 In Brooklyn s Crown Heights, where West Indian Rastafarians and other Blacks live next door to the Jewish Lubavitch community, ethnic tensions are high. After a minor car crash, the headstrong Judah and other Jewish youths who patrol as vigilantes confront Scratch, a mouthy African-American hustler. Passengers in the cars make eye contact: Sol, a hip-hop musician, songwriter, and artist (Scratch s friend), and Sara, who is betrothed to Judah but wants to go to college and be on her own. Over the next few days, while Scratch and Judah s conflict escalates in violence, Sara and Sol connect in ways that echo Sheba and Solomon. The friendship puts them in danger.