In Brooklyn in 1942, when Jim is a young boy, he has a recurring nightmare that ponoes — mythical creatures he imagined — tickle him. This makes him constantly afraid and annoys the people in his life, particularly his father, who takes him to baseball games to try to get him to toughen up. His mother is more sympathetic, given that she, too, struggled with recurring nightmares. However, when Jim’s nightmares start to prevent him from sleeping at night and cause him to fall a sleep at school, during work, and anywhere else, his mother’s sympathy for him declines into disappointment. At the same time, Jim’s father tries to teach him how to fight, and insists that it’s necessary as they are Irish, and thus need to be able to defend themselves against anti-Irish racists. Jim has little interest in this. He does, however, begin to idolize brothers, Tom and Kevin Murphy, who are major bullies and fighters at his school. One day, the boys at school play dodgeball, and the Murphy brothers are unable to get Jim out, who is small and quick. That weekend, they come to Jim’s house and have him steal a potato for them, which thus begins a highly power-imbalanced friendship between Jim and the brothers. They have Jim steal larger things for them, and teach him to speak and act the same way as them. One day, the brothers have the idea to line up neighborhood kids against a wall and throw clay balls at them. They ask Jim to get his old friend Frankie and his little brother out to trick them into doing this. Frankie’s brother, Billy, does not come, so the Murphy’s force Jim to be hit, and steal his glasses from him. They then ask Jim to go pick up a hoop to stand in. The Murphy brothers had secretly heated it in a fire before, so when Jim picks it up it, it severely burns him. Jim goes home, and, for the first time, is able to sleep through the night, exhausted with pain.