In this chapter, the narrator introduces us to a young man named Jamal cooper, who is looking for a job. He's twenty-nine years old and has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He works as a vice-general manager for a company that's been in business for seven years, but he's never worked as a general manager before. Jamal's looking for an interview, and the narrator tells him to take a look around the office. He tells the young man that his company went bankrupt, cheated his partners, and became a laughingstock in the entire financial industry. He wants to introduce Jamal to the upper-class men in the office, so he can introduce him to them. The young man tells the narrator that he doesn't have a lot of money, and that he needs to find a way to keep his suit and shirt in good condition. He also tells him that the construction site isn't finished yet, so they'll have to pay rent the next day. He says that he and Jamal are so useless that they don't even have a good meal together. He goes on to say that he went bankrupt when he was only three years old, and got blacklisted on the blacklist. He needs to work and take care of his son. He asks Jamal if there's anything he'd like to know, but Jamal says it's too late to tell him.