Truman Gates

Porch Pirate Truman Gates

Out of work and living in a homeless encampment aboard his RV, an aging Truman Gates struggles to survive the gritty streets of San Francisco. He depends on soup kitchens for food, local box stores for sponge baths, and his trusty bicycle for transportation. As Gates rides his bike, he notices packages left on doorsteps. Lots of packages, all awaiting collection by the on-line shoppers who ordered them. The parcels call to him and, seduced by the promise of easy money, Gates becomes a porch pirate. But Gates is a thief with a heart; he only steals from the rich, and always returns drug prescriptions and children's gifts. But not much else. It's a good gig, if you've thought it through. Gates has not. Attempting to sell his loot, he gets mixed up with the wrong crowd; men who pimp the homeless to steal packages for resale at a flea market. Gates discovers that once you're in their game, you can't get out. But Gates wants out and gives himself a week to escape servitude. Working feverishly, he avoids porch cameras and suspicious neighbors, gradually building his nest egg. Then he lifts a package from the wrong porch. It's a strange package, and as Gates puzzles its purpose, he is chased by skinheads and visited by the FBI. They have an interest in the package, too. But for different reasons. To gain an edge, Gates enlists his homeless neighbors and together they discover a plot that threatens the entire city. Defusing that plot becomes an obsession, a race against time led by four aging homeless men.