In this first chapter, we are introduced Canada and his family. Canada lives in the Bronx with his mother and his three brothers: Daniel, John and Reuben. Their father has recently left the family with “no child support, no nothing” (4). Canada tells us that their father was not a bad father, but was never a strong presence in their lives, even when he lived with them. He depicts his mother as a tough but loving mother who never seemed overwhelmed by the job of raising four boys all alone.

Canada is four years old when the book opens; his younger brother, Reuben, is two, and his older brothers, Daniel and John, are, respectively, six and five. Canada and Reuben are still too young to go to the local playground, but Daniel and John go there occasionally. One afternoon, they return from the playground and their mother notices immediately that John no longer has his jacket. John explains to her that a bully at the playground took his jacket. Their mother then turns to Daniel, asks him why he did not defend his younger brother, and demands that they both return to the playground immediately to get the jacket back; otherwise, she will give Daniel “a beating ten times as bad as what that little thief could do” (8).