Kim and Annette partner up for a school assignment. The two girls work on it together at Annette's home in a nicer part of Brooklyn. Kim is impressed by how clean both the neighborhood and home are. She sees a bowl of fresh fruit in their entryway and wonders "how they [keep] the roaches away from such an uncovered bowl" (65). Annette’s family even has a housekeeper. As they work on their project, Kim realizes that if she'd done this on her own, she would have been "taking boxes out of other people's garbage, cutting figures out of old newspapers to stick to the box with packing tape, drawing everything with ballpoint pen" (68). After they finish, Annette's mother, Mrs. Avery, offers to give Kim a ride home. Kim insists that she drop her off at the school because she doesn't want Mrs. Avery to see where she lives.

On payday, Kim learns just how meager she and Ma's take-home pay truly is. Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob have paid the upfront costs for Ma's tuberculosis treatment and their immigration expenses. In addition to paying off these debts, Ma gives her sister the rent and utilities in weekly installments.