Gabriel
After ten years, Sheldon returns from New York City to Paris, Georgia. His mother Evelyn, a laundress who is stubborn, ornery, opinionated, mean-spirited, insulting, and inflexible, has sent a ten-year-old boy who says he's Sheldon's son up to see Sheldon. Sheldon comes home to straighten things out. Old arguments flare up - between mother and son and between brothers. Sheldon wants no part of fatherhood or family. Then, someone else from New York shows up at Evelyn's door, bringing a new set of challenges. Will this family ever stop airing its dirty laundry? And what of Sheldon: where is his pride? Can he, in the words of James Baldwin, go where his blood beats and live the life he has?
Second Grade Boy
Ten-year-old Gabe was just a normal kid growing up in Manhattan until Rosemary Telesco walked into his life, actually into his karate class. But before Gabe can tell Rosemary how he feels, she tells him she will not be going to public school any more. Gabe has a lot more to learn about life, love, and girls.