Julius Narducci isn't happy with his life. At 40, he drives a bakery truck, lives with his mother and spends most of his time at Turk's Billiards or Rosen's Bar with his best friend, Randy. As the oldest son of an Italian widow, he knows he has certain responsibilities and is resigned to them. Still, he feels like he's missing something.Cheryl Watson isn't happy either. All her time is taken up running her small sandwich shop and caring for her alcoholic father after her mother abandoned them when she was seven. She chafes at the way much of the city of Omaha treats her, a black woman, though she is a business owner.It's the long, hot summer of 1965 and the worlds of Julius Narducci and Cheryl Watson are about to collide.