City of Orphans

Willa and Maks return home for food and dry clothes. Maks hands over the day’s earnings. Papa asks why Willa carries the large stick, and Maks reminds him that it saved his life. Carrying it makes her feel safer. The younger brothers are reading with Zulot. Agnes is also reading, and Maks asks Papa about a lawyer for Emma. He becomes upset and leaves the room but asks Willa if she would like to go fishing with him on Sunday. Mama follows, but not before reprimanding Maks for upsetting his father saying that he is trying his best to help Emma. Maks tells Agnes about Donck’s plan at the Waldorf. She is skeptical and agrees with Willa that he should tell their parents. He tells her Willa will take over his paper sales. Willa and Maks fall asleep to the sound of the storm outside and of Papa singing in Danish about coming to America.

On Thursday morning, Maks wakes to find Willa helping with the morning chores, checks outside to find no Plug Uglies, and cleans himself to prepare for his first day at the Waldorf. He is reminded yet again of his family’s trials when Mrs. Vograd tells him their account is overdue for milk: “Maks feels like the whole world is pounding on them” (223). He sends Jacob with Willa to sell papers and keeps his secret from the rest of the boys as they drop them off for school. Maks reminds Willa to go with Mama to The Tombs and get the room number from Emma, telling her where to put the money and to remember her stick.

On Maks’s three-mile walk to the Waldorf, the streets are bustling. He watches a child steal an apple and notices several others sleeping on the street. Many shop owners are selling their wares at a deep discount. He is thinking through his task ahead and realizes he has stumbled into the same area where they saw Bruno and his gang last night. The Shirt Tail saloon, next to an abandoned house, is old and seems to be from another era. He wanders in to investigate. There is a mysterious gap between the saloon and the building next door. Maks searches further and realizes it is a secret passageway into the house. He finds a dingy curtain disguising a hole where Bruno lies sleeping. He awakens immediately and yells at Maks. Maks turns and races out of the alley, checking behind him to see if Bruno has followed.

Maks arrives at the Waldorf, and the large and elegant building intimidates him. He worries they will not let him inside. As he gathers his courage, he looks around at the affluent people entering the hotel dressed in the latest fashion, and he “never felt so small in his life” (232). He remembers he must use the servants’ entrance behind the hotel. Maks enters, gives his fake name, and asks to see Mr. Packwood. He is led to a hallway, where he waits to be taken by another man in uniform to the servants’ dressing area. The man tells him to take a shower. The water is cold, but he bathes himself well and exchanges his damp, dirty clothes for a red uniform with gold buttons. The hotel is luxurious and beautifully decorated. He is in awe of the elegant and well-dressed ladies and gentlemen moving about around him. He is led to Packwood’s office and enters.

Willa is torn between following Maks’s instructions and staying to help her friend. She decides to go home and, upon arriving, helps Mama with the laundry. It is a tedious process, and Willa offers to fetch clean water. They plan to visit Emma when the laundry is completed. Willa meets a young girl named Rosa at the water pump who greets her in Spanish. Mama worries they are not doing enough to help Emma and wants to know where Maks has gone. Willa cannot lie to her. She confesses he is at the Waldorf and reveals the plan.