After losing her hair salon in a suspicious fire, Celeste Styles is determined to leave behind her continual quest for a strong male presence in her life and leave her married lover, drug kingpin Rah-lo, for a new life in Atlanta, Georgia, but her refuge is undermined by the arrival of Rah-lo, who has left his wife, as well as his best friend Ishmael and his vengeful wife, Asia. Original. 35,000 first printing.