- Steely Brown, a young boy living in Harlem, wanders the streets of the city one night, reflecting on what led to the disappearance of his father. Meeting the denizens of his neighborhood, he engages in conversations that begin to sketch the outlines of the enigma, invoking Vietnam, marital discord, paternal relationships, substance abuse, schooling and unemployment-in short, the life of an American family.
- A circle of young African American men in Harlem, New York, beat twelve-year-old Fred Brown with rolled-up newspapers, but he refuses to cry. Afterward, one young man takes off his Comanche Raider jacket and gives it to Fred, welcoming him to their gang. The leader gives the boy a new street name: "Steely." Afterward, Steely returns to his apartment, where he is supposed to be babysitting his little brother, Robbie, and infant sister, Carol Ann. He finds Robbie on the roof outside their window and brings him inside, then bottle-feeds Carol Ann. He tells them he is going to find their daddy, Paul Brown, and bring him home. When their mother, Mae Brown, arrives home from her job, she finds Robbie on the roof and berates Steely for being lazy and not taking care of his siblings. Mae sends Steely down the hall to Mrs. Johnson's apartment to get "the number of the day" for an illegal lottery, "the numbers," played by many Harlemites. Tabulating results from the afternoon newspaper, Mrs. Johnson tells the boy the number is 316. Mae brightens at the news because she "hit" the number, which is worth $27, and now she can buy the kids some of the things they need. She wishes that things were like they used to be, and Steely remembers the day when his father talked about serving in Vietnam and about how growing up in the ghetto prepared him for combat because it gave him an advantage over white soldiers. Mae tells Steely to get the lottery winnings from Miss Morgan, to put it in his pocket, and then to bring the money straight home. If he loses the money, Mae adds, "don't come back here." Steely walks a few blocks to get the $27 from Miss Morgan, but on his way home, several older members of his new gang stop him and take the money. As Steely mopes toward home, he hears his mother's voice telling him he is just like his "good for nothing" father. He realizes he cannot return until he replaces the money. The boy goes to a local bicycle repairman, Mr. Gutman, who buys stolen bikes, and visits the "playboy" apartment of a local gambler, but both men reject Steely's offer to work for them for free if they loan him $27. Walking the night streets, Steely sees a man he mistakenly thinks is his father. The incident brings back a memory of the two of them watching baseball legend Hank Aaron hit a home run on television. Paul tells his son that Aaron is an example of a black man not bending under pressure. Mae gets angry at Paul because she is tired of hearing him talk about being black, and demands that he concentrate on bringing home a paycheck instead of complaining about "the white man." In the present day, Steely sees an older African American woman and follows her to a storefront church. While waiting, he remembers his father sitting at the kitchen table, complaining to his friend, Les, that Fred is not getting the proper black history at school. Mae tells her son that he should listen to his white teacher instead of his father, and Les adds that it is always better to play along because "you can't beat the white man." Paul disagrees. A proud black man must act bold, he claims. After the older woman leaves the church, Steely follows her into a subway, grabs her purse, and runs. When he finds a safe place, he empties the purse but finds only a few coins. As Steely continues to walk, Les, his father's friend, pulls over in his taxi cab, asks what the boy is doing on the streets at this late hour, and offers to drive him home. Steely lies that Mae has sent him to a friend's apartment to pick up something. While driving, Steely remembers going to school with his parents to talk with his history teacher, Mr. Barry. Mae wants to apologize for some of Fred's misbehavior in class, but when Mr. Barry patronizes them by explaining how he understands the problems of black people, Paul tries to hit the teacher. Later, Mae's attempt to get Paul to call Mr. Barry and apologize leads to another burst of temper, and Paul leaves the apartment. Though Steely has not seen his father for nearly a year, Les says he saw Paul recently in a bar and he did not look good. At that moment, Steely sees a young black man parking his bicycle on the sidewalk. He tells Les to drop him off, and after Les drives away, Steely steals the bicycle. As he rides toward Mr. Gutman's shop to sell it, however, other young men on bicycles give chase and take it away from him. Standing on the street, Steely remembers the last time he saw his father, coming home drunk after being rejected at a job interview and, mocking Mae, telling his son to start listening to white folks and agree with them. Tired of Paul's "talk," Mae tells him to leave the apartment. Steely hears screeching tires and hurries to an automobile accident. A man, hit by a drunk driver, lies motionless in the street, and as several people gather, a black policeman arrives, takes the man's wallet from his pocket, and counts out $17. As Steely walks on, he sees several drunken men passed out in doorways. The boy stops to steal a wallet from one man's back pocket, but the man turns over to swat him away, and Steely recognizes his father. He slaps Paul, telling him to wake up, and Paul slowly comes to his senses and asks where they are. Steely looks up at the address and says it is 1945 129th Street. Getting to his feet with his son's help, Paul says he lives in a room upstairs. The father and son make small talk and Paul apologizes for not being a hero to his boy, but then he realizes by his bedside clock that it is almost five a.m. He gets angry, demanding to know why Steely is out all night robbing drunks. When Steely describes his predicament, Paul pulls his best suit out of a closet and says he will be right back. Later, he returns to the room with $27, but his son is gone. Paul runs out into the street and catches up with him. He puts his arm around his oldest boy, and they walk together toward Mae's apartment.
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