In the 1960's Hell's Kitchen wasn't the ethnic melting pot it is today, the neighborhood was predominately Irish and Italian, so when a black boy named Charles Freeman moved into the neighborhood, he was immediately labeled an outcast. Charles' luck changes after meeting a tough Irish kid named Mickey Tansy. Charles finds a protector; Mickey finds the one person he can trust. A friendship is born that will withstand life's valleys and peaks for the next four decades. Murder, Drugs, Money, and Music. Charles and Mickey claw their way to the top, but in the mean streets of New York enemies wear disguises.