Letty, a young woman who ended up on the streets pregnant and unmarried at 15, is bitter and determined that her child will not grow up to be exploited. She teaches her son Mickey to lie, steal, cheat, and everything else he'll need to be street-smart. When he is 7 1/2, he is hanging onto the back of a delivery truck being pulled along the streets on his rollerskates when he is hit by a truck driven by Mal. Mickey is not injured badly, but when Letty discovers that Mal is rich, she concocts a scheme to wring him dry of dinero. When her plot is discovered, she is exposed as an unfit parent and Mickey is taken from her. Mal and his wife Alice, unable to have their own children, take him in and give him a true mother's love, a father's love, and a real home that he can call his own. Letty is jealous of his growing attachment to these two good people and still sees Mal as a ticket to riches. Letty seduces Mal--recording this seduction--and plans to blackmail. him. Her plans are upset when Mal immediately tells Alice, who accepts the relationship. Letty learns a painful lesson in selfless love and finally sees that what is best for Mickey is more important than her own plans.