“Maybe,” he whispered, “red can be a beautiful colour, after all.” Twelve-year-old Jay hates and fears the colour red. To him, it represents the murders of his parents and the menacing danger that surrounds him in the cutthroat criminal-controlled section of Kalsyia’s biggest city. He also intensely fears the police, having witnessed an incident of brutality. Life for him is one eternal round of fear and anxiety. When a traumatic event occurs involving his adored older brother and a red pickup truck, Jay finds an additional reason to hate the colour red. And when he is attacked, accidentally runs into a group of policemen, and is caught, Jay is certain that death is imminent. But to his astonishment, he is instead freed and placed in a foster family. Officer Randall was one of the officers who caught him, but he is kind and understanding, and his wife is very sweet. But Jay still fears them and is hesitant to allow them into his heart. And he is particularly afraid of the Randalls’ adopted son, Orlando, who vividly reminds Jay of his worst abuser. But as time stretches on, and Jay gets to know the Randalls and Orlando better, he begins to wonder… perhaps not everyone and everything is the same. Can he learn to love and trust these people, in spite of what similar persons did? Can the colour red come to mean more than death and danger?