Allan Richards, a.k.a. Pooney, learns the hard way just how fast a life filled with promise can become the greatest of urban tragedies. Blessed with a loving mother and younger sister, Pooney is a star student athlete. But when an argument with another young man over a girlfriend causes Pooney to join a local gang, his life takes a drastic turn. Pooney quickly falls in love with his new "family" and the foul activities that now dominate his life. With his single mom working constantly to support herself and two children, Pooney finds the freedom to indulge in his new self-destructive habits. However, when the highest ranking member of the Deuce-Nine Crips shows a romantic interest in Pooney's sister, his love affair with the gang is over. Unfortunately, Pooney finds that getting out of a gang proves much more difficult than getting into one.