The story is set in the early twenty-first century, but it resonates with today's world. The main protagonists, Cecil and John, have lived through the tumultuous sixties and seventies and rolled with cultural changes. Despite their different life journeys, they re-established a bond developed during their youth in South Philadelphia where racism and prejudice were commonplace. The strains of race and culture test the ties of friendship between the two men and their families, but the human links give the reader a tale of hope and redemption.