A man reflects on his childhood growing up in Memphis during the Great Depression, specifically his relationship with his best friend. As he remembers his friend's odd relationship with his family, unusual approach to romance, and alluring charm, he begins to realize how different they were and still are.

While their parents fight over the possibility of selling their family home during the Great Depression, two young sisters watch, and, in order to cope, one of the sisters forms a strong attachment to a stray cat in their neighborhood.

When a pipe repairman visits a Louisiana ranch during the droughts of the Great Depression, he encounters a recently widowed woman with dreams of exploring the country and a suspicious past.