Lodi Poidle is a local to the small, upcountry town of Ickey Honey, South Carolina. The town’s name is a mispronunciation of its original Cherokee name, meaning _The Place From Which One Leaps Out. _To the Cherokees, the town was a starting and converging point for all things.  In many ways, Ickey Honey has resisted change and stayed very close-knit and personal. The single outlier is Hoke Warble, an old friend of Lodi’s who has always sought to bring progress to their small town. Hoke has great plans for the town and started by building a Country Club with a pool, outdoor basketball goals, and a tennis court. Lodi is dragged into Hoke’s affairs when he asks him to serve as a referee for a $1000 tennis grudge match. Hoke is competing with Newton Slock, an outsider to the town that he personally hired to develop the town into subdivisions. Hoke claims that Newton cheated him somehow with the land, so he is seeking revenge through the match. Lodi has little faith that his friend will win, considering how out of shape he is compared to Newton. Lodi reluctantly agrees to him train, and he is surprised by the strange but effective style of play that Hoke develops. On the day of the match, there is a huge turnout despite the unbearable heat. The crowd is divided into the fancy, uppity outsiders on Newton’s side and the rugged locals of Ickey Honey on Hoke’s side. Newton wins the first set with ease, and it seems like Hoke has no chance of competing. Halfway through the second set, Hoke turns the game around with his unconventional techniques. Under the heat of sun, both players are exhausted but refuse to postpone the match. The court starts melting and tar gets all over their clothes and the ball. The audience impatiently awaits the outcome as the game keeps going to deuce. The match finally ends with Hoke’s win when his ball is caught in tar and fails to bounce up more than two inches. After the match, Hoke and Newton patch up their relationship and join in a business endeavor to bring more tennis courts to Ickey Honey.