Dé (Thiago Martins) was born and raised at the Cantagalo–Pavão–Pavãozinho slum, in Rio de Janeiro. As a child, he witnessed his brother being murdered by a local drug dealer due to a football-related fight. His other brother, Carlão (Rocco Pitanga), is banished from the slum and ends up arrested because of him. Willing to live an honest life, Dé gets a job at a kiosk at Ipanema beach. There, he meets Nina (Vitória Frate), a rich girl living in an apartment right in front of the kiosk. The two fall in love and begin to date. Initially, they keep their relationship as a secret because of her overprotective father Evandro (Paulo César Grande), but after he finds out, he ends up accepting it after much insistence by Nina.