In a dark and decadent area of São Paulo, the exiled Americans Sinatra and his son Paul own a brothel. Paul is a compulsive gambler addicted to cocaine; his father is married to the former prostitute Angie, and they have a little son. When a client is killed by his wife in their establishment, they find a suitcase of drugs. In the night that they have scheduled a negotiation with African buyers, their African liaison dies while having sex with the travesty Nazda. Sinatra proposes to the Nigerian dishwasher of the brothel, Wemba, to travel to the harbor of Santos, complete the business with the drug dealers and in return he would receive a large amount. Wemba accepts but, while returning to his car in the harbor, he is attacked by two small-time thieves and passes out. His lack of contact with Sinatra and Paul leads to a sequence of misunderstandings with a tragic end.