In an impoverished world, imprisoned by socially constraining fences with very few gates of opportunity, Joey Joaneda, the son of failed and alcoholic parents, struggles toward maturity in a depression-era fishing village. Nothing much is expected from him or his Wharf Rat friends except to carry on questionable and antiquated traditions. Under the influence of a cast of colorful local characters -- from the powerful Captain Sam Brumos and a wise old woman in a fish house, to a very troublesome monkey -- the boy wrestles with the rewards and consequences of his own actions. He endures the animosity of his peers when he turns his back on simply "coasting around." Inevitably, he confronts the definitive fence which must be climbed to call himself a man, the need to accept accountability for his life choices.

But can you ever deny your past? Can you ever run fast enough or far enough to lose who you are? Goaded by the insistent vagrant Holy Joe in a search for truthfulness, Joey Joaneda, "the boy who is always running away," discovers that ultimately, you will forever bump into yourself.