Goaded by the pulse of Elvis, Little Richard and the kwela kwela rhythms of the black ghettos, best friends Tommy and Chris, twelve-year-olds growing up on the mines of Johannesburg, look to prove their grit on the slumyard dance floors of the West Rand Cons Mine and in the sweat-soaked ring of the boxing club.

But Tommy has a little sister Cecilia, sweet, whimsical and vulnerable. Unwittingly, she will make the friends face a choice between courage and cowardice, between loyalty and betrayal.