Ree Lovell plans her escape from her abusive stepfather and rents a room from Alan "Pixie" Dixon, a transvestite prostitute with a heart of gold. Soon Ree meets Gavin, who ran away from an alcoholic father on the spur of the moment, lived rough for a while but who now has his own flat and works in a cafe across the road from Pixie's house. Everything seems perfect until Pixie's lover, Colin, a high-ranking police officer, is blackmailed by a vengeful career criminal who stumbles upon his nemesis' weakness by chance. Colin and Pixie's plan to thwart their blackmailer fails miserably and sees a pregnant Ree on remand in prison, Colin in a coma and Colin's wife determined to unmask her husband's lover, keep his share of the house and spend his police pension...