The narrator, Malcolm Bannister, opens with the line “I am a lawyer, and I am in prison” (3). He mentions in passing that he is also Black. He has served five years of a 10-year sentence for racketeering. His wife has divorced him, and his son will be 16 years old before Malcolm is released. Malcolm is serving his time at Frostburg Federal Penitentiary for a crime he never knew he was committing. The FBI and prosecutors knew he was innocent of intent but prosecuted him anyway.

Frostburg is a low-security prison with no violence, so the situation is relatively tolerable. There are no walls around the prison, and Malcolm has to fight the impulse to simply walk away, but if he were to do so, he would likely be recaptured and sent to a much less tolerable place.

Malcolm recounts his background. He grew up in Winchester, West Virginia, and practiced law with a small local firm called Copeland, Reed & Bannister, which barely made enough money to stay afloat. His former partners now refuse to have any contact with him. His father is a retired state trooper who believes that Malcolm is guilty but visits him dutifully once a month.