- The old neighbor has problems of her own. She's a beggar and a thief, but for now, she's Jimmie's only option. She dispatches Jimmie to buy her a can of beer.
- Unfortunately, Jimmie's father intercepts him and steals the beer. He can't cope with the "livin hell" at home either.
- Jimmie hangs out before returning to the apartment. He can hear his parents fighting, threatening, and perpetrating violence on each other; the neighbors comment on how "Ol' Johnson" is at it again. Apparently the parents have earned a bit of a reputation for hand-to-hand combat.
- Jimmie finally gathers the courage to return, and when he does, he finds his drunken parents passed out on the floor.
- He and Maggie hold each other, quivering and scared, until "the ghost mists of dawn" (3.33) arrive.