Tuff's father is gone and his mother can barely care for her pack of children in their riverside trailer. Dillon is the only person Tuff can rely on. Then Tuff's life is shattered when his older brother is senselessly murdered. When he leaves home in search of Dillon's killer his mother yells out a name--Penrose Leppo--Tuff's father. Tuff finds a haven at Pen Leppo's little shack of a store. As he desperately attempts to figure out who killed his brother, Tufffinds an ally in Pen--and most important, a friend who makes him realize that solving the murder won't bring Dillon back.