Red at the Bone follows Melody's steps down the stairs on her coming of age ceremony as she turns sixteen years old. Her parents and grandparents are watching her with awe and tears in their eyes. We then get a look into everything that the family has gone through to get to this moment, from the beginning of Melody's grandparents story: Sabe and Po'boy.
Sabe's attitude towards money and racism was shaped by an even where her mother was attacked in her hair salon. However hard the times Sabe and Po'boy have been through, their love story is beautiful and held strong to the day they watch their granddaughter on her ceremony. Iris, Melody's mother, was also supposed to walk down the stairs the same way Melody is, in the same dress.
Instead, sixteen years ago, Iris got pregnant with Melody. Aubrey, her boyfriend tried his absolute best to keep them safe and work, while Iris still wanted to live her life as a young girl. He died in 9/11, another tragedy striking the family. However, Melody grew up to be the person she is today and can be proud of herself and everything her family has been through.
