After ten years, Sheldon returns from New York City to Paris, Georgia, Georgia (U.S. state). His mother is Evelyn, a laundress who is stubborn, ornery, opinionated, mean-spirited, insulting, and inflexible. Evelyn sends a ten-year-old boy claiming to be Sheldon's son to see Sheldon. Sheldon comes home to resolve the matter. Old arguments reignite between himself, his mother, his sister, and his brother.