4 “sure,” greg said as he sat on the sofa and put one leg over the back. “what do you have, gold coins? ”

5 “don’t worry none about what i got,” lemon brown said. “you know who i am? ”

6 “you told me your name was orange or lemon or something like that.”

7 “lemon brown,” the old man said, pulling back his shoulders as he did so, “they used to call me sweet lemon brown.”

8 “sweet lemon? ” greg asked.

9 “yes sir. sweet lemon brown. they used to say i sung the blues so sweet that if i sang at a funeral, the dead would commence to rocking with the beat. used to travel all over mississippi and as far as monroe, louisiana, and east on over to macon, georgia. you mean you ain’t never heard of sweet lemon brown? ”

10 “afraid not,” greg said. “what . . what happened to you? ”

11 “hard times, boy. hard times always after a poor man. one day i got tired, sat down to rest a spell and felt a tap on my shoulder. hard times caught up with me.”

12 “sorry about that.”

13 “what you doing here? how come you didn’t go on home when the rain come? rain don’t bother you young folks none.”

14 “just didn’t.” greg looked away.

15 “i used to have a knotty-headed boy just like you.” lemon brown had half walked, half shuffled back to the corner and sat down against the wall. “had them big eyes like you got, i used to call them moon eyes. look into them moon eyes and see anything you want.”

16 “how come you gave up singing the blues? ” greg asked.

17 “didn’t give it up,” lemon brown said. “you don’t give up the blues; they give you up. after a while you do good for yourself, and it ain’t nothing but foolishness singing about how hard you got it. ain’t that right? ”

18 “i guess so.”

19 “what’s that noise? ” lemon brown asked, suddenly sitting upright.

20 greg listened, and he heard a noise outside. he looked at lemon brown and saw the old man pointing toward the window.

21 greg went to the window and saw three men, neighborhood thugs, on the stoop. one was carrying a length of pipe. greg looked back toward lemon brown, who moved quietly across the room to the window. the old man looked out, then beckoned frantically for greg to follow him. for a moment greg couldn’t move. then he found himself following lemon brown into the hallway and up darkened stairs. greg followed as closely as he could. they reached the top of the stairs, and greg felt lemon brown’s hand first lying on his shoulder, then probing down his arm until he finally took greg’s hand into his own as they crouched in the darkness.

22 “they’s bad men,” lemon brown whispered. his breath was warm against greg’s skin. .

23 there was a footstep on the stairs, and the beam from the flashlight danced crazily along the peeling wallpaper. greg held his breath. there was another step and a loud crashing noise as the man banged the pipe against the wooden banister. greg could feel his temples throb as the man slowly neared them. greg thought about the pipe, wondering what he would do when the man reached them—what he could do.

24 then lemon brown released his hand and moved toward the top of the stairs. greg looked around and saw stairs going up to the next floor. he tried waving to lemon brown, hoping the old man would see him in the dim light and follow him to the next floor. maybe, greg thought, the man wouldn’t follow them up there. suddenly, though, lemon brown stood at the top of the stairs, both arms raised high above his head.

25 “there he is! ” a voice cried from below.

26 “throw down your money, old man, so i won’t have to bash your head in! ”

27 lemon brown didn’t move. greg felt himself near panic. the steps came closer, and still lemon brown didn’t move. he was an eerie sight, a bundle of rags standing at the top of the stairs, his shadow on the wall looming over him. maybe, the thought came to greg, the scene could be even eerier.

28 greg wet his lips, put his hands to his mouth and tried to make a sound. nothing came out. he swallowed hard, wet his lips once more and howled as evenly as he could.

29 “what’s that? ”

30 as greg howled, the light moved away from lemon brown, but not before greg saw him hurl his body down the stairs at the men who had come to take his treasure. there was a crashing noise, and then footsteps. a rush of warm air came in as the downstairs door opened, then there was only an ominous silence.

31 greg stood on the landing. he listened, and after a while there was another sound on the staircase.

32 “mr. brown? ” he called.

33 “yeah, it’s me,” came the answer. “i got their flashlight.”

34 greg exhaled in relief as lemon brown made his way slowly back up the stairs.

35 “you ok? ”

36 “few bumps and bruises,” lemon brown said.
use the excerpt to answer the questions.
paragraph 21 is most likely from which part of the plot?
a. exposition
b. rising action
c. climax
d. resolution