On one Indian summer Friday night, things happen that change the course of hundreds of lives.

In Winston-Salem, a tobacco and mill town in central North Carolina, people like to relax as the weekend comes nigh, and depending on whether they sit above or below the salt, they'll do so in different ways.

Both the well-to-do and the less-thans are wizened practitioners of the art of steam blowing, all in the name of fun and respite. And in doing so, violence and deceit and sadness mingle with money and alcohol to create a dangerous, crackling third rail of despair. And the story is never exactly as it seems to be.

This is a work of fiction built upon two true events that happened within hours of each other. All the players are entwined, a basket of snakes and innocents that are penned into embracing one another. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

As E. B. White famously and drily noted, "It's never just one thing..."