 Tommy Caffee is a rising star in Rhode Island politics and the prince of his home ward - a working-class Irish district known as "The Hill." The murder of local gangster Patty Mullin opens the door to the return of Tommy s brother, Michael, whom Patty had sworn to kill. As Michael begins to reclaim his lost criminal enterprises, Irish mob boss Freddie Cork threatens to whack Michael unless Tommy throws state contracts Freddie s way. Meanwhile, Michael gets into a beef with Moe Riley, one of Freddie Cork s underlings, who is currently in control of Michael s old turf. Eileen Caffee, Tommy s wife, has secrets of her own: she meets Carl, an old boyfriend, at a local motel, where they smoke dope and have sex. In the end, Michael achieves a tenuous treaty with Freddie.