The play takes place in the autumn of 1898, almost entirely in and around the farmhouse shared by three Black women named Sophie Washington, Fannie Dove, and Miss Leah, who are wheat farmers. The home is located outside of Nicodemus, Kansas, an all-Black town settled via the Homestead Act of 1862.

As the scene opens, Sophie, a 36-year-old-woman, enters. She’s returning from a trip into town and is carrying sacks of groceries and a shotgun. After setting them down, Sophie pulls a letter from her pocket, considers it, and places it on top of the stacks already on the desk. Reaching again into her pocket, she extracts some licorice. She opens a window and pulls up a chair, propping her feet up and savoring the licorice happily. Miss Leah, who is 73, enters, moving slowly and searching for something testily. She regards the open window with annoyance.

Greeting Miss Leah, Sophie closes the window and asks if she’s looking for her cane. Annoyed, Miss Leah declares that she doesn’t need a cane. Sophie starts to get Miss Leah’s shawl but stops herself. Miss Leah says she’s looking for her shawl but, asserting her independence, stops Sophie from telling her where it is.