In the affluent suburbs of Marietta, Georgia, circa 2006, twenty-something pool cleaner Chip Reed smokes weed on a McMansion deck at midnight. His solitude shatters when Sarah Feldman vaults over the backyard fence clutching a duffle bag. Recognizing each other as former high school classmates, the two strike up an awkward reunion that gradually unspools the high-stakes reasons for their midnight encounter.
Sarah initially pegs Chip as a drug dealer there to see her younger brother. Chip deflects, insisting he is simply there to clean the pool, but his evasiveness regarding a bleeding head wound and an incessantly ringing phone suggests otherwise. Their banter meanders through high school nostalgia, from baseball glory days to the infamous "Latin class" incident, until Chip reveals a deeper secret. For over a year, he has been smuggling weed-laced candy to Sarah's ailing mother to ease her chronic pain.
This revelation reframes their night. Chip isn't just a dealer, he is a desperate man trying to collect the money he needs to satisfy a dangerous supplier. As his phone buzzes and his panic climbs, the threat against him becomes palpable. Simultaneously, Sarah must confront the grim reality of her mother's deteriorating health, a truth she has spent years avoiding.
Frenetic and cornered, Chip pleads with Sarah to fetch her mother so he can get paid and disappear. Sarah wavers, paralyzed by fear and old resentments. Ultimately, Chip's grief-stricken desperation breaks through her defenses, and forces her to take action. The piece reaches its climax as Sarah finally steps through the patio door and into the house to face her grief.
