It portrays their experiences as pimps, prostitutes, muggers, panhandlers, thieves, and small-time drug dealers. It also portrays their sense of independence, the niches they carve out for themselves, and their dreams and fantasies. Their involvements with detention centers, clinic doctors, and social workers also is portrayed. The cast of characters includes Rat, an undersized 17-year-old living in an abandoned hotel with Jack, his older partner, mentor, and protector; Tiny, Jack's friend and a prostitute; DeWayne and his relationship with his inmate, failed-arsonist father; and Shadow, a hustler. Others include Shellie, a sexually abused runaway; Kim, a hustling transplanted suburbanite; and Lulu, a 19-year-old lesbian. Rounding out the cast are Patty and Munchkin, two adolescent lovers struggling to survive both the brutality of the streets and their visits to a social worker. (Publisher abstract modified)