The story opens with Jimmie, at this point a young boy, trying by himself to fight a gang of boys from an opposing neighborhood.
He gets a job as a teamster.
Years pass, Tommie and his father die as Jimmie hardens into a sneering, aggressive, cynical youth.
The parents terrify the children until they are shuddering in the corner.
He is saved by his friend, Pete, and comes home to his sister, Maggie, his toddling brother, Tommie, his brutal and drunken father, and mother, Mary Johnson.
The story opens with Jimmie, at this point a young boy, trying by himself to fight a gang of boys from an opposing neighborhood