Sonia, a pretty black woman, married, four children, is a family aid worker in the residential tower blocks where she lives. The day she sees her daughter married, the world tumbles in on her. Robert, her eighty-year-old neighbor in the apartment across the landing, is the only one she can turn to. Someone whiter than he is would be difficult to find. More helpful, well, that's debatable.

But in life, nothing is free. Except for chance, if you know how to take advantage of it.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.