A young boy who lives next door to Seth and Bertha’s boarding house. Reuben befriends Zonia, eventually kissing her and telling her that when he grows up, he’s going to come looking for her. Reuben also talks extensively about his young friend, Eugene, who has recently died. Apparently, Reuben promised Eugene that he’d set the young boy’s collection of pigeons free, but when Eugene died, Reuben couldn’t stand to do so. Instead, he sells them one by one to Bynum for the old man’s strange rituals, which is what Eugene did when he was alive.