King Hedley lives with his mother, Ruby, and his wife, Tonya, in Pittsburgh. The year is 1985. The economy is poor, and jobs are especially hard to come by for African Americans. Attempting to build something for himself as proof of his value, King plants some seeds in the yard. He watches them grow throughout the rest of the play. He's working with his friend, Mister, to sell some stolen refrigerators. When Tonya tells him she's pregnant, she begs him to give up illegal work. Unable to find a job, King refuses and tells her to abort the baby. She tries, but she can't go through with it.
Meanwhile, Tonya's ex, Elmore, returns to town. He's an old gambling partner of King's. Although she begs him not to, King does play with Elmore. Meanwhile Elmore is begging Tonya to get back with him, even buying her some jewelry. She is delighted but asserts her pregnancy and devotion to King. When a likely schizophrenic drifter wanders into the mix, he gives King a machete and tells him about a jewelry store job. King and Mister rob the store, but they don't make much money.
After Ruby announces that she and Elmore are engaged, everyone is overjoyed until the subject of an old acquaintance named Leroy comes up. Apparently he owed Elmore money once. The debt ended with Elmore murdering Leroy. After the whole story surfaces, Elmore ends by telling King that Leroy was his real father. King is visibly disturbed. He returns and plays a game with Elmore who realizes part way through that King is cheating, just like Leroy did that one time. They fight, and Ruby rushes out of the house with a gun. She mistakenly kills King, leaving Tonya to desperately fetch the police.
