Slick Chicago street hustler Big Daddy Foxx (Yaphet Kotto) lives comfortably off petty confidence scams that he pulls with the help of loyal teenage acolytes Baby 'D (Kirk Calloway), Tiny (Donn Harper) and Player (Thomas Carter). His business is jeopardized, however, when he runs afoul of neighborhood racketeer Goldie (Rudy Ray Moore). Their rivalry escalates until the threat of a freeway being built through their neighborhood obliges them to cooperate in order to fight city hall.