Angel is a young Black woman who spends her free time in a flower garden, fantasizing about love. Living on a coastal town, she encounters many fishermen. One of the men, a one-legged person named Peter, takes a special interest in Angel and asks to speak with her. While initially, it appears he is flirting with her, he quickly turns sour, saying that one day, he will marry a woman with nice, blonde hair and blue eyes, and that she will be crawling on her knees for him. To add insult to injury, Peter calls Angel ugly for her Black features and laughs as she walks away.  Angel takes an interest in another fisherman, Man’el, and the two begin a romantic fling. She confesses what Peter said and how upset it made her, then asks Man’el for a favor: she asks that he kill Peter, today—right now. Man’el questions why she would wish for such a thing, especially when she has him now, but he doesn’t decline her request, choosing to put it off instead.  After a storm, rumors spread that Peter was aboard a sunken ship. Angel is over at Peter’s family’s house when he walks through the front door. Everyone is in a state of shock because death loomed in the air a minute ago; even Peter is acting strange, telling Angel that she is very pretty. The two get to talking, revisiting Peter’s insults and he reveals that they came from a place of insecurity; that, in fact, Peter wants to marry Angel and he believed telling her those foul things would instill her with the same desire. Angel tells him if he wants to marry her, he better get on his knees, and he does. They are married as soon as possible, though their relationship doesn’t get better: even Philomena, Peter’s sister, admits that their marriage is one formed out of hate, not love. Angel wants to make things work. She talks to Philomena while Peter’s away and learns that Peter has been enamored with her for a long time, always pining after Angel. At this, Angel feels relieved to know that Peter really loves her because she loves him as well, only the two were so caught up in playing at this hate-game that they wouldn’t admit it. The night drones on, and still Peter has not returned yet. Until finally, there is a knock at the door, which Angel opens to Man’el. He tells her that he has done her a favor, sending Angel spiraling into grief.