Nineteen-year-old "Strike" Dunham (Mekhi Phifer) is a small-time street drug dealer for Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo), who wants Strike to kill a former dealer who stole from him. When the man turns up dead, Strike is suspected. But before homicide detective Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel) has a chance to investigate, Strike's brother, Victor (Isaiah Washington), confesses to the crime -- and Klein suspects that Victor, a virtuous family man, is trying to cover up for Strike.