John, a Native American ex-convict, gets hired as a dishwasher and janitor for a doughnut factory and shop. His boss, Wes, often cheats him out of pay and doesn't pay overtime. John also hates waking up at 2 AM every morning. Wes thinks John could be promoted to a delivery driver, and tells him to accompany Eddie, the lead driver, on a delivery route. John and Eddie dislike each other; Eddie repeatedly asks what John went to prison for, and John doesn't tell him. John is clearly a quick study; he performs fast calculations and takes notes during the route. Sensing Eddie's growing insecurity about John's ability, John attempts to make peace with Eddie by telling him he went to jail for robbing a Foot Locker. Back at the shop, Eddie lies to Wes, and says John has a "memory problem" and can't handle the route. John wants to punch Eddie but thinks that would land him back in jail, because "every ex-con is forever on unofficial parole." Instead, he goes along with Eddie's lie and says he can't do the route but still wants his other job. John recalls that while he was in prison, his mother died of cancer and his father told him over the phone that he wasn't welcome back home, because thieves weren't welcome in his house. John realizes the donut shop would be able to do his job much more quickly and effectively with a vacuum. He realizes this will make his job obsolete. Still, he leaves a printed out picture of the cleaner taped to the doughnut machine with a note. The next day, instead of going to work, he goes to his career counselor at the Indian Center and says he needs to find a new job.