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A Mississippi teenager struggles to care for his younger half-brother after their mother abandons them following a mental breakdown, and realizes that their older brother isn't the hero that their small, backwoods community has made him out to be. Robbie Hendrick is a typical 14 year old boy. He lives with his mother and his younger half-brother Fess. When their mother leaves Robbie and Fess to fend for themselves, the older sibling does his best to provide while never losing hope that their mother will someday return. By day Robbie and Fess swim in a local granite quarry and play soldiers and by night they comfort each other while pondering an uncertain future. Later, when Robbie's older brother Lucas returns home and postcards begin arriving from their mother, it begins to look as if the family will be reunited. Meanwhile, the dynamics between the brothers begins to shift, and Lucas convinced Robbie to get a job at the local gas station. But the more time they spend together, the more apparent it becomes that Lucas is just a cynical freeloader seducing desperate women while coasting on his reputation as a hot shot high school athlete. Later, when social services comes knocking, Robbie prepares to wage the biggest fight of his life.