The story takes place in the south of the USA in the state of Georgia. The head of the Bailey family wants to take his children - his eight-year-old son John, daughter June, his wife with an infant and his mother to Florida. But Bailey's mother, the grandmother of the children, is trying to dissuade the family from going there. Firstly, they were there last summer, and secondly, and most importantly, the newspapers write that a criminal named Outcast, who is heading to Florida, escaped from a federal prison. All the exhortations of the grandmother are useless, the whole family sits in the car and drives out of Atlanta, the Day is beautiful, the grandmother talks about her youth, shows the sights of the region, everyone has high spirits of travelers who have begun the long-awaited trip. On the way, they stop for a snack in a roadside cafe. The mood becomes even better when, having thrown a coin into the jukebox, they listen to the Tennessee Waltz, and then June beats the tap to the rhythm of other music. The owner of the cafe, nicknamed Red Sam, enters into a conversation that begins and, complaining about his life, says that no matter how hard you try, you’ll still be stupid. For example, last week he sent gas to some crooks on loan, and they drove away in his car, and he didn’t see them again. To the rhetorical question of why it always happens to him, grandmother replies that, apparently, the reason is that he is a good person. Red Sam agrees with his grandmother and clarifies that now it’s not easy to find a good person, you can’t trust anyone, not like before, when you left home, you couldn’t close the door.
After visiting the cafe, the Bailey family continues their journey. Grandma sleeps sweetly in the back seat, but when they drive through the city of Tumsboro, she wakes up and suddenly remembers that somewhere here next door there is an old plantation, a beautiful house, an oak alley with gazebos. Although she was there a long time ago, in her early years, grandmother claims that she remembers the road well and insists that she must visit this local attraction. The son and daughter-in-law do not want to turn aside so as not to waste time on the road, but the grandmother manages to interest the children, and they get their father to agree to turn back and drive to the plantation along a country road. Bailey grumbles, as the road is very dusty and uneven, it is clear that no one has driven along it for a long time. Suddenly, my grandmother realizes that she was mistaken: the plantation is not in Georgia, but in Tennessee. Suddenly the car turns over and falls downhill. No one died, but Bailey's wife broke her shoulder and injured her face. Bailey looks at her mother silently and fiercely. Nobody is near, cars most likely do not drive along this road. But here in the distance, near the forest, on the hill some kind of car appears. Grandma waves her hands and calls for help. Three men are sitting in a car that approached the victims. The face of one of them seems familiar to her grandmother. Having looked better, she realizes that this is the same Outcast she read about in the newspaper. Seeing a gun from one of the men, the grandmother begs the Outcast to do nothing wrong with them. She says that in his heart he is probably a good person. The rogue orders a man with a revolver to take Bailey and John to the forest. They are going away. Grandmother, greatly alarmed, assures the Outcast that he can still become an honest man, can settle down if he only prays to God. Two shots that rang out in the forest, further intensify the situation. The outcast begins to tell his grandmother about his restless life. Meanwhile, the Outcast companions, Bobby Lee and Hyrum, are leaving the forest with Bailey's shirt in their hands. The rogue asks Bailey’s wife and children to join hands and follow the returning men back to the forest, where they can see their relatives who have gone there. Left alone, grandmother again tries to convince the Outcast that he prayed to God. When a desperate cry is heard from the forest, and after him shots, the grandmother, distraught, asks the Outcast not to kill her. She again cries out to Jesus Christ, which infuriates the bandit even more. Grandma touches the Outcast with her hand, saying: “You are my son. You are one of my children. ” The outcast bounces like a stinged snake, and shoots the old woman three times in the chest. And then he orders his partners to carry her body to the forest.
