Vera is on a bus from Missouri to New York City. She was working at a record store that also sold drugs, but she decided she needed a new start. She has a bag with cocaine in it and instructions to deliver it to a man who will give her $10,000.

A woman drops a young boy in the seat next to Vera and asks her to watch him. Vera guesses he is around two. They travel together for several stops and onto the Jersey Turnpike. At her stop in New York, Vera realizes that the little boy’s mother is gone. She leaves the bus with him and attempts to find her but is told by another passenger that the woman got off somewhere in New Jersey. She considers calling the police but realizes that she can’t do so with the drugs in her bag. She checks the boy’s clothing and finds his name, William, written on his shirt tag. Feeling as though she has no other choice, she takes William with her.

Vera finds an apartment in New York. The next day, she takes the drugs to the address she was given. She meets Derek and Adam, who run a delivery service, mostly legal things but also drugs.