Benjie Johnson is a thirteen-year-old boy sharing a tenement apartment with his grandmother, mother, and stepfather in Harlem. It is the kind of shabby, low-rent, dangerous place where kids are at risk for sexual abuse by men in the shadows and drug use is rampant. So rampant that Benjie has already developed a serious habit that his family worries is a precursor to becoming an all-out junkie.
Benjie was still just a baby when his biological father abandoned the family. He likes and gets along well enough with his stepfather, Butler, but there is also tension between the two. For one thing, he views his stepfather as a rival for his mom's love. He is especially put off by Butler's insistence that the situation for African Americans is improving and that eventually, opportunities will be expanding greatly. This irritation at what he views as a toothless optimism is placed in parallel distinction with the black nationalism of a teacher at school named Nigeria Greene. Benjie views Nigeria's political activism as toothless propaganda. This negative perspective is constructed primarily by the concrete reality that Benji sees all around him which serves to deny any rationale for such optimism.
Benjie's relationship with Nigeria does not improve any when the teacher conspires to convince the principal to sign papers that would force Benjie into detox. This move is the result of Benjie's increasing movement toward the junkie life once he begins stealing money to support his every-other-day heroin habit. The detox program does work while Benjie is hospitalized but within a week of getting out, he is right back to doing drugs. Making matters worse he steals some clothes from Butler to pay for the heroin.
This action has caused Butler to give up and move away to a new apartment, but when he catches Benjie stealing a toaster from a neighbor, he chases Benjie to the roof of the tenement. Benjie slips on some ice and very nearly topples to certain death only to realize that Butler has saved him by catching him with one hand. Benjie pleads for Butler to let him go and let him die, but Butler refuses to release his grip.
The consequence of Butler saving Benjie's life brings the two closer together. Benjie even finally becomes willing to address him as Dad and Butler has become a hero in the boy's eyes at last. As Butler waits outside the detox center which Benjie has agreed to return to for another round of rehab, he realizes Benjie is late, but is confident he will show up.
