He engages Bub to break into mailboxes throughout the neighborhood, taking advantage of the boy’s innocence. Meanwhile, Jones concocts a plan to punish Lutie for her continued refusal of his advances. Hedges, continually offers Lutie work in her brothel, Lutie vows never to become desperate enough to do this work. Lutie immediately quits, understanding all too well that the American Dream will never be her reality. Junto, who’s been attracted to Lutie since first seeing her, has plans to keep Lutie in desperate need of his financial assistance, and orders Boots to refuse to pay her for her singing.
This parallels the ideal of the American Dream Lutie absorbed while working with the white family in Connecticut, though in reality she’s begun to understand that the rules are different for African-Americans. When she succeeds at the audition, she envisions a new life for herself, one in which she can pursue her passions and make enough to provide a good life for her and Bub. Lutie sees this as a potential way out of her dead-end life, though she intuitively knows Boots is probably not a person to be trusted, based on his association with Junto. One night she strikes up a conversation with Boots Smith, a prominent local musician, who offers her a chance to sing with his band. Jones is immediately attracted to Lutie, and befriends Bub in an attempt to grow close to her.Īs Lutie trudges through her days, she occasionally grabs a drink at a bar down the street, the Junto, named after the white man who owns property throughout Harlem. Hedges, who runs a brothel out of her apartment, and Jones, the lecherous super who lives with a woman, Min, he can barely stand. The building is filled with colorful characters, such as Mrs. Though their new apartment in Harlem is cramped, dirty, and has thin walls, at least she can afford it. Finding that Jim is indeed living with another woman, Lutie leaves him to find a new home for herself and Bub. When Lutie receives a letter from Pops informing her that Jim is having an affair, Lutie leaves Connecticut and returns to New York.
Though the job is steady, the pay decent, and her employers treat her amiably, Lutie still feels a wall between herself and the white family, understanding early on that they view her as inferior, despite their pleasant behavior. Lutie eventually takes work in the home of a white family in Connecticut, rarely returning home. Lutie’s husband, Jim, is unable to find a job, a situation that forces their family to live with Lutie’s father, Pops, who is a bootlegger and alcoholic.
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