"Your mom was a firecracker." Yawning, Steve sat up and switched on the bedside lamp. "I remember she said she'd string you up by the balls if you didn't quit him."
Firecracker. Bucky smiled faintly.. A good word for his ma. "Yeah, well, that's not why I quit Joey. The pay was too good, and money was tight."
"So why?"
"Somebody made a hard play for his territory. One night I went in to get paid, and I found him, and his bodyguard shot dead."
"Jesus, Buck!" Steve was incredulous. "You were what then - fifteen?"
Bucky smiled again. "Fourteen