The movie is told in non-chronological order, with present scenes intercut with flashbacks that slowly reveal the details of the past as the movie progresses. 18-year-old Ronnie Fuller and Alice Manning have just been released from Juvenile Hall after serving 7 years for the kidnapping and murder of the bi-racial infant granddaughter of the county's first black judge. When asked about the crime, Alice continually insists that she is innocent, a victim of Ronnie's machinations, including Ronnie planting her jack in the box at the scene of the murder to frame her. In flashback we see the girls walking home from a pool party, when Ronnie sees the baby unattended in a stroller on a porch. Despite Alice's pleas not to, Ronnie takes the baby and runs off with her, insisting to Alice that they can take better care of the baby and that it is theirs now.