"A Bottle of Milk for Mother." Nelson Algren.

Review: A Polish tough kid has been busted for killing a man whom he had robbed. He tries to maintain his toughness before the tough cops who are interrogating him, but every once in a while his tough façade cracks. Seems he has killed a man with a wife and children. He has a past in sports, boxing and baseball. He had gone to a Catholic school and tries to hide his belief in God.

All of a sudden, no one cares about his tough attitude. His sense of self-importance is shattered. His final words in his cell, “ ‘I knew I’d never get to be twenty-one anyhow,’ Lefty told himself softly at last.”

Short Story Masterpieces. Ed. RP Warren and A Erskine. New York: Dell Books. 1954.