Shocked into a new life with his mother's death, Jamy begins a search for his biological father but succumbs to the dangers of the street after a vicious sexual attack.
Haunted by the act, he is too afraid of his father's possible rejection to pursue his search.
Becoming another lost kid, beaten, pimped, and drugged, Jamy grows more introverted by the barrage of abuse until, in defense of others like himself, he finds a dark future as a gang leader and protector. The Street Lord of the 42nd Neighborhood.
Prostitution, drugs, and protection money fund his generosity to others but the realizations of becoming a father at 16 urges him deeper into danger for want of money. Moments alone with his son make him dream of the normal life he once had.
To protect himself and his new friends from the rising power of the drug lords he now works for, he devises his Domino game. Based on his skill as an artist, his sketches and diaries become pieces of the game.
Dominoes placed, Jamy decides to start toppling the world of the drug lords when he agrees to become a 'mole' for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) in exchange for freedom from prosecution.
Though freedom is at hand, he returns to the street to save the undercover agent he befriended. Nearly losing his life, his foot is set upon a path toward a life that holds his biological father.