Joey Crouch was a sheltered kid, if one can be sheltered in Chicago. He is very attached to his mother and fears for her life daily. His life gets flipped upside down when she is hit by a bus and Joey is sent to live with the father he has never even heard of. Ken Harnett doesn't know what to do with his new son and Joey has to have his new school, Bloughton High. But school isn't any better, Joey is bullied, used as a specimen in biology and still gets straight As. Determined to find out the source of Harnetts horrible smell and local nickname The Garbageman, Joey climbs in the back of his truck with a camera and follows Harnett to a job. Then it is revealed the Ken Harnett is a grave robber. Eager to make something of himself in a place where everyone wishes he wasnt there, Joey and his father come to an understanding and Joey starts learning the family business.