Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 4 discusses Henry's homecoming and further develops his criminal career. Henry has come of age by the time he returns to New York in 1963. Although he has spent the last two months of his enlistment in the stockade for getting into another barroom brawl and stealing a police car in an attempt to escape, his friends in the neighborhood consider his incarceration as a badge of manhood. Paulie is serving six months for contempt of court when Henry returns from the army, so Paulie's favorite son, sixteen-year-old Lenny Vario, gravitates toward Henry as a role model. Henry realizes he will help his mafia career by taking Lenny under his wing, and the two become partners. Henry does not want to go back to running errands at the cabstand like a kid, so by staying close to Lenny, he ensures he is...