Sixteen-year-old Randy Watson isn't sure if the classmate he beat to a pulp will survive. Afraid of the consequences, he runs away from his hometown in northern British Columbia. Hitchhiking, he crisscrosses the prairies from Alberta to Manitoba, working at back-breaking, menial jobs-at a feed mill, a meat packing plant, on construction sites and on an oil rig. After years on the road, he settles down in Vancouver-ultimately ending up in Oakalla Prison. After serving his time, will schooling and a girlfriend help him break out of this cycle? Or will drugs on the Downtown East Side, another horrific crime and the courts decide his fate?