Michael Ryan had always felt like a displaced person. Being half Jewish in a predominately Italian neighborhood, he had never really fit in. On this March day, however, as he stood on the deck of Lauren"s boat, his early life was little more than a faded memory.
Michael"s father Tomas had been of Italian parentage, and his mother was a Polish Jew. When both died in a TB sanitarium, their young son Michael was shipped off to Aunt Grazie from the Italian side of the family, a ruthless woman who took Michael in only because of the savings Tomas had left for the boy"s care.
Michael was mostly on his own, and he learned early that physical strength earned respect. He never backed down from a fight, and there were plenty; but by the time he entered high school, the astute teen had learned that
