Gina Santucci develops a larcenous lifestyle at a very young age. Before starting high school, she realizes that men are pushovers. Through guile and charm she knows how to manipulate and exploit their weaknesses. Her only guide is a practical amorality: Right is when you get away with it, and wrong is when you get caught. Her luck turns sour when she is arrested and remanded to a reform school for girls. Shortly after, she and her "sweetheart" escape. Gina renews the acquaintance of an ex-teacher, and her life takes a different twist. Gina's mother works in a nightclub as a cocktail waitress. She entertains boyfriends in her apartment until the wee hours. Her spirited lovemaking keeps the daughter awake. Involved with Gina in a more positive way is a detective who desperately tries to rehabilitate the "dreadful delinquent." His total obsession with her endangers his marriage. Feelings of despondency and self-hatred plague him.