The novel opens with Hiram reflecting on his father, particularly his father’s strong beliefs in social justice and his displeasure with how life is in the South, and the Mississippi Delta region where he was raised. We learn that Hiram comes to live with his paternal Grampa while his father and mother are up at Ole Miss; his father goes to school on the GI Bill for his degree in English. Hiram recalls being a kid in Greenwood, buying candy or a soda from Mr. Paul’s store while his Grampa conducted business at the county courthouse. Afterwards, Hiram and Grampa would drive in the pickup truck out to Grampa’s fields to check on the progress of work. Hiram remembers the sweat on the black men as they worked in the sun and Grampa’s angry reaction when he catches Hiram helping one of them work the earth. He tells Hiram that God “made Negroes to work the land. They don’t feel the heat like we do” (8).

Hiram wakes up to the familiar smells in his grandparents’ house, especially enjoying the comforting aromas of his Gramma’s cooking and the coffee that is brewing. He thinks about the structure and appearance of his grandparents’ house, like a “smaller version of the White House in Washington” (9).