The King of Mulberry Street

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes a discussion of child abuse, child death, and religious discrimination.

One lunch, Tin Pan Alley is seized by his padrone. The next day, the boys learn that their friend was beaten and ordered to earn double what he used to. Tin Pan Alley laughs because he has a lot more than that saved. However, when he winces later, Dom demands that he pull up his shirt, and the boys are horrified at the extent of his wounds. 

That night, Dom convinces Gaetano that they must help their friend escape, so they go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral to talk with a priest. To the boys’ dismay, the priest refuses to assist because if he helps one boy, he must help hundreds of others, adding that it is all in God’s plan. Disgusted, Gaetano asks for spare clothes and a sheet to clothe a corpse, and then he vows never to go back to that church.

Dom and Gaetano urge Tin Pan Alley to dress differently, escape his padrone, and live with them. He can pay the padrone for his passage to America and be free. The boy is reluctant until Gaetano shows him the sheet that will cover him in the cart.