The story follows the life of a young Haitian girl, Fabiola Toussaint, as she is made to move to the US and live with her cousins. Her mother is detained by immigration officers and cannot enter the US.
Fabiola struggles to assimilate to American culture and she misses her home in New York. Despite this, she is protected by her cousins, known affectionately as the Three Bees. During a school party, an officer agrees to give up her mother in exchange for information about drug use that they believe is connected to her friend, Dray. However, it is later revealed that her cousins are the ones who are dealing the drugs. Instead, Fabiola decides to set up Dray to take the fall, but in the process, her crush, Kasim, is shot dead.
The detective decides to release her mother from immigration detainment because of the help she has provided. The ending is bittersweet and highlights the difficulties of the immigration experience in the US.