Like a number of other children who live in East End Newport News, Virginia, SIMON HEDGPETH is raised in an overcrowded Apartment Complex that is a haven for drugs and crime. His mother, a drug addict herself, is no help to Simon and his siblings Holly, age 7 and LeRoy, age 8. The three of them live together in the drug and crime infested MACON SHORES apartment complex, along with the mother's boyfriend, also a drug addict. It is Simon's determination to look after his sister and brother that force him to attend school rarely. Most of his time is spent in trying to raise money to feed his two siblings, Holly and LeRoy, as well as himself, and to protect them from the constant threats of violence that pervades their lives daily.