After a year in lockup, Tupac fanatic Esperanza Cepeda comes home determined to follow her sister Dulce’s example. That means going back to school, finding a legitimate job, and most of all, staying away from her ex-boyfriend Jesus and his crew. Easier said than done, Espe finds, because despite all the pressure she’s under to do the right thing, no one has any love for a convicted felon. Jesus says he does, and Esperanza desperately wants to believe him. But he’s not trying to leave the game so she has to keep it movin’.

So Esperanza tries to stay on the righteous path. She tries, stumbles and then tries again. She resists the faithlessness of her parole officer yet blossoms under the guidance of teacher and mentor Maite Rodriguez, a former member of the Young Lords Party and political prisoner. As Esperanza yearns to find the same passion and purpose in her new life that fueled her thug days, she begins to see in herself the contradictions that tormented her idol ‘Pac. Esperanza realizes that her jailhouse mom Isoke was right: she cannot be a soldier and a gangsta. She must choose.