Nine years after his release from prison, Socrates is still living in a two-room shack in Watts, now with a lover and a steady job. Having responsibilities and people he cares about makes acting morally even jharder now he has so much more to lose. Socrates Fortlow, first introduced in Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, is one of the essential fictional characters of our times. In Walkin' the Dog, the philosopher with 'rock-breaking hands' has come in from the cold and has to decide at which point an individual must make a stand against the brutality and corruption that surrounds him.