All he has to do is not sleep with his ex-wife, stay off the JD, not hit the P.E teacher and avoid the hero worship of one of his more disastrous students. How hard can that be?

John Ardle is in search of a slice of time-out where life leaves him alone but he ends up back on his ex-wife's patch, snared by old emotions. Ardle has what his white granny referred to as a-touch-of-the-tarbrush. Maybe that's why he is reluctantly drawn to the angry, vulnerable, mixed-race boy - Alex Simmonds. Alex has a dangerous attitude problem, a hellish home life and a knack for attracting trouble. The stakes increase as Ardle fails to acknowledge approaching catastrophe.