When Maureen Phelan surprises a burglar in her kitchen at night and kills him with a devotional item, she has no idea that she is setting off a chain of fatal events. Of course, the body needs to be disposed of and the kitchen floor scrubbed, but Maureen has a pronounced aversion to housework of any kind, which is why she calls her son Jimmy. He controls the organized crime in the city, including the loan sharks and bookmakers, the drug couriers and pimps. Naturally, Jimmy doesn't want to get his hands dirty either; he usually leaves that to others - like his old buddy Tony Cusack, a drunkard, father of six children, and a single parent, if one can even call it parenting. His oldest son Ryan has already made a remarkable career as a dealer at just fifteen years old.