An unnamed man arrives at an American airport. He thinks he is frequently subjected to extra scrutiny because of his race when he returns to the United States from his business trips abroad. He is an American citizen, yet he encounters hostility from the security guards and TSA agents as he passes through customs. An aggressive TSA agent forces the man to step out of the check-in line and is escorted into a conference room. He is left there for some time.

Later, in handcuffs, the narrator is taken onto a private jet. He thinks about how he always imagined himself successful enough to fly on a private jet someday, but not under these circumstances. The other people on the plane, who seem to be security and other government agents, interrogate him about why he has been traveling to certain countries. They don’t believe him when he says his traveling is all for work. They tell him that they have been watching him for some time.

The man thinks back to when he immigrated to America as a child. He and his parents left home for a better life with more job opportunities. He remembers being both scared and excited on the plane as they took off and how a stewardess was kind to him despite having a gun holstered at her side.

Back on the jet, the agents strip the man and search him, and he is handcuffed to a metal seat. He recalls instances where he experienced police brutality and how he has always tried to stay invisible. When he is moved from the plane to a cell, the interrogation continues. Days and weeks go by, and the man is left with nothing. He reiterates that he knows nothing and has no nefarious plans but is imprisoned. He thinks fondly of his wife and the life they shared together. He begins to lose hope. After much effort, he picks a tiny piece of metal off the sink in his cell and thinks about cutting his wrists and ending his life. However, he remembers a boxing match that he attended with his father and how his father always told him to be a fighter. He decides not to kill himself.

After an unspecified amount of time, agents take him from the cell into another room. He is overwhelmed by the light and sound. They tell him that they are letting him go.