Tommy is a young man from the impoverished Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. As he walks down the streets, he mentally curses the trashy alleyways, the bums lazing on the corners, and the heavy malaise of hopelessness. Things are so much different now than they were when he was a kid. He was poor, but things were brighter back then. Neighbors were kinder to each other because they saw gold hearts under the grime. There was honor among thieves. Now, kids will cut his throat for a dime. No one cares anymore, so why should he? Well, there’s one person who still cares: his mother. She guilts him into going to church to atone for his petty crimes. The last time Tommy went to church, he’d hit on Adelaide. He was honest with her. He’d been with plenty of girls, but he was ready to settle down with a good woman. It had taken her a while to come around, but they were sleeping together within a week. That was a long time ago, and Adelaide is with someone else now. One day, Tommy is getting high with his friends, Chubby and Ruchell, when they formulate a plan to make some quick cash. They have a truckload of stolen TVs. They’ll set up a deal to sell them to Indovina, a local white gangster, but they’ll escape with his payment without giving him the TVs. That way, they can sell the TVs for double the profit. On the night of the deal, Ruchell ends up shooting one of Indovina’s cronies. To escape the police, Tommy brings his friends to hide out with his older brother, John. John is successful and has moved out of the neighborhood. He comforts his brother, but Tommy knows that it’s only a matter of time before the law catches up to him. He falls asleep thinking of John’s children, rich and safe in their beds upstairs, with a good father and more toys than they know what to do with.