When the Benningtons move into Sharon Palmer’s middle-class Maryland neighborhood, her family and the other “good neighbors” are aghast by the new lower-class family’s behavior. They claim the Benningtons are responsible for several robberies throughout the street. Despite her family’s prejudice, Sharon befriends fellow high-schooler Neil Bennington and they begin to exchange books.  One day, she goes to their house to return a book and finds Derek Bennington, a man in his early twenties, who remarks that she wears too much red. Sharon is surprised by the comment and leaves, simultaneously attracting the attention of Terence Stagg, a well-respected college medical student. He sets his eyes on her and they begin dating. One night, Sharon notices Neil run across the street, deliver a package to her door, and leave. She goes down and finds a beautifully carved wooden black girl in a bonnet attached to a bracelet, but decides she doesn’t reciprocate Neil’s feelings. Later on, one of the other Benningtons, Amanda, gets into an argument with Terence when she and Derek park their car in Terence’s father’s unofficial spot. Derek punches Terence in the face, and the “good neighbor” families decide to buy the Bennington’s house from the white man who rents it to them and evict them. Derek is furious when he finds out, but powerless to stop them. Still, even when they try renting to new tenants, they can’t seem to locate any more “good neighbors.”  A few years later, Sharon is married to Terence and working as a nurse in D.C. when she encounters three drunk students that attempt to assault her on her way home. Out of nowhere, Derek appears to protect her, taking a knife to his side but still managing to scare off the attackers. Although he’s hurt badly, he won’t let her treat him, but instead worries about how he’ll get away from the police as two of the students were white. He drops her off at her apartment, and Sharon realizes that the beautifully carved bracelet was likely from him, not Neil. She feels some dissatisfaction with Terence as she gets in bed with him, still thinking of Derek.