This novel's two authors set the story in Zora Hurston's hometown of Eatonville, Florida. One afternoon, Jim and Dave are fighting over a girl named Daisy. When trash talk turns to fist-fighting, Jim picks up a mule bone and uses it to render Dave unconscious. For this, he is arrested and detained in a barn until his trial.
The trial takes place at Macedonia Baptist Church. The town is deeply religious, but there are two kinds of religion among the townspeople. There are the Baptists, who are typically more black-and-white about justice, and there are the Methodists, who view situations more organically. Not surprisingly, the Baptists support their member and the victim of the violence, Dave. Jim is Methodist, so he has the other church's support. The main questions of the trial are whether it is fair to fight with weaponry, and whether a mule bone counts as a "weapon" at all, since it isn't manufactured by man.
Jim is convicted and ejected from town, banished for two years. Later, Daisy encounters Jim as he serves his banishment. She wants to be there for him, but he is hesitant about her. Before they can tell each other how they feel, Dave shows up and starts mincing words with Jim, again.
Then in a clever twist, Daisy explains that whoever loves her more will have to work for a white man. Suddenly, Jim and Dave realize they are friends again. The competition is over: Now neither man wants to be with Daisy.
