His father recently returned from World War II, young Billy Wilson and his Yankee family move into a small Virginia town that is rich in both eccentrics and racists. Billy discovers most of his true teachers outside of school. One is Dora, who is black and has an oracular knowledge about sex and relationship. Another is Charlie, who raises chickens in the ballroom of the old hotel. As Billy grows toward a manhood manifested by many fathers, his parents rally the townspeople to fight the 'Govamint's' threat to usurp their land for the new D. C. airport. In a tragic confrontation between the townsfolk and the National Guard, two men die and Billy is accused of killing one of them.
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