Aggie is 15, a "sub" from a "sub" family, one of Texas' downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that "sub"-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world. And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas' barren landscape, she is a survivor. In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she's been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realizes there are some problems you can't run away from.