Alva and Emmy Lou have begun a relationship of sorts, although their meetings take place in movie theaters, parks, and at their homes rather than in the clubs and cabarets that Alva typically frequents. Alva is not turned off by Emma Lou’s dark complexion, but his friends would judge her for it, and in their company, he typically brings a more socially acceptable girlfriend named Geraldine, who has olive skin and straight hair. Often involved with multiple women simultaneously, Alva is an opportunistic dating partner and selects women for their willingness to provide financial assistance rather than any real romantic interest.

Alva realizes that Emma Lou has noticed his unwillingness to bring her into his social world, and when he is invited to a rent party by a young writer he knows, he decides to take her. He thinks that there will be less prejudice among the intelligentsia and that Emma Lou’s intellectual pretensions will allow her to fit in with a more educated crowd. When they arrive, Emma Lou shyly makes the acquaintance of Paul, Cora, Tony, and Truman, and then sits down to listen to the conversation that their arrival interrupted.