It’s 1987, and Jaadi Jones, Apache poet and ace car thief, finds himself in prison, from which he must find a way to pay for his grand daughter’s chemo therapy. 

SYNOPSIS:

It’s 1987. Apache Indian, Jaadi Jones (49), is an accomplished poet and ace car thief, the latter of which has gotten him imprisoned. But there’s another setback: his granddaughter, Little Feather (6), needs more chemotherapy, for which Jaadi’s daughter, Goyan (25), has run out of government help and has quickly burned through a forty-five-thousand-dollar stash to which Jaadi had given her full access upon hearing of Little Feather’s condition.

He must quickly think of a way to raise the money from inside prison. Since the prison’s poetry writing teacher, Kevin Gantry (27), is obviously attracted to beautiful Goyan, Jaadi encourages the two to date as a part of his plan. Just weeks earlier, Jaadi encouraged the cash-strapped Kevin (he supports his mother) to start stealing cars since the job comes with big bucks, to which Kevin, at the time, gave an emphatic “no.” Nonetheless, Jaadi decides to manipulate Kevin, with Goyan’s reluctant cooperation, into stealing cars to raise money for Little Feather.

During their first date, Kevin and Goyan fall in love, and authentically. Kevin falls for Little Feather as well. A few days later, after a prison poetry workshop, Jaadi tells Kevin that Little Feather’s going to die unless they can raise a lot more money for treatments. Important to his plan, Jaadi wants Kevin to believe that stealing cars for Little Feather is his own idea.

Rufus Oday (47), Jaadi’s cousin, will quickly train Kevin in the art of stealing cars. Although Rufus still details stolen cars at his junkyard, his arthritis prevents him from actually stealing them. Rufus also decides to donate money to Little Feather’s cause, but regrettably not so much because he’s lost most of his money due to a gambling problem.

Kevin begins stealing high end cars, successfully, raking in thousands of dollars in a short time. And, of course, this success draws the attention of Detective Hooper (45), of Phoenix Police Department’s Auto Theft Detail. He’s the cop who busted Jaadi.

Within a few weeks, Hooper’s onto Kevin, and even learns about Little Feather’s condition. Even though an arrest is imminent, Hooper must catch Kevin in the act to make an arrest stick. There’s a further complication: since Hooper and his wife, Dana (43), lost their six-year-old girl two decades earlier, they both have a moral dilemma with this case. Not just regarding Little Feather—Hooper has respect for Jaadi, who always gave most of his car-theft money to the Apache reservation, and, a well-read man, Hooper’s always admired Jaadi’s poetry. Another inner conflict boiling to the surface is Hooper’s unwillingness to acknowledge who his is—he’s half Hopi Indian but acknowledges only his Irish half.

Soon into Kevin’s car stealing foray, Hooper begins to suspect Kevin, who becomes “too hot” to steal cars. Now, Rufus must try to steal, again, but he almost gets caught because his arthritis acts up during the heist. The only one now who knows how to steal cars is Goyan. But just two days into her comeback, Detective Hooper catches up with her. This brings an end to the family’s car theft business, but something else much better takes its place.

APACHE PASTELS