Chapter 5 Summary

The narrator allows himself to get his hopes up, remembering Boris' bragging words about huge tips and restaurant food three times a day. So he looks up Boris' address and goes to find him, but he's quite disappointed when he finds Boris' neighborhood as slummy as his own.

Boris is in bad shape when the narrator finds him. He is sleeping in a 10x10 foot room, on a greasy bed with no food. Boris is sharing the room with a Jew. The Jew sleeps there at night, and Boris sleeps there during the day. Boris is covered in bug bites because the room is full of bugs.

They confide stories of their poverty to each other and make a plan to find jobs together. Boris' back is so badly hurt that he cannot walk without a cane, which makes job hunting very difficult...