Malfred Signal leaves her life of stifling gentility as an art teacher in a South Island private girls' school and decides to live out her dream – painting alone in the remote North. One terrifying night, beset by a prowler, but confronting only her own image at every step, she relives her past.

A young black man is a growing basketball star in his school. The Mob decides to initiate him and manage him. He likes the presents, money and girls, but his coach does not. When things go too far, only his coach can do what must be done.