Rule of the Bone

Chappie moves onto the biker gang’s couch permanently. It’s a chaotic life: There’s parties all night with hard drug use and a rotating group of dangerous men living in the apartment. As long as Chappie has marijuana for them, he’s welcome, though he and Russ are often afraid of the bikers, who are violent, openly-racist criminals. The head biker is a weightlifter named Bruce, who names the gang Adirondack Iron. Chappie thinks highly of Bruce, who is the only smart one; the other two bikers he knows best are Roundhouse, who Chappie thinks is harmless, and Joker, who collects guns and keeps Chappie on edge all the time.

During the winter, the bikers take up slam-dancing all night, which upsets Wanda LaGrande, the landlord and owner of the video store below them, where Russ works. One night, Russ comes up and says that she’s threatening to evict them unless he pays the rent he owes her. Russ and Chappie head downstairs to try to scam her; they think it will be easy, as she’s an alcoholic with a bad memory. When they get downstairs, she throws Russ’s shearling jacket at him and accuses him of stealing, which is true.