Bernice, a young black model living in Boston, has fabricated a splendid new background for herself. Having been beaten by a former boyfriend, she sends an urgent message for help to the lover she has not seen in years, Servy, a white kid who grew up with her amid the projects around New York's Alphabet City. Servy, fresh out of prison, breaks parole by visiting Bernice. He brings his black friend Scotty with him, and Scotty has a sex fling with Bernice's white roommate Caria. Servy and Bernice's search to rediscover the first innocnence of love is complicated by Servy's criminality and Bernice's need to reinvent herself. When they travel back to New York they are each forced to face their demons