Dry September is a short story set back in the 1920s about a lonely woman named Miss Minnie, a black man named Will Mayes, and a group of men who hang out in a barber shop. A rumor is going around saying that Will Mayes assaulted Miss Minnie, and the group of men who have no business in the situation say that Miss Minnie must've been assaulted because she is white and Will Mayes in black so therefore he is lying when he defends himself. The group of men in the barber shop eventually decide that it's only fair to teach Will Mayes a lesson by kidnapping him and beating him up. It's a story about racism, and society's expectations.