A gray-haired tomboy named Bertha moves with her family to the small town of Charleston, where her goody-two-shoes sister is attending college. Here Bertha meets The Black Cats, a notorious local gang that controls Charleston through fear and the drug trade.

After the gang is caught off guard in a fist fight with Bertha, they naturally become enemies with her. Despite their disdain for each other, however, they actually have a lot in common. Both she and the gang members are tough, anti-social rebels—but with a cause. They each despise conformity and adult hypocrisy.

Although it takes a lot of blood loss from an innocent victim, Bertha and the gang come to realize the value of friendship and what it means to be a true non-conformist.