Last Exit to Brooklyn

Part 6 of Last Exit to Brooklyn explores the lives of the residents of a public housing estate (which the characters call the “Project”) in the neighborhood. One resident is Mike Kelly, who grumbles when his wife, Irene, sends him for milk and bread while she prepares for work. Mike refuses, so she must care for the young children and ready their breakfast while Mike stays in bed. Worrying that she will be late for work, she rushes to complete the housework and runs to catch the bus, cursing her lazy husband.

Ada, an elderly widow, is happy that the warmth of spring has returned after a dark, lonely winter. Through the difficult cold months, she prayed desperately to God and flagellated herself in hope that the warm months would return.

Vinnie and Mary have been married for five years and have two kids. Everyone in their house shouts constantly. When Mary uses the bathroom, Vinnie urinates out of the window and into the neighbor’s home, hitting their baby in its crib. The neighbors complain, but Vinnie and Mary play innocent. They begin shouting at one another as they make breakfast.

Warnings are posted throughout the building, telling people not to throw garbage out of the windows—a disposal method known as “airmail.”

Lucy tries to control her two young boys as her husband sleeps. The boys overflow the basin and leak water into the apartment below. When the neighbor complains, Lucy is embarrassed. She spanks the boys and hurries to get them ready to leave. As they exit the building, she notices feces in the hallway, so she steers her boys around while cursing her living conditions.

Abraham is eventually woken by his five children. While practicing his lengthy morning skin care routine, he thinks about an attractive woman he saw dancing the previous night. He demands that his wife, Nancy, cook him breakfast, and he brushes off her complaints about needing money for the children.

Two rival gangs of young boys play “cowboys and indians” (131) in front of the building. They knock over a baby carriage and run away.

Ada works on her household chores. She lays out clean pajamas for her dead husband, Hymie, as she does every day. Afterward, she sits outside on a bench in the sunshine and watches the boys knock over the baby carriage. She thinks about her dead son, Ira, who was still only young “when the Army took him” (133).

A group of housewives sits on a bench. They mock the reclusive Ada and complain about Lucy.

A sign is posted warning children not to steal money from other children.

Mike “finally” leaves his bed, rising slowly, and smokes a cigarette while peering through his window into his neighbors’ apartments. He sexually fantasizes about the women in the building, feeling as though he is “gettin tired” (135) of having sex with only his wife, Irene. Still out of work, he cannot understand why his wife tells him to get a job, and he relishes the idea of a night out with his male friends. He resents the prospect of caring for his children, so he buys a few beers to make himself feel better.

Lucy waits in the laundromat with her two fidgeting sons. She hates waiting in the laundromat, listening to the women giggling outside. When a disagreement turns violent, Lucy leaves the laundromat with her sons and her still-wet laundry.

Abraham smugly sits at the wheel of his prized Cadillac. He drives to Blackie’s garage to have his car cleaned and then walks to his barber for a haircut and shave. Once finished, he pictures himself going for a drive with the dancing woman he still remembers from the previous night. He goes to the cinema to pass time.

The children’s game escalates into burning garbage and setting fire to mailboxes. A child slashes another’s face with a nailfile while a small group smoke marijuana.   

Vinnie and Mary continue their deafening conversations, arguing about whether their son needs a haircut. The fight ends with Vinnie knocking Mary momentarily unconscious before he drags Joey to the barbers.

Lucy tries to remain calm in the supermarket as her boys misbehave. She finally returns home, where her husband, Louis, is casually sipping coffee and studying one of his college textbooks. He listens to her complain about the boys, and they inevitably argue again about her desire to live elsewhere.

The housewives still sit outside, making jokes about a disabled couple sitting nearby. They groan when a man named Mr. Green tells them a long and boring story about his wife’s recent stroke.

Mike scans his neighbors’ window, hoping to catch a glimpse of a naked woman. He plans to spend the Saturday drinking with his friend Sal and chasing after women, and he becomes angry when his children ask him for anything. Irene works all day.

A list of the reasons for various evictions is posted in the building.

Two children fight as the other children watch. The father of one of the boys breaks up the fight and drags away his son, who is quickly replaced in the fight.

Abraham watches a movie and then collects his car, driving around in a satisfied way until he is tired. Then, he returns home to rest.

The housewives stop laughing at a different disabled woman when they notice a baby crawling on a ledge on an upper story. They are amused and laugh with each other while everyone panics. The police eventually arrive and enter the apartment, save the baby, and take the four abandoned children to Welfare, leaving a note to the absentee parents.

Vinnie returns home and loudly shows off Joey’s new haircut to Mary. They fight again.

A newspaper article describes how a baby’s body was found in the building’s incinerator. This is “the second body of a baby found in the Project this month” (150).

The housewives resume their conversation after the excitement of the baby on the ledge. They talk until the time comes to prepare supper. Ada stays out in the sunshine for as long as she can. When the sun sets, she returns home and thinks about her husband and son.

Irene returns home, and her brief happiness dispels when Mike shows off in front of his friend Sal, demanding steaks. Though she is furious, she acquiesces. Mike and Sal leave immediately after dinner.

A young girl waits alone for a bus. She is running late to meet her friends, but she refuses a lift from a stranger in a car. When she refuses, the stranger exits his car and shows her his penis. He drives away just as her bus is about to arrive.

Abraham wakes from his nap, refuses to eat his wife’s “slop,” bathes, and leaves the apartment. Wearing his expensive suit, he heads out for the night in his Cadillac.

Vinnie loudly complains about Mary’s cooking.

As Lucy makes sure her boys eat their dinner, Louis watches television. After putting the children to bed, she watches television and dreads the inevitable prospect of Louis pressuring her for sex later that night.

A long line forms at the liquor store on the day the Welfare checks are cashed.

Abraham arrives at MELS bar, finds the woman whom he noticed the night before, and talks to her. At home, Abraham’s wife, Nancy, drinks wine and reflects on her sexual frustration and absent husband.

In one apartment, Christians loudly worship to the bemusement of their neighbors.

Two gangs of young men brawl in the street until the police arrive.

A married woman arrives home with a lover to find that her children have been taken to Welfare. She decides that the children can spend the night at Welfare and goes to bed with the man who is not her husband.

Mike and Sal visit bars but fail to pick up women. Mike becomes bored, so he returns home to have sex with his wife. When he lays in bed with Irene, however, he is too drunk to do anything. He blames his wife.

Abraham takes the woman in his Cadillac to a hotel downtown. His initial pleasure fades when he realizes that the woman has an insatiable sexual appetite. She will not let him sleep, no matter how tired he feels.

Late at night, the building finally falls quiet. The next day, the residents begin to rise. The cycles and routines begin again. Abraham returns home as his family eat breakfast. Exhausted, he staggers to bed. Nancy enters the bed bedside him and propositions him for sex. He lashes out at her, hitting her in the face. Nancy’s anger turns to sadness, and she cries. Abraham sleeps.