Evicted Part 2: Chapters 9–12 Summary & Analysis

Part 2: Out

Chapter 9: Order Some Carryout

Part 2 begins with Chapter 9 and follows Larraine as she is being evicted from the College Mobile Home Park, as well as the moving crew responsible for processing her eviction. Larraine lives alone and keeps her home tidy. She spends several hours on fruitless calls to non-profit agencies that are supposed to help people who are going to be homeless. A new sign is posted in the trailer park: the park is under professional management. Most tenants fear the new management team will be worse than Tobin. Eagle Moving and Storage, which has sent the crew about to move Larraine out of her place, started in 1958 and only did one or two eviction moves per week. As of 2008, evictions are 40 percent of Eagle’s business. The company works with two sheriff deputies and sends crews to different homes throughout the day. The sheriff talks to the tenants and then gives the moving crew the go-ahead to empty all of the belongings into the street or nearby alley. The crews go about the task without becoming emotionally invested, usually making jokes at the former occupants’ expense. They regularly evict people they know. One of the crew members once evicted his own daughter.

Larraine considers asking her various family members for help. Her daughter, who works at Arby’s on prison-release, tells her that she doesn’t have any money. When Larraine asks her church for help, Susan, her sister, tells the pastor not to give her any money. Eventually Larraine’s younger brother drives to the trailer park and offers Tobin the money she owes. Tobin refuses and the Eagle Moving Company evicts her, taking her belongings to storage, where she will pay $25 per pallet per month. Larraine breaks into her brother Beaker’s trailer, since he is in the hospital and she needs a place to live. She takes pain pills and breaks down crying.

Chapter 10: Hypes for Hire

Chapter 10 returns to the unit, at Eighteenth and Wright, where Lamar and Doreen’s family lives. After Sherrena told Lamar that he had done a poor job painting Patrice’s old unit, Lamar insisted that he would fix it. Lamar and Mikey, Patrice’s son (a fourth grader), go back to the upstairs unit and try to improve it. Lamar tells Mikey that “hypes” will paint it for much cheaper and he thinks that Sherrena will still evict him. He crawls on the floor without his prosthetic legs to finish painting the trim. Kamala, a new renter in one of the attached units, visits Lamar. She has three children. Lamar gives her an electric hot plate, since her unit only has a microwave. Fewer appliances supplied by a landlord mean fewer appliances to fix.

Quentin, Sherrena’s husband, picks up Chris from Arleen’s building to do unskilled jobs. Chris, fresh out of prison, is dating Trisha. He and others will work for $6–$10 an hour. Quentin has hired his uncle to varnish the floors in Patrice’s old unit, knowing that if he pays his uncle (who works for beer money), he will not be paying Lamar (that is, not forgiving his debt). All of the work going into Patrice’s old unit makes Patrice and Natasha jealous. They do not realize that a renter has the most leverage before they move in.

Chapter 11: The Hood Is Good

Chapter 11 opens with Sherrena and Quentin returning from a weeklong vacation in Jamaica. Sherrena has 40 new voicemails. One is from a social worker who has visited Doreen’s unit and wants Sherrena to fix the plumbing (which Doreen previously paid someone $150 to fix). Sherrena becomes upset, stating that the plumbing problems are the family’s fault. The social worker mentions that Doreen is planning to move. Sherrena visits the courthouse and adds an open eviction to the CCAP system so that it will be more difficult for Doreen to find a new place. Doreen offers to pay her back rent, but Sherrena refuses to take it, citing that too many people are living in the unit. Sherrena and Quentin drive around the city and collect rent.

Sherrena visits a prospective renter, Ladona, who has a rent-assistance housing voucher. Normally, Sherrena doesn’t take renters with vouchers since there are inspectors involved, but the property that Ladona wants to rent is in good shape. Since Ladona will only pay 30 percent of her income (with taxpayers picking up the difference), Sherrena can set the rent much higher than she would normally. Desmond explains that people who rent to low-income families are not concerned with properties that will accrue value, but only with the month-to-month rent they generate. During the financial crisis of 2008, Sherrena acquired many new properties that were foreclosed on at excellent prices. Sherrena later coached stable renters to improve their credit scores so they could purchase the properties at inflated prices.

At eviction court, Sherrena offers Doreen a stipulation agreement that lets her pay down her debt and stay at the property. Doreen agrees, knowing she will not be able to save enough money to move elsewhere.

Chapter 12: Disposable Ties

Chapter 12 returns to Arleen, who has one more day before she needs to be out of her unit. Sherrena arrives with Crystal, a prospective renter. Crystal asks where Arleen and her two boys will go. When Arleen says that she does not know, Crystal tells her they can stay until they find a new place. Sherrena is fine with that. While out looking for a new apartment, Arleen leaves her two boys with Crystal. Crystal calls Arleen and tells her that she needs to move out after all. Arleen believes that it isn’t the boys’ behavior, which can be difficult, but the fact that Crystal doesn’t have any food. Arleen spends over $100 (in food stamps) on groceries and returns to an argument between Jori, her older son, and Crystal. Everyone argues, but eventually Crystal relents, allowing them to stay, stating that she is following the will of the Holy Ghost. Arleen believes that Crystal changed her mind after seeing all the food.

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