ACT I
Charles Blow, age 20, drives down a Louisiana backroad with a gun in the passenger seat. Destiny sings to him, calling him back to his childhood home. He begins reliving memories from his childhood.

Charles’ seven-year-old self, Char’es-Baby, talks to his mother, Billie. He is desperate for affection, but Billie is too frazzled to give him the validation that he craves. They are dirt poor. Billie works in a chicken factory, but she dreams of Char’es-Baby getting a good education and escaping their town. Her husband, Spinner, is a womanizing spendthrift. When she hears that he’s flirting with other women, she confronts him at gunpoint. She doesn’t shoot, but Billie tosses Spinner out. Billie and her five sons move in with Uncle Paul. Char’es-Baby dreams of a different life, collecting “treasure” from the junkyard while Loneliness sings to him. One day, his cousin Chester comes to visit. When Chester sexually abuses him, he is too horrified and ashamed to say anything.

Adult Charles begins to weep as he recoils from these memories, while Destiny reminds him that there is no escape.

第一幕
二十歲的查理斯．布洛駕車行駛在路易斯安那州的一條小路上，副駕座上放了把槍。命運呼喚著他，著他回到兒時舊居，從童年開始追憶往昔。

七歲的查理斯正在跟他的母親比莉說話。小查理極度渴望母愛，但比莉疲憊不堪，無法滿足小查理。兩母子家徒四壁，比莉在雞肉工場工作，她希望小查理能得到良好教育繼而離開所住的小鎮。比莉的丈夫史賓納風流成性、揮霍無度，當比莉聽聞史賓納與其他女人調情，她拿槍與他對峙，但最終沒有開火，只是將他趕出家門。比莉與她的五個兒子遷居至舅父保羅的家。小查理夢見另一種生活，在他從垃圾場收集「寶物」時，他聽到孤獨向他歌唱。某天，小查理的表兄切斯特到訪。切斯特性侵了他，但是小查理由於驚嚇過度和感到羞愧，對性侵隻字不提。

成年的查埋斯回想著這些舊事，感觸流淚，同時命運提醒他並無退路。


INTERMISSION
中場休息


ACT II
As Charles grows into a teenager, he is full of confusion and rage. He attends a church service where the pastor is baptizing people, promising that God can wipe all sins clean. Charles decides to get baptized, but phantom terrors still haunt him. Charles tries to talk to his brothers, but they refuse to engage in any “soft talk.” Loneliness reappears, promising to be his lifelong companion. Evelyn, a beautiful young girl, interrupts Charles’s reverie. Their chemistry is clear. Charles feels a new sense of independence and is finally ready to strike out on his own; Grambling State University has offered him a full scholarship. Billie is left alone to reflect on all that she has sacrificed for her family and wonders what might lie ahead. 

第二幕
成長至少年的查理斯總是感到困惑和憤怒。他出席教堂禮拜時，見到牧師正在為人洗禮，承諾上帝可以消除所有罪孽。查理斯決定受洗，然而恐懼的陰霾仍然纏繞著他。查理斯嘗試與他的兄弟交流，但他們無論如何都拒絕與他「談心」。孤獨再次出現，承諾與他一生相伴。美麗的少女伊芙蓮中斷了查理斯的幻想。兩人萌生情愫，查理斯感覺到自己不再受任何束縛所限，得到格蘭布林州立大學頒發全額奬學金的他，終於決心要走出自己的路。被留下來的比莉獨自一人回想她為家人犧牲的一切，並憧憬未來。


ACT III
Charles is one of several fraternity pledges being hazed at his college. Charles stoically takes each indignity in stride: Pain is nothing new for him. Later, he goes to a nightclub and meets an attractive young woman, Greta. They begin a passionate love affair. Charles eventually shares his awful secret with Greta, only to find out that she’s still seeing someone else. Charles is left alone again. He calls home, desperate to hear his mother’s voice. To his shock, Billie tells him that Chester has come back to visit. Charles instantly decides to return home to confront Chester, gun in hand.

Charles sits in his car on the dark road, contemplating the choice lying before him. Destiny starts to sing to him once again, seductively promising to stand by him through to the bloody end. As Charles reaches his childhood home, Char’es-Baby appears, urging him to leave his bitterness behind. Charles must decide whether to exact his revenge or begin his life anew.

第三幕
查理斯是大學迎新活動中遭受欺凌的新生之一，他每次受辱後都處之泰然：因為他已習慣了痛苦。不久，他在一間夜總會認識了富有魅力的年青女生格蕾塔，兩人開展熱戀。查理斯逐漸敞開心扉，與她分享了自己不堪回首的秘密，但最後得知她心中仍然記掛別人。查理斯再次孤單一人。他打電話回家，很想聽到母親的聲音。令他驚訝的是，比莉告訴他切斯特回來探望她。查理斯旋即決定帶上槍回家與切斯特算帳。

在幽暗的路旁，查理斯坐在車內，思考他眼前的選擇。命運再次開始向他歌唱，用甜言蜜語承諾會與他一同闖出血路。當查理斯抵達兒時舊居，小查理斯現身，勸查理斯放下痛苦的回憶。查理斯面臨抉擇：為自己復仇還是開始新生活。