I shouldn't have come back to Miami. . . . I've been escaping cops' notice for a year now -- since I ran away. I'm no longer Michael Daye, high school athlete with a promising future. Now I look like someone with no future. I look like a carny.

A year ago Michael's life seemed pretty good, at least from the outside. But with a new stepfather in the picture, his world was actually violently out of control. When Michael grabs a chance to leave town with a traveling fair, he finds that their motto of "don't ask, don't tell" is a welcome refuge from the unbearable situation at home.

But now Michael is back in Miami, and his mother is on trial for murder. As the day of her trial draws closer, Michael wonders how much longer he can hide from his past . . . and his future.