In 1960, nine-year-old Calogero lives in
Belmont, a working-class
Italian-American neighborhood in
the Bronx with his father Lorenzo, a
Surface Transit (later
MTA) bus driver, and his mother Rosina. Calogero becomes enamored of the
Mafia presence in his neighborhood, led by local boss Sonny. One day, Calogero witnesses Sonny shoot and kill a man who was assaulting his friend. Calogero keeps quiet when questioned by
NYPD detectives. Sonny's men offer Lorenzo a better-paying job but, preferring a law-abiding life, he politely declines. Sonny befriends Calogero and gives him the nickname "C". Calogero earns tips working in Sonny's bar and
throwing dice, but is admonished by Lorenzo when he discovers the cash that his son has earned. Lorenzo returns the money to Sonny and warns him to keep away from Calogero. Eight years later, a 17-year-old Calogero has been visiting Sonny regularly without his father's knowledge. Calogero is part of a gang of local Italian-American boys, which concerns Sonny, who does not want him to live a life of crime. Calogero meets an
African-American girl, Jane, and a tentative romance blossoms between them. Despite the high racial tensions between Italian-Americans and African-Americans in the area, Calogero arranges a date with Jane. He asks for advice from Sonny, who lends Calogero his car to impress her. Earlier, Calogero's friends beat up a group of African-American cyclists who are riding through their neighborhood. During the fight, Calogero initially refuses his friends' calls for help. He eventually joins the others, but rather than fighting, he tries to protect one of the cyclists. This cyclist turns out to be Jane's brother, who accuses Calogero of beating him up when he and Jane meet for their date. Calogero loses his temper over the accusation, and calls him a
nigger, which he instantly regrets. Jane, disappointed, leaves with her brother. At home, Lorenzo confronts Calogero after seeing him driving Sonny's car. They argue and Calogero storms out. He runs into his friends, who tell him that some African-Americans
egged their social club in retaliation to the earlier beating. Sonny and his crew confront Calogero after finding a bomb on Sonny's car. Calogero tearfully pleads his unwavering dedication to Sonny, who recognizes his innocence and allows him to leave. Calogero meets up with his friends and joins them in their car. After they drive off, his friends begin discussing their plans to use
Molotov cocktails to get revenge on the African-Americans. Not wishing to appear scared in front of his peers, Calogero feigns a willingness to join in. After the car comes to a stop at a traffic signal, Sonny appears at the passenger side window and orders Calogero to get out. Calogero complies, and Sonny drives him back to the social club. Calogero catches up with Jane, who tells him that her brother admitted he wasn't the one who attacked him. As Jane and Calogero make amends, he suddenly remembers his friends' plans and the two rush to stop them. His friends target a
record shop, and after performing a
drive-by shooting, they begin to throw Molotov cocktails into the store. As they begin driving away, an African-American shopkeeper throws an unbroken Molotov cocktail back through an open window, it ignites a box of unused cocktails, killing the group when the car explodes. When Calogero and Jane arrive, the neighborhood and fire department surround the area, his friends lie dead on the ground. Calogero, afraid for his safety in Jane's neighborhood, rushes to Sonny's bar to thank him for saving his life, but a young man (who had planted the bomb) shoots Sonny in the head moments before Calogero can warn him. Calogero soon learns that the killer was the son of the man whom Sonny killed eight years earlier in front of Calogero's house. At Sonny's funeral, countless people pay their respects, but, as Sonny had once stated, none seem to really care about his death. When everyone but Calogero has left, a lone man, Carmine, visits the funeral and tells Calogero that Sonny once saved his life. Calogero does not recognize Carmine until he sees a scar on his forehead and realizes that he was the man whom Sonny defended. Carmine tells Calogero that he is filling in for Sonny in the neighborhood, and promises to help Calogero if he ever needs it. Carmine leaves as Lorenzo unexpectedly arrives to pay his respects to Sonny. Lorenzo thanks him for saving his son's life, and admits that he never hated him, but that he resented him for making Calogero grow up so quickly. Calogero bids goodbye to Sonny and walks home with Lorenzo while thinking about the lessons that he learned from his two mentors. ==Cast==