A tangled triangle. In the rural South of the early 20th century, Miss Amelia is the town eccentric, selling corn liquor and dispensing medicine. She takes in her half-sister's son, a diminutive crook-back named Lymon. He suggests they open a cafe in the downstairs of her large house. Marvin Macy gets out of prison and returns to town to marry Amelia. They marry, but she won't let him sleep with her; first he pleads, then he gets angry. Eventually, Amelia and Marvin stage a no-holds-barred fight in the cafe. Lymon's complicated response to Marvin and to Cousin Amelia figures in the resolution.