Although Dave (LeVar Burton) and his family are poor sharecroppers in the Deep South in the 1930's, this 15 year-olds problem is shared by teenagers today: he stands with one foot in adulthood and the other in childhood. "Almos' A Man", yet still treated like a child, he struggles for an identity. There's one thing, one symbol of manhood, Dave thinks, that could guarantee him instant respect: a gun..