[Intro: Narrator, Young Female Spoken]
The hallway light was replaced last week.
The elevator still stalls between four and five.
Some things change quickly.
Some things take a fight.

[Verse 1: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Morning returns to the gray concrete stairs;
Lila's blue bicycle waits for repairs.
The plate from 5B hangs beside the mail,
A family name in brass where the new ads fail.
Cole drinks tea with the court stay folded flat;
Ma leaves for work with less bend in her back.
The kiosk sells lattes behind spotless glass;
Lila keeps Rafi's bell in her coat when she passes.

[Chorus: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
The rent is due, but tell me: due to whom?
Hands that built the walls, or the fund that bought the room?
The rent is due; another bill comes through
For workers pushed farther from the work they do.
The rent is due. Watch what gets refused:
One full grocery cart, one prescription left unused.

[Verse 2: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Our tenant trust meets late every week;
We mark every clause in the language banks speak.
The roof needs patching, old wires need repair;
Owning sounds simple till the bids land there.
One grant covers windows, none touch the loan;
The bank likes our math, not tenants owning homes.
The printer jams twice while we total the debt;
We trade childcare shifts and revise the request.

[Chorus: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
The rent is due, but tell me: due to whom?
Hands that built the walls, or the fund that bought the room?
The rent is due; another bill comes through
For workers pushed farther from the work they do.
The rent is due. Watch what gets refused:
One full grocery cart, one prescription left unused.

[Verse 3: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
A teacher from East Ward comes to our next meet;
A Dockside family brings notices and receipts.
We share Lena's checklist and the phone-tree plan,
Plus every bad turn we would not take again.
Some stays get lifted. Some buyouts split floors.
Some families leave before help reaches the door.
So we copy the record and keep every date;
A rule without teeth will not hold back the gate.

[Bridge: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
Who knows which child takes the third-floor bus?
Who checks on Cole when the elevator gets stuck?
Pull out those threads, then market the view;
The skyline can rise while the street falls through.

[Instrumental Break][Muted trumpet revisits phrases from The Last Kiosk while Rhodes, upright bass, and brushed drums combine every form of the three-note Calder motif.]

[Verse 4: Narrator, Young Female Rap]
I climb to the roof at the end of my shift;
Cranes cut the sunset into red metal strips.
Route Seventeen turns through the street below,
Carrying cooks and cleaners where the late buses go.
Lila comes up with her drawing rolled tight:
Seven floors, every name, every window lit white.
She adds Alvarez with his brass plate in hand;
Then draws seven keys in a bright yellow band.

[Final Chorus: Full Cast]
The rent is due. Now tell us: due to whom?
People turn four walls and a hallway into home.
The rent is due. Bring every key and name,
Every rent roll, photo, documented claim.
The rent is due. We have paid enough;
Make room for the hands that hold the whole town up.

[Outro: Narrator, Young Female Spoken]
The radiator knocks three times before dawn.
The elevator groans. The hallway light comes on.
Seven floors breathe behind brick and steel.
This time, we send the bill.
