One by one, all the women and girls in Vere's young life abandon him. His laughing mother. Big hearted Tanty. Brave, stubborn June. Pudgy Kim next door. Drunkin' Angela. Romantic Makeba the Rasta Queen. His uptown girlfriend Elisabeth. The only constant presence in his dilapidated Dead End home, as Vere matures from a mischievous small boy to a gifted but aimless fifteen year old young man, is his abusive grandfather, a retired policeman who drinks away his pension cheques and regularly uses his thick uniform belt to keep resentful Vere in line. In the end even his grandfather leaves him, and all Vere has to depend on, as he has done for years, is himself. But that self, honed by deprivation, violence and loneliness, is one of remarkable character - comical, courageous, sensitive, musically talented, bright enough to skip a year of Primary School and win a scholarship for his secondary education.