In the summer of 2011, the infamous James "Whitey" Bulger was arrested. The South Boston native was wanted for 19 murders along with many other crimes (Bruno). The people from South Boston all know Whitey Bulger. He was notorious for keeping South Boston "safe" by the resident, but also was known as the head of crimes. Although today Whitey Bulger is regarded as a criminal, All Souls, reveals he started out with good intentions to help improve the lives of people living in Southie in the 1990's.
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Whitey Bulger got into trouble in his early childhood. He was known as a troublemaker around his neighborhood. Whitey dreamed about running away and joining the circus as a young boy. He was first arrested when he was 14 for stealing. After the first criminal experience, his record grew. "He was charged for larceny, forgery, assault and battery, and armed robbery and served five years in a juvenile reformatory. Upon his release, he joined the Air Force where he served time in military jail for assault before being arrested for going AWOL" (Bruno). Whitey Bulger was known around town though for helping out the children in South Boston. Many South Boston residents remember Whitey buying groceries for widows and distributing free turkeys to the poor at Thanksgiving (Bruno). Citizens tell one story of Whitey called the ice cream story.
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19-year-old Whitey walked into an ice-cream parlor and spotted three 8-year-old boys standing at the counter. Feeling magnanimous, Whitey offered to buy them all ice-cream cones, but one of the boys balked, saying that his parents told him never to take gifts from strangers. Bulger allegedly picked up the boy, sat him down on the counter, and looked him in the eye. "Hey, kid," Bulger said, "I"m no stranger. Your mother and father are from Ireland. My mother and father are from Ireland. What kind of ice cream do you want?" The little boy, who knew of Bulger's reputation as a street tough, was instantly won over.
