For a teenage boy living in Nashville, Tennessee, it has always been taken for granted that he should be close with his grandfather. Their area of the city was formerly known as the Nashville Basin, and before that, the Miro District during his grandfather’s time. Unlike the other elderly folk, his grandfather does not live with them. Known as Major Basil Manley from his days in the Confederate Army, the boy’s grandfather lives alone in a wilder area and spontaneously drives to Nashville to visit. The two are very different from each other and only maintain a façade of closeness. During one of his grandfather’s visits, the teenagers is drinking a bottle of his father’s liquor with friends when he hears the familiar hum of Manley’s old car. His grandfather calmly orders his friends to leave and does not reprimand him for the incident. Not quite sober yet, the boy thinks to ask Manley about his war experiences. Since he was young, his parents have pressured him to ask his grandfather about the war out of their own curiosity, but the old man still refuses to talk to anyone about it. The teenager drunkenly starts repeating all the filler memories Manley has told him in place of talking about the war. His grandfather remains calm through the ordeal. The boy’s next confrontation with his grandfather is when he gets caught after throwing a small party at home. His grandfather roughly drags all his naked friends out of their beds and forces them to leave but treats the girls very gently. The boy realizes that his grandfather has already experienced these situations for himself. In the summer of his eighteenth birthday, the boy has a final confrontation with his grandfather when he is caught in bed with his girlfriend. His grandfather was supposed to be at an award ceremony for Civil War veterans, but he refused to stay and exaggerate his experiences like the others. When the boy hears the hum of Manley’s car, he hides his naked girlfriend in an empty closet, but the spot is quickly discovered. This incident shocks Manley, who accepts that the rules and customs of grandson’s world are much too different from his own. After the incident, Manley gives up on resisting and moves into their home Nashville. He even talks about the Civil War and attends the ceremonies.