Cicero, a college-educated gangster who knows no bounds, is plagued with recurring nightmares—and due to one small flaw in his character, forces greater than him are prepared to teach him a lesson he will not soon forget. Following in his Italian father's gangster footsteps, the biracial Cicero Day has little problem rising to the top of the Kansas City underworld. He and his comrades deal with their enemies with all manner of weaponry: guns, knives, poison, trained beasts, and even HIV. Yet, Cicero is haunted by recurring nightmares, and bothered with his mother's steadfast belief in God. Cicero, who is an atheist, feels there's no place for myths in a man's life who is trying to ascend to power. While he is the master of his domain and even viewed as a hero to some, there is an unseen kink in his seemingly impregnable armor.