Anne Mae was returning home from church one morning, walking down a long dirt road alone and saw her mother arguing with her grandmother about leaving to the city. She watched from afar as her mother throw bags into the back of a truck, Alline get in the passenger door, and take off in the opposite direction on the dirt road into the distance. All Anne Mae could do was walk home with her head down and tears rolling down her cheeks. She arrived at the house and sat on the side of the bed when her grandmother came around the corner. Her grandmother could see how sad she was and how she didn't understand why her mother would leave her behind. Her parents were in their own toxic relationship. Her father would mostly verbally and emotionally abuse her mother in front of the children. Finally, her mother thought it best for her to depart and save herself from more pain, but didn't feel she had the ability to take Anne Mae with her. Her grandmother took away from the home and raised her into a beautiful young woman. With a child experiencing and watching a toxic relationship at such a young age, she learns that this is a norm in comparison to what a true, happy marriage is. .
Anne Mae, around age eighteen, was reunited with her mother and sister in the city, after watching her father have unstable relationships with multiple women. Her mother and sister sit at the bus stop contemplating who Anne Mae has grown into as a woman. As Anne Mae approaches, her sister erupts with excitement while her mother stands there showing little emotion. Her mother is very strict on her living at home with them, explaining that she needs to get a job to help out with money and not go out in party because she is new to the city. On her first night in the city, her sister takes her to the club where she works and Anne Mae is introduced to the glamorous artist Ike Turner. She is very shy and just takes in the music and crowd.
