Tommy Castelli, a twenty-nine-year-old candy store owner, has become utterly bored with his life. He is tired of his wife Rosa and having to work long, boring hours. While reflecting on how he arrived at his unpleasant reality, he traces his memories back to his hopeful and lively childhood and adolescence. Tommy recalls quitting vocational school at sixteen-years-old, socializing with the wrong crowd, and getting mixed up with a robbery. After getting out of trouble for the robbery, Tommy is pushed by his father into marrying Rosa, whose father buys them the candy store and establishes their new life there. He is dissatisfied with his daily life and feels that everything has gone wrong since being cornered into marriage. When a young girl comes in to buy colored tissue paper for her mother per usual, Tommy notes how she is quieter than the other kids and always keeps her distance. While retrieving the paper for her, he glances at her through a mirror and sees her steal two bars of chocolate. At first, he is filled with anger, but then he remembers his own regretful wrongdoings from adolescence and begins to sympathize with the girl. Believing that he must educate her before she makes the same mistakes he did, Tommy devises different plans to teach her a lesson. Each time the girl comes in to steal chocolate bars, Tommy continues to miss his chance to execute his plans. He finally decides on leaving her a note with the chocolate bars, but the girl does not come in at her usual time. The next time she goes to the store, Rosa catches her stealing and starts to scream at her, calling her a thief. Tommy tries to defend the little girl, telling her to go home and that he let her take them. The girl’s mother comes into the store and hits her for being a thief. While being dragged out the store, the little girl turns to Tommy and sticks out her tongue.