Davey Simpson, a fisherman, is charged with the murder of a powerful Alabama politician's son. His childhood friend, Ben Johnson, an attorney, has to decide whether to resign as the first black lieutenant governor of Alabama in order to take Davey's case.

While in the Mobile County Jail awaiting trial, Davey has a unique way of surviving confinement. Since he can't endure living in the present, he lives in the past, recalling memories of his two childhood friends—his lost love, Pokey, and his best friend, Ben. Those memories allow Davey to escape the unbearable loneliness of incarceration.

Davey's plight causes childhood friends, separated by time and space, to reunite and renew their relationships. Unexpected twists reveal the many complications involved in the case and in Davey's life.