Joe said, “Hey down there,” and they looked up to see that he’d managed to reach the second-highest branch.

“You crack your head,” Connor said, “Ma will shoot you.”

“Not going to crack my head,” Joe said, “and Ma doesn’t have a gun.”

“She’ll use Dad’s.”

Joe stayed where he was, as if giving it some thought.

“How’s Nora?” Danny asked, trying to keep his voice loose.

Connor waved his cigarette at the night. “Ask her yourself. She’s a strange bird. She acts all proper around Ma and Dad, you know? But she ever go Bolsheviki on you?”

“Bolsheviki?” Danny smiled. “Ah, no.”

“You should hear her, Dan, talking about the rights of the workers and women’s suffrage and the poor immigrant children in the factories and blah, blah, blah. The old man’d keel over if he heard her sometimes. I’ll tell you that’s going to change, though.”

“Yeah?” Danny chuckled at the idea of Nora changing, Nora so stubborn she’d die of thirst if you ordered her to drink. “How’s that going to happen?”

Connor turned his head, the smile in his eyes. “You didn’t hear?”

“I work eighty hours a week. Apparently I missed some gossip.”

“I’m going to marry her.”

Danny’s mouth went dry. He cleared his throat. “You asked her?”

“Not yet. I’ve talked to Dad about it, though.”

“Talked to Dad, but not to her.”

Connor shrugged and gave him another wide grin. “What’s the shock, brother? She’s beautiful, we go to shows and the flickers together, she learned to cook from Ma. We have a great time. She’ll make a great wife.”

“Con’—” Danny started, but his younger brother held up a hand.

“Dan, Dan, I know something…happened between you two. I’m not blind. The whole family knows.”

This was news to Danny. Above him, Joe scrambled around the tree like a squirrel. The air had cooled, and dusk settled softly against the neighboring row houses.

“Hey, Dan? That’s why I’m telling you this. I want to know if you’re comfortable with it.”

Danny leaned against the rail. “What do you think ‘happened’ between me and Nora?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

Danny nodded, thinking: She’ll never marry him.

“What if she says no?”

“Why would she say that?” Connor tossed his hands up at the absurdity of it.

“You never know with these Bolshies.”

Connor laughed. “Like I said, that’ll change quick. Why wouldn’t she say yes? We spend all our free time together. We—”

“The flickers, like you said. Someone to watch a show with. It’s not the same.”

“Same as what?”

“Love.”

Connor narrowed his eyes. “That is love.” He shook his head at Danny. “Why do you always complicate things, Dan? A man meets a woman, they share common understandings, common heritage. They marry, raise a family, instill those understandings in them. That’s civilization. That’s love.”

Danny shrugged. Connor’s anger was building with his confusion, always a dangerous combination, particularly if Connor was in a bar. Danny might have been the son who’d boxed, but Connor was the true brawler in the family.