The Street

At the casino, Lutie asks Boots how much salary she’ll be getting. Boots informs her that it’ll be “months before you can earn money at it” (304), and that she’s just gaining experience at the moment. He explains that this is on Junto’s orders, and then offers her a pair of expensive earrings from Junto, a gift that fails to impress Lutie. 

Lutie leaves angrily, upset at Boots and Junto for misleading her, but more upset at herself, for allowing herself to feel optimism for a fantasy that could never materialize. As she travels home, she seethes about the societal racism that keeps her from advancing. Though she had pictured “Bub growing up in some airy, sunny house and herself free from worry about money” (311), she continually finds herself stuck in the same lowly position, with no opportunity for advancement.

At home, she chastises Bub for leaving the light on all night, one in a continual stream of remarks to him about the hardships of being poor and the necessity of saving money. Feeling like a boxer “after he’s been knocked down hard twice in succession” (313), Lutie rededicates herself to studying for a higher score on the civil servant exam, an effort that leaves her tired and irritable around Bub.