Eddie is the protagonist of Buried Onions, a coming of age story about a young man raised in the barrio culture of Fresno. He lives in a world of gangsters and punks, and he tries desperately to rise above his surroundings. Everywhere he goes there are people trying to prevent him from becoming anything better than the rest of them.

Eddie is 19 years old and he lives alone in a run-down apartment in a part of town that is scary even to him, even though he has lived there his entire life. Although Eddie had been taking classes at City College to learn about air conditioning repair, he has dropped out and does not have a real job. He makes money by painting address numbers on curbs in the wealthy part of town and by doing odd jobs for anyone who will pay him to work...