Richard, only 17, has the life experience of a man twice his age. He was born a â??crack babyâ? into a family torn apart by drug addiction and the street life. Raised by his grandmother, Richard did not live with his mother until he was already a teenager. Just when some form of family begins to emerge, Richardâ??s mother has a seizure on their first vacation together â?? a result of the onset of cancer. Richardâ??s story confronts the whatâ??s and the whyâ??s of life. What is family? What is love? Why do people struggle through life? Through it all, Richard is determined not to become the stereotype he is expected to. He knows the one person he can always depend on is himself.