A woman named Annette and her son, Timmy, have recently moved from the big-city to a rural country town. Annette and her husband thought themselves clever and unique for giving up their urban lives and moving to a place where grocery stores and the husband's place of work are miles away. On her way home with Timmy and some groceries, the red-clay road is blocked off by a handful of Mexican children. Though she tries not to show fear in the face of them and their Spanish-speaking ways, Annette quietly panics as the children press against the car, exclaiming about the Cadillac. Annette urges them to move out of her way multiple times, controlling the cadence of her voice, as well as her urge to simply plow through them. Once the boys do move out of her way, she begins speeding off, but not before one of them throws a clump of mud at her car, the rest shouting at her. Timmy later acknowledges that she had almost hit one of them.
Once home, Annette must calm herself in her garage, despite the ice cream melting in her car. She is still attempting to adjust to the country life, particularly the way that the roads are unpaved and instead crawl around her domesticized home in that red clay that she despises so much. Once inside her home, Annette attempts to busy herself with her chores, putting away the groceries, though she and Timmy both know that something is wrong. Annette's worry only increases, as she becomes convinced that "those little Mexicans" are going to come for her, prompting her to lock her doors and windows. She also takes care to harvest her most beautiful roses, certain that the boys will destroy them and ravage her home. Similar to Timmy, Annette wants reassurance from her husband, but she is certain that this is a child's mentality, and that nothing must be wrong, although she certainly does not act like it.