 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.