"Well. Axel's always precarious." What else to say to that? Some guys just attracted it and ultimately Axel wasn't as good at playing the game as he thought he was. Kept falling in too deep with the wrong guys and then that got him set back, time and time again. He'd been here long enough to know the pattern by now. "Ideally what someone like you should do is find yourself some protection, even if it means selling your ass. That's how it goes."

Of course, Barry had lucked out, because Leonard had already offered him more protection than most ever got.