Let No Man Write My Epitaph

In 1950, Nick Romano Jr. lives with his mother Nellie in a Chicago tenement. Nellie works as a barmaid to support them and save for Nick's future. Nick forms friendships with the neighborhood residents, and the group pledges to protect him from the crime that surrounds them.

Just before Christmas, Nellie is fired unfairly, and the friends surround her with decorations, food, and gifts. They celebrate together and reaffirm their commitment to help Nellie look after Nick. The community agrees to shield Nick from the criminal life that plagues the neighborhood.

A decade passes and Nick is about to graduate high school. He is a gifted classical pianist who longs to attend the local conservatory, but struggles to secure an audition. Nellie works as a B-girl, and sometimes a prostitute, causing Nick to endure abuse from his classmates.

Nick confronts gang members who insult his mother. George, recently released from jail, comes to his aid, but the violence leads to Nick's jail sentence. Judge Sullivan makes a drunken attempt to defend him in court, but Nick is still convicted.

Nick is released from jail when Nellie's new friend Louis Ramponi pays his fine. The gesture highlights Ramponi's influence in the neighborhood and foreshadows the entanglement to come.

Nellie begins an affair with Ramponi, who is married and runs an illegal numbers racket. Judge Sullivan learns through Fran and Flora that Ramponi also sells heroin, and Nellie herself becomes addicted to heroin as a result.

Judge Sullivan decides to help Nick and takes him to meet Grant Holloway, a respectable lawyer and old friend who previously defended Nick's father. Holloway is moved by Nick's piano performance and agrees to help him audition for the conservatory. Nick also begins dating Holloway's daughter Barbara.

During a visit from the Holloways, they see Nellie in what Nick believes to be drunkenness, but it is actually heroin withdrawal. The scene underscores how deeply Nellie's addiction has affected the family and Nick's prospects. The family rallies around Nick despite the strain.

On the day of Nick's conservatory audition, he learns that Nellie has become addicted to heroin due to Ramponi. He retrieves a gun from Wart and goes after Ramponi, but Ramponi disarms him and holds him captive to dose him with heroin.

Wart and Flora alert Judge Sullivan, Max, Nellie, and others to Nick's danger, and they converge on Ramponi's business to rescue him. The group arrives to confront Ramponi and free Nick from captivity.

Ramponi shoots Sullivan, who retaliates by breaking Ramponi's neck, killing him. Sullivan dies in Nellie's arms, telling Nick to run as the police arrive. Nellie and the friends mourn the loss while trying to cling to life moving forward.

In the aftermath, Nellie mourns Sullivan's death and declares she will take the cure. The friends acknowledge the long road ahead and offer support, though they remain skeptical about what life will demand from them all.

Nick is reunited with Barbara and moves on to a better life, emboldened by Holloway's help and his own musical talent. The community's efforts to protect him have paid off, and Nick looks toward a brighter future.