Paul’s parents express distress. Dean told his parents about the warehouse incident. There is a warrant for their arrest for trying to break into a legitimate warehouse, and Paul and his parents go to the police station to explain what happened. The detective, Jenkins, scolds the boys and tells them just to be kids. When Paul’s father scolds him that evening, Paul realizes his father doesn’t know what to say, and this makes him feel close to his father for the first time.