Los Angeles. 1983. A storm is coming and its name is crack. Set against the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it, the story follows numerous characters on a violent collision course.

An abused wife's plan to escape her husband goes awry when she accidentally kills him, causing her to split on a cross-country drive with her best friend and his corpse in tow.

Cleveland 'Stack' Stackhouse is a guard with the Texas Correctional Youth Authority who witnesses the cycle of destructive choices and racial tensions among female teen offenders and decides to do something about it. He gathers African-American, Latina and Caucasian teens, and organizes a multi-racial track team behind the bars of the prison. Participation in Stack's track team not only breaks down the racial divides between the girls, but puts them on a path to turn their lives around.

Escaping an abusive husband, Melissa takes her baby to a cabin in a small town. When the baby is abducted and the police are less than helpful, she takes matters into her own hands and discovers the dark secret the town is hiding.

A sassy, no nonsense madam runs a "coloreds only" brothel in Dallas,Tx in the late 1950's. While she and her house of tricks service their regular customers, they run into some very peculiar first time customers and their colorful expectations. She is forced to make a tough decision once she is presented with an unexpected request, that ultimately alters her lifestyle.