While craving her next hit, Khaila Richards (Halle Berry), an African-American crack cocaine addiction, abandons her baby Isaiah in the rubbish. She promises to "come back later", but then passes out from the drug. The next day, the baby narrowly escapes death in the garbage truck. Then, Isaiah is sent to the hospital, where they discover he is also addicted to crack through his mother's addiction. While caring for Isaiah, a social worker named Margaret Lewin (Jessica Lange) grows increasingly fond of him and eventually adoption him to live with her and her husband, Charles (David Strathairn) and daughter, Hannah. Meanwhile, Khaila is caught shoplifting and is sent to drug rehabilitation, unaware Isaiah is alive.