Harlem Shuffle

Duke’s mistress is a sex worker named Laura. She lives and works in a third-floor apartment rented by her pimp, Cheap Brucie. Ray aims to recruit Laura in his plan to get revenge against Duke.

Ray’s Aunt Millie asks him to visit her on the date of his mother’s birthday. Millie helped raise Ray in the two years after his mother’s death; his father was too unreliable and frequently disappeared. Ray slept in a bunk bed in Freddie’s room and they lived “like brothers” (157). Ray and Millie eat birthday cake and chat about his family and his store. The meeting is a tradition, taking place every year since the death of Ray’s mother in 1942. Freddie used to attend, but Millie complains that she has not seen or talked to her son in a long time. That night, Millie calls Ray to tell him that Freddie has been arrested. He talked back to a police officer while Biz Dixon was being arrested.

Ray recruits Pepper to help him get revenge against Wilfred Duke. His plan is to obtain scandalous materials that will ruin Duke’s public persona; Ray wants to “burn [Duke’s] house down” (161). Pepper surveils Duke and Laura, learning about her routine and her relationship to Cheap Brucie. Later, Ray tells Pepper to surveil Biz Dixon, who Pepper considers to be “hotheaded, feral, ever-trifling” (165). In the past, Pepper violently threw Biz Dixon out of a high-stakes poker game for starting a fight. Pepper watches Biz and then reports back to Ray. After venturing south on a job for a few weeks, he returns to see the reports of Biz Dixon’s arrest on the television news. Angry that Ray “had him doing legwork for cops” (168), Pepper punches him in the face.

In September, two stories appear in the New York City newspapers: the arrest of Cheap Brucie and the disappearance of Wilfred Duke. The two incidents are linked. Cheap Brucie was arrested as a favor to Ray from Detective Munson; Ray paid for the favor by supplying Munson with information about Biz Dixon that led to the drug dealer’s arrest. With Brucie likely to make bail, Ray has a very short window of time to make his plan work. Ray is still carrying a black eye, the result of Pepper’s anger that he wittingly helped the police. He meets Laura. In exchange for her help, she wants money and “Cheap Brucie out of the picture” (173).

Ray recruits a petty criminal and sometime photographer named Zippo. The plan is to take photographs of Duke in compromising positions and cause a scandal that ruins Duke’s reputation. That night, Ray collects Zippo and drives to Laura’s apartment. Laura invites Duke to the apartment and, when he arrives, she slips a sedative in his drink. While Duke sleeps, Ray and Zippo maneuver him into compromising positions with Laura. Zippo takes photographs while Ray remembers the “Dumas reception early in the summer” (181). They finish the photoshoot and leave the apartment. Laura takes a suitcase full of her possessions, knowing that she only has a short window to escape Cheap Brucie. They leave Duke asleep in the empty apartment.

On the following Saturday, Ray plans a picnic with his family. He receives delivery of a brand-new Hermann Bros. safe for the store, just like the one belonging to Moskowitz. He hopes it will be “a safe big enough to hold his secrets” (183). When Ray’s family arrives, Rusty takes a photograph of them outside the store. They walk to the park and Ray thinks about his revenge, and how the newspapers gleefully published the scandalous photographs of Wilfred Duke alongside quotes from disgruntled customers of Duke’s bank. Duke has not been seen in days. More stories about embezzlement and corruption have ruined Duke’s reputation. According to the rumors, Duke took a great deal of money from people before he disappeared. The collapse of Duke’s bank has many ramifications. Elizabeth’s parents were heavily invested in Duke’s business and now need to sell their house. Ray’s sleep pattern has returned to normal. The entire operation cost him a great deal of money but he writes off the expense as “all pleasure” (187).