Home for the Holidays

Ishmael Payne is all grown up, living the life away from home. On a full basketball scholarship to Duke University, top point guard in the nation, Ishmael is sought by many, yet what catches his eyes is not some college girl. It's a chick from the projects, snatching his heart. Pepper Murphy, a local who never saw much outside the slum side of town, finds a job after graduation while most kids her age go off to school. She takes it in stride, carrying for he younger siblings and her deadbeat mother, Carrie. When Ishmael and Pepper meet, an instant connection is made. When they do, he doesn't see a minimum wage liability-he sees a safe place to park his heart. Pepper goes along for the ride but something tells her there is more to Ishmael's life than letting her in. He has a confused, bitter ex and a petty mother, neither making it easy for him to move on or embrace what he wants most-that's Pepper. Take a ride down south when Ishmael goes homes for the holidays, where things are not so merry nor are they bright. Yet all is will soon be well because he has one thing he refuses to let go no matter what.