The Young Landlords

Paul describes himself as a heavy sleeper. Worn out from cleaning up after the fair, Paul dreams about playing for the Cincinnati Reds as his father tries to wake him. It is 2:30 am, and Mrs. Brown is crying on the telephone. Mrs. Brown tells Paul that Jack Johnson just died and asks him to come sit with her. He goes to her apartment and they both fall asleep. He wakes in the morning hearing sounds of people waking in the Stratford Arms.

After going home briefly, Paul returns to the rental office, where he meets Gloria. He asks if they can go on a date. Gloria kisses him at the moment Tina enters the office to say hello. Tina says, “You people at it again? […] At least you got out of the bathroom” (178).

When Mr. Pender arrives to tell them how much money they made from the street fair, Paul describes his encounter with Kelly and says he and Dean are considering checking out the stereo equipment to see if it came from Reynolds’s store. Pender seems to find this idea acceptable. Paul goes to Dean’s house to tell him of a new plan to take the money from the street fair and buy the stereo equipment, proving it was stolen and revealing Chris’s innocence.

Paul bribes Bubba with pizza to pretend to be the bag man for their scheme. He dresses in a suit, wears sunglasses, and continually wipes his neck with a handkerchief. Paul and Bubba take all their street fair money and meet Kelly, who takes them to a store run by a man named Tony. Paul and Bubba are evasive when describing what they are looking for. Eventually, Bubba shows Tony and Kelly how much money they have, and Tony takes them into a backroom where they find lots of boxed stereo merchandise.

After purchasing the equipment, they return to The Joint and compare the serial numbers on the devices with that of the stolen merchandise. None of the serial numbers match. Gloria enters and asks what has taken place. Paul explains what he has done and Gloria asks how much money remains. Dean shows her the remaining $23. Paul says, “Then, as if she couldn’t believe it, she counted it again. She didn’t say anything else, just stood up and left the office” (188).

That evening, Paul’s father asks if Paul wants to talk about what bothers him. Paul tells him what happened with the stereo purchases. Later, Paul’s father asks him if they checked the right numbers on the equipment, explaining there are varieties of serial numbers on each item and box. They return to The Joint, take the merchandise out of the boxes, and discover they have several items stolen from Reynolds’s store. Excitedly, they tell others in the Action Group as well as the Robinson sisters. When they explain the situation to a beat officer, however, he quashes their excitement, explaining that they must contact the precinct and work with detectives, which will take several days.

Tina goes to Kenobi and demands that he come with the Action Group to Tony’s store. She tells Kenobi to block the door, letting no one in or out unless she okays it. Tina begins to scream for the police. Tony realizes what is taking place but cannot get past Kenobi. When the police arrive and hear the story, they arrest Tony.

As the true story unfolds, they learn that Mr. Reynolds teamed with Tony and Willie Bobo to pretend there was a robbery to scam Reynolds’s insurance company. When the police caught Willie, he tried to blame Chris, who was innocent. Reynolds, however, gave Chris part of the insurance money—which Chris understood—making him part of the crime.

The Action Group decides not to accept any reward money. They attempt to keep The Joint operating through their own efforts. The Captain, aware of the work done by the Action Group, buys a second apartment from Harley and asks the Action Group to manage it, giving them more income to make The Joint eventually profitable.