Christ in Concrete

Paul is ill and remains abed for several days. He hears Annunziata praying and the noises of the street. He’s in a dream-like state where he imagines his coworkers from Job as shadows on the wall. He recovers but remains weak. It is now May. He looks over the fire escape and sees children playing in the streets below. Tenement (which the narrator refers to with a capital T) is an apartment building where Paul’s family lives along with 11 other families. These families live in close proximity, so the smell of each of the neighboring family’s apartments—which the narrator describes—mingles with their own. Paul often meets Missus Olsen and her 12-year-old daughter, Gloria, who appears older than her young age. Paul is attracted to Gloria and feels awkward when she innocently wants to play with him. He also has Jewish neighbors who seem deep in study, including a boy around his age.

Paul, Annunziata, and the widow Cola visit Luigi, who says that he will receive $5 a week in job insurance and come to live with the family soon.