Henry Warner has a wife who wants somebody else's life, a teenage daughter who wants her own apartment, and an eight-year old daughter who wants to be Wayne Gretzky, while his mother-in-law hates him and his five-year old son has yet to speak. Henry and his family make an unlikely connection with Travis Parker, a kid in his first job at a collection agency staffed by a diverse group of lifers. Ultimately, Travis and the Warner family's fates are tied as both struggle to break free of debts, both...

Following the death of his father, suburbanite Obie runs away from home and winds up on Chicago's South Side. After being mugged, he befriends con artist Scam. The two then embark on a Down South adventure involving gangsters, the police, and a search for Scam's father.