A young boy describes how stray dogs come to lick the water from the pipes beneath his home. He and his brother listen to the dogs scratch below the boards. His mom suddenly leaves the house to go to town, so the boys' Uncle Trash arrives with his car. The boys' father takes the car in search of the kids’ mother and leaves them with their uncle. Uncle Trash realizes that he left his alcohol in the car and leaves again for a drink in town. The boy plays outside with his brother all day until it gets dark. In the night, they hear sounds in the house. It is Uncle Trash, who comes back bloody from a bar fight. After he cleans up, the three of them have banana sandwiches for supper and then play a game of Old Maid. They each bet their belongings and the boy and his brother lose many of their toys and even their clothes to their own unforgiving uncle.  In the morning, Uncle Trash takes the bike often used for delivery outside the Cuts’ family grocery store. He falls off the bike, but seems to be uninjured. He then takes a nap under a tree. Uncle Trash, the boy, and his brother have supper together and the Uncle takes back the bike.  The kids finally hear back from their parents, who are in the city. One of them is in jail, but they don't know which one. At night, the boy finds his brother outside with one of the stray dogs on a rope. They give the stray a bath and burn a tick off her ear. She then runs beneath the house again.  Their parents finally come back home, and the boy’s father punches Uncle Trash in the face both to sober him up and also because he took poor care of the kids.