Quote Originally Posted by Witch_Doctor View Post
We are given no evidence that these are crime families, save Scratch's mention of "the other family's enforcers." That notion comes from our exposure to American Mafia use of the term Families to describe their sindicate organizations. This is an example of reading more into a facet of a story than what we are given. Yet if an object is described as, say, an axe attatched to a bundle of sticks there is a very strong possiblity that a fasces has been described. Describe a flower with three leafs, a tall straight leaf in the center and two leafs bending downward on the sides then there is a very strong possibility that a fleur-de-lis has been described. What about a cross with all four arms bent clockwise? You get the picture.
As "the families and enforcers are classic references to the mob I going to go with that as what it is ....kc doesn't screw around ever in his writing that I've yet seen. If a character is dead he's dead if a family has enforcers you can be assured that they don't deal in girl scout cookies and hugs