In Galveston, Texas, an African-American policeman nicknamed “Mr. Kool” orders Sugar, a prostitute, to stop loitering. He spots A.P., a teenager, stealing a bottle of liquor from Willy’s liquor store and gives chase. A.P. joins a group of friends in an abandoned building where H.J., the group’s leader, reprimands him for stealing. Mr. Kool arrives and warns the teenagers against lives of crime. That night, H.J.’s younger brother Tommy sees Mr. Kool patrol the neighborhood and follows him. An assassin dressed in black appears, shooting Mr. Kool dead and stripping him naked. The killer spots Tommy, but discovers his gun is out of ammunition. As the killer flees, H.J.’s crew ushers Tommy away before police arrive. At their house, H.J. delivers Tommy, who has been struck mute, to their grandmother, Mama Wes, explaining that Tommy saw Mr. Kool’s murder. Soon after, H.J. speaks to Dr. Johnson, who runs the community recreation center. Concerned that Tommy is not speaking, Johnson encourages H.J. to help the boy regain his speech. Outside a church, H.J.’s crew listens to Mr. Kool’s funeral service over a loudspeaker. Elsewhere, Tommy runs to the abandoned building that H.J. and his friends frequent, but finds it empty. The killer stalks the young boy inside, but a passing police car scares him off. As the funeral party leaves the church, H.J. approaches Mr. Kool’s wife and expresses his condolences, telling her “the street” owes something to her husband. However, the widow responds that her husband died in vain. H.J.’s group seeks out Vega, a Mexican-American gangster who has access to police files. Hoping to solve Mr. Kool’s murder, H.J. asks Vega for help, but Vega claims African Americans have never done anything for his people. However, H.J. reminds Vega that Mr. Kool helped him. That night, H.J.’s gang pretend to fight with Vega’s Mexican American gang to distract the police. Meanwhile, Vega and H.J. sneak into the police station. Using stolen keys, they break into a file room, where they steal Mr. Kool’s file. The next day, H.J. and his friends search the file for information about criminals that Mr. Kool arrested, believing that one of them may be the murderer. Splitting up to investigate their leads, H.J. goes to a brothel in search of Willie the Pimp, while A.P. goes to the home of Maria, a transvestite, looking for a man named Billy Most. Although Maria denies knowing Most, he emerges from a back room after A.P. leaves. In a pool hall, H.J. and his friends are badly beaten when they ask about a drug addict named Frank Crown. Back at Maria’s apartment, Billy Most cuddles a plastic baby doll and frets about being caught. Encouraging Most to run away, Maria reminds him about the time he was arrested by Mr. Kool for kidnapping a baby. Although Maria insists that kidnapping is wrong, Most argues that the baby loved and needed him. He recalls being stripped naked and shamed by Mr. Kool. Later, H.J. learns from his girlfriend, a young prostitute named Francine, that Billy Most was spotted at Maria’s apartment by one of Francine’s clients, and that when Most kidnapped a baby, Mr. Kool arrested him at a party and forced him to strip naked. Since Mr. Kool’s killer stripped the clothes off of his dead body, H.J. realizes that Most is the killer. At Maria’s apartment, the boys find her dead, hanging by a rope from the ceiling. Meanwhile, Most goes to the abandoned building, where Tommy and Francine are sleeping on a couch. Most stabs Francine to death and chases Tommy, who runs into a nearby warehouse. H.J. and his crew return and are shocked to find Francine dead. Outside the warehouse, Most catches Tommy, cradles him in his arms, and calls him his “baby.” A man working the night shift spots the two and calls the police. H.J.’s gang appears, and H.J. holds Most at gunpoint, allowing Tommy to run free. As police cars rush to the scene, Most begs H.J. to kill him, but H.J. remains frozen. Having regained his speech, Tommy calls out his brother’s name. Most is arrested, and H.J. hands over his gun to a police officer.