People are violent, we live with violence, we accept violence in many forms, and we reject it in others. Fred is a teenage boy who is just another American who partakes, and rejects, elements of the violent culture. Except one of these events leaves a former teenage girlfriend dead at his feet.
What Fred wants is to be left alone, and stop having others judge him for what they do not understand. Is that so much to ask? His step-father does not think so, and neither does his mother. They are his keepers, and of course they know best. Fred knows his family is messed up, but what can he do about except put his head down and wait it out until he is old enough to leave home, and finally be free to do what he wants. And undoubtedly there will be violence, in some form or another, waiting for him around that bend as well.