Single mother Billy lives in a rapidly crumbling Detroit neighborhood with her two sons, the teenage Bones and infant Franky. Billy and Bones both dote on Franky but are fairly distant from each other. In his spare time, Bones salvages copper piping from abandoned houses in the neighborhood while trying to avoid a vicious local criminal named Bully, who wants all the copper piping for himself. One day, Bully catches Bones taking piping, which Bones abandons and flees. Later, Bones reclaims the piping from Bully's hiding place and manages to escape from Bully's sidekick, Face.