Seven-year-old Anwell lives in a prestigious but coldly distant family with a mother who is always sick and a father who punishes him with physical abuse.

He is sitting in the back yard one day when he meets wild boy his age named Finnigan, his alter-ego or second personality.

His parents, disgraced and humiliated by Vernon, refuse to take care of him, leaving Anwell to do the job at the young age of seven.

Out of frustration, and anxiety their mother will wake up and be irate, Anwell puts fabric in Vernon's mouth to quiet him and throws his brother in a refrigerator.

A small town and distant parents ensure that he is never allowed to forget the horrific mistake he made as a child.