A group of men are trapped in a small pod on the sea bed, after diving down to fix an oil pipeline and becoming separated from their ship.

This is a coming-of-age story about five teenagers growing up in Harlem, New York in the 1980s. It is the beginning of a new generation of kids called the "hip hop" generation, which unfortunately was growing up alongside the "crack cocaine" generation. Karon falls into a deep sleep after his graduation in 1985. His dreams within dreams take him into a realistic drama along with his potential future in the 1990s as a drug-selling youth. His fast money attitude serves as the detriment to the community and ultimately his best friends become caught in the crossfire of his illicit activity. He awakens back in 1985, realizing the "easy way out" that was offered wasn't a glorious new beginning, it was the end.