James "Brick" Carter is the father of two boys: James Carter Jr. and Justin Carter. A New Yorker born in Harlem, he lives in Queens with his wife, Florence. Brick is a subway engineer for New York's transit system. In his youth, his parents nicknamed him Brick based on his stubborn ways. A Black man, Brick believes in family values and job advancement in the workplace from one generation to the next. He preaches that. Therefore, that value is to be applied to his sons James Jr. and Justin. They must inherit his way of thinking for them to become "a Carter man." But slowly, as his sons develop, Brick finds certain traits in one of them that he feels will, in the long run, lead to his doom. That day comes, and not even Brick can stop the event that will destroy the Carter family.