The 1960s did not go well for Michael Fisher's mother. Abandoned by the abusive biological father of her sons, she moves her family in with her parents in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where life is happy enough but means are meager.

Everything changes in 1971 when she meets a young Army officer who becomes a true father to her boys. Within a year, they are married, and Michael finds himself moving to the other side of the globe, Bangkok, Thailand, and into a life of relative affluence. There, Michael will make mistakes and grow up way too fast in an environment with no rules, but he will also find his place in the world.