This is the story of Joao, an uninspiring country boy who moves to a slum in the city with his drunken father and falls for amiable prostitute named Charity.

All João ever wanted was to be of some use. All he ever wanted was to belong. And in a dank café in the very worst part of town, and working as a barrista, João will find himself, inside the sediment of a city, at the bottom of a ceramic cup.

And a minister, a chef, and a whore, they will all taste him on their lips, long after he is gone.