When Nick (Arie Verveen), a young drifter on the run from the cops, touches down in a small Jersey City fish store owned by married couple, Joe (Edward James Olmos) and Betty (Maria Conchita Alonso), they give him a job and a room that once belonged to Danny (Steven Schub), their son who's trying to make it as a stand-up comic in Hollywood.
Nick moves in...and stays. Joe, resistant at first, introduces Nick to the rigors of the Fulton Fish Market and the skill of shad-boning. Nick, a natural and eager student, wins Joe over. As the men work side by side and enjoy each other's company, Nick becomes the son Joe has always wanted. Betty works in the store as her husband's partner, but in moments of reflection, she longs for more. Nick's presence soon sparks in both Joe and Betty a hunger for life that has long been dormant in their marriage.
When Joe has an opportunity to sell the store, Nick, urged on by Betty, convinces him that this is the big chance he's been waiting for--to pursue his dream of owning his own fishing boat and moving to Florida--where Nick will be his "first mate."
But then, in spite of his feelings for Joe, Nick is unable to fight his powerful attraction for Betty, and they become lovers. Betty, caught up in their dangerous and passionate lovemaking, realizes she can't go back to a life without Nick.
Nick, torn between Joe and Betty, knows he should leave, but he's too emotionally entangled. The stakes get higher when Danny comes home unexpectedly with his wife Amy (Bitty Schram) and their young son Peter. Finding Nick in his room, Danny instantly suspects what's going on between Nick and his mother. Inflamed with jealousy and enraged by his displacement, Danny soon comes to believe that Nick, the "thief" who stole his parents, is also stealing his wife. He becomes abusive to Amy, and Nick, drawn into their struggle, helps Amy escape.
As Betty and Nick continue to push the limits of their sexually charged affair, it's Danny who pushes things over the edge...
