“A few years back, a guy brought me a car with a broken windshield. I fixed it up, then a couple of gangbangers came by and demanded I take it apart for them. I guess the guy owed them money or something, and because of my reputation with the local gangs, they’d thought I’d go along with it. That was around the time Julia was born.” He closed his eyes and took in a steadying breath. “Maria and I had decided that it was time for us to contribute to the community, so she’d have a better neighborhood to grow in. Long story short, I told the gangbangers no, but they wouldn’t hear it, so I had to rough them up.” He let out a mirthless chuckle. ”That could have easily gone south fast, but I guess that thanks to my reputation, the kids decided to bring the matter up to Diamond. His barber shop was neutral ground for resolving disputes. Diamond’s a decent guy—he did right by me and those gangbangers left me alone. It was Diamond who started calling me Bulco, said it was because I was as strong as a bull. After that, he’d occasionally send me kids who were down on their luck to keep busy in my garage. For most of the kids growing up in our hood, the gangs were all they had. Between Diamond and me, we managed to help a lot of them get their lives together.” Bulco cracked his knuckles. “Some of them needed a little convincing at first, but it always worked in the end.”

Lana frowned. “That sounds dangerous. Gangs don’t like outside interference.”

“Oh, I was shot at a couple of times.” He gestured negligibly as if being shot at was not a big deal. “It was nothing serious. By the time Julia turned ten, you could walk around the hood at night safely.” He chuckled. “Well, unless you were white.” His voice died out and his eyes became haunted.

“And then the Calamity struck,” Nori guessed.