Some men are pups and others are hounds, but they all bite in the end. Cheryl Greene doesn't ask much of life: a smile and a kind word are gifts in her world of splintered families and big talking men. But when Cheryl is cast from her home, pregnant and alone, just making it through each day becomes a fight to survive. Committed to giving her son the security she never had, Cheryl must navigate a reality where women are cheap, opportunities scarce, and violence is the law of the land. With steely optimism, the young mother grits her teeth through the punches, the hunger and the loneliness. But it's the disappointment and betrayal that cut deepest, and Cheryl must continue to trust in love, or give up on the future she's fought so hard for.