Miss Cynthie is a seventy-year-old woman from Waxhaw, North Carolina. She just got off an overnight train trip to New York City. As the porter unpacks her luggage and escorts her to the pickup terminal, she explains that she’s here to visit her rich grandson, David Tappen. She raised him when his mother died, and she’s eager to see him. The last time he visited her, he was wealthy. He wouldn’t tell her what he did for a living, so she assumed he had a respectable position. Miss Cynthie finds David in the clamoring crowd, and he sweeps her into a hug. Once the porter returns to the baggage claim, he tells a co-worker that he just saw the famed David Tappen—and his grandmother thinks he’s a respectable professional. The two men double over in laughter. David’s powder-blue Packard careens through the streets of Harlem. Miss Cynthie marvels at the lush comfort of the car, the gilded skyscrapers, and the well-dressed Black people weaving through the streets. She notices two upscale churches, and she’s surprised to learn that they’re for Black people. Once she and David arrive at his luxury apartment, she meets his girlfriend Ruth. As she settles into a guest room, Ruth and David overhear her humming an old country song that she taught David as a child. Ruth is worried about how the older woman will react to his line of work, but he assures her that she’ll be proud of him. The next evening, David, Ruth, and Miss Cynthie go to the theater. First, they see a movie, which is a first for the small-town grandmother. Soon, David and Ruth slip out of their seats and head backstage. The show transitions to live acts. Miss Cynthie laughs along with the audience during the comedy segment, but her happiness turns to horror when a scantily-clad dance group takes the stage. At the center of the gyrating women stands David, who is serenading the crowd. Miss Cynthie is disgusted—she raised David with Christian morals, and she never expected him to engage in filth like this. Ruth, now a far cry from the respectful young woman she knew, emerges from the writhing sea of dancers. The couple mimes a retelling of their love story. David ends the performance with a rendition of Miss Cynthie’s old country song. At this, something changes in her heart. The audience’s debauched glee has morphed into childlike wonder. She realizes that David hasn’t abandoned his roots. He’s not corrupting people—he’s making them happy. He closes by thanking her on stage. As she waits for David and Ruth to come back to the seating area, love and pride smolder in her soul.