Seven year old Laurie and her two friends, Butch and Hootie, are doing the best they can to survive in the projects of Aliso Village. Set in Los Angeles near the end of WWII. Laurie's parents are alcoholics and cheating the welfare system. Her mother can't or won't protect her daughter from the sexual attacks of her father. Butch and Hootie's mother works in a dime store during the day and brings sailors home at night to supplement her income. The children go down town to find work and instead, end up robbing the largest bank in Los Angeles. We see how the system cannot protect its' smallest...