In a flashback to October 1980, a pregnant Nadia leaves Toya’s apartment, blaming Toya and Lou for introducing her to Roman. She ends their friendship and moves back into her parents’ home. Her mother, Gladys, is cold and suspicious. During a tense confrontation with both her parents, Nadia confesses she is pregnant with the child of a married man whose wife is also pregnant.

By December, Gladys forces Nadia to attend church, where she humiliates her by announcing Nadia’s “sin” to the entire congregation during a prayer request. Later, Nadia discovers Roman’s disconnected number has been reassigned to a new family, the Darlings. Desperate, she goes to Toya’s apartment to apologize and ask for information. Lou is there and reveals that Roman moved a month ago to start over with his wife and their new baby. When they refuse to tell her where he went, a vicious argument erupts. Lou discloses that Toya is pregnant and that they were celebrating before Nadia knocked. Nadia leaves after a final exchange of insults. 

The narrative then flashes forward, showing the friends’ cautious reacquaintance years later when their daughters, Tati and Desirée, attend the same daycare. Their new friendship is built on the lie Nadia insists Toya must tell: that she does not know where Roman is.

The narrative returns to Thanksgiving dinner in Gladys (Mimi)’s house. Tati disrupts the meal by announcing that not all family is present and naming Roman as the absent family member. A massive argument ensues. Tati reveals that Lou told her Roman is in Indianapolis. Nadia says this is new information to her, explaining that when she asked Toya and Lou about Roman shortly before Tati was born, they refused to say where he was and protected him.

The conflict shifts to Nadia and Mimi. Nadia accuses Mimi of always favoring her sons, Bryan and Terry, and treating her with disdain. This provokes Mimi into revealing she was already pregnant when she followed Eugene north, but lost that pregnancy after arriving. She hints that something was done to her in the South and says, “The South takes from you, and the North can’t save you” (223). She explains that her harshness with Nadia stemmed from this trauma and a deep-seated fear for the “girl children” in their family, whom she believes are cursed. She saw the later birth of her sons as a blessing that broke the pattern. Tati interrupts, asking if they realize how their unresolved pain has been passed down to her. Tati then declares she will find Roman herself and storms out of the dinner.

The novel jumps back to April 1953 in Land’s End, Alabama. Eighteen-year-old Gladys is walking to church. She is followed and harassed by two white cousins, Carl Darren Danube and JB Springer, who accuse her of acting superior. They drag her from the road into a cotton field, where they rape her. JB beats Gladys’s face with his belt buckle, knocking her unconscious.

Hours later, Gladys awakens and stumbles to the old family cabin where Jubi and Emma live. They immediately understand what has happened and prepare a medicinal bath of herbs to cleanse her. When Gladys’s parents, Ruby and Sampson, arrive, Emma allows Ruby inside but forbids Sampson, stating, “Some things men ain’t meant to see” (236). As Ruby cares for Gladys, Emma goes to prepare tea. Gladys whispers to her mother that she wants to marry her older suitor, Eugene Washington, as soon as he returns, “in case trouble comes” (240).

After Gladys leaves with Eugene, Jubi walks into the white section of town to confront Logan Danube, the owner of the general store and her ex-husband. Jubi enters the store through the front entrance, bypassing the “Colored Entrance” sign. She confronts Logan about the rape of Gladys, whom she claims as his unacknowledged granddaughter, by his Danube relation Carl Darren. Logan denies any relation or responsibility. Jubi warns him that if the herbal remedy Gladys was given fails to work, the truth of the child’s paternity may become apparent; she trails off referencing Evangeline’s curse. After a tense exchange, Jubi tells him it is time to tell the truth and leaves the store, walking away from her past with Logan for the final time.

During her winter break, Tati arranges to meet Roman on New Year’s Eve. She found him online; he owns a nightclub in Indianapolis called Worship Haus. The meeting is tense and awkward. In his office, Roman shows no warmth and confirms he has a wife, Deborah, and three children: two sons, Roman Jr. and Daniel, and a daughter, Faith, who is also 18.

Tati confronts him about his abandonment. Roman claims he didn’t know if Tati was his, though Tati’s middle name, Merét, is his mother’s name. This detail visibly rattles him. He turns a family photo facedown and admits he “always knew this day would come” (255). Nonetheless, he refuses to acknowledge her, repeatedly stating that he is a married man and his family is his priority. He tells Tati that Nadia chose to have her, but he did not. He ends the meeting by cruelly stating that life-changing events do not require one to change one’s life. He makes it clear that Tati and Nadia will remain a secret. He sends Tati away to “go find” her own priorities.

On New Year’s Eve, Tati returns from her meeting with Roman. In her room, she rips all the “Dear Daddy” letters from her old notebook and writes a new entry to Nadia, admitting her mother was right. In the basement salon, a radio station broadcasts live from Worship Haus Chicago. Tati asks Nadia to turn it off and recounts Roman’s cold rejection.

Nadia apologizes and finally opens up about her past, admitting she started smoking to cope with the stress of her pregnancy and the pain Roman caused. In a moment of healing, she resolves to quit. Tati takes the flat iron from her and begins to do her mother’s hair, reversing their typical roles. 

Their reconciliation is interrupted by the arrival of Gladys, who brings the old family Bible. She says the time has come to share their history. She points out the names of their ancestors, including one that has been scratched out. She then repeats a family legend she heard that an ancestor’s head was cut off because she ran. Gladys reveals that she heard this story from Jubi, who heard it from Emma, who never clarified the details of the story with Evangeline. As the new millennium begins, Gladys gives voice to this fragmented and painful legacy of the Dupree women.