The story begins with a young Chippewa man named Lyman explaining that he once owned a red convertible. He was the first person to have a convertible on his reservation. He owned the car along with his brother, Henry Junior. Lyman explains that now Henry Junior owns the car, and Lyman gets around by walking. Lyman was able to afford his part of the car because he was always able to earn money easily, which he says is unusual for a Chippewa. As a child, he sells spiritual bouquets and shines shoes. As a teen, he works as a dishwasher at the Joliet Café and works his way up until he becomes the owner. The café is destroyed by a tornado not long after, and Lyman gets a lump sum of money as an insurance payout. When Henry Junior and Lyman come across the red convertible, they pool all their money to buy it.

Henry Junior and Lyman spend the entire summer traveling all over the Great Plains in the red convertible. One day they pick up a hitchhiker named Susy. They offer to drive her all the way home to Alaska. Susy’s family is very welcoming, and the brothers spend the rest of the summer camping on their property. When it begins to get cold, the brothers decide it’s time to head home. Susy has always had her hair tied up in buns, but she wants to finally show them her hair. When she lets it down it reaches all the way to her feet. Henry Junior picks her up on his shoulders and pretends her long hair is his, which makes Susy and Lyman laugh. 

When the brothers return home, Henry Junior leaves to fight in the Vietnam War. Henry Junior gives the red convertible to Lyman when he leaves, but Lyman says he is only holding onto it for him. Lyman does not get drafted. He claims it’s because he was always luckier with numbers than Henry Junior. The red convertible needs work after a summer of hard driving, and Lyman fixes it up to present to Henry Junior when he comes home. Henry Junior becomes a prisoner of war and does not return for three years. When he does, he is no longer the same person his family once knew. He spends all of his time in front of the color television Lyman purchased for the family while Henry Junior was away. Though he stays perfectly still while watching it, he is never at ease. He reminds Lyman of a frightened rabbit. One day, Henry Junior bites through his lip while staring at the screen. When Lyman lunges at the television, Henry Junior shoves him. Their mom comes into the room and quietly turns it off and tells them to come to dinner. When they sit down to eat, Henry Junior’s cut lip drips blood into his food. 

When Henry Junior isn’t around, Lyman and his mom discuss what will happen to him. They are worried a hospital will not help him and just pump him full of drugs. There aren’t any Indian doctors on the reservation where they live, and their mom does not trust the local white doctor, Moses Pillager. She rejected him romantically and she thinks he might want revenge. They decide not to discuss it for a while. Lyman comes up with an idea to get Henry Junior back to his old self. He intentionally damages the red convertible with a hammer and tells Henry Junior it happened because he drove it roughly. After a month, Henry Junior notices the damage. He berates Lyman for letting the car get into such a rough condition. Then he spends the whole winter fixing it up. Henry Junior finishes in early spring. Their eleven-year-old sister, Bonita, takes a picture of Henry Junior and Lyman in front of it. In the picture, Henry Junior is wearing his soldier’s jacket and straining to smile. Lyman put the picture on display to feel close to Henry Junior, but after a while it begins to upset him. One night he puts it away in a bag in the back of a closet, though he can still see the picture in his mind’s eye. 

After the picture is taken, the brothers head out to test drive the car. Lyman notices Henry Junior seems more relaxed. They stop near the river. It’s cold and the water is high and full of debris. They build a fire and watch the fast current. Lyman can tell something is wrong with Henry Junior, and he shouts at him to wake up. Henry Junior responds by admitting he knew all along that Lyman damaged the car on purpose. He again tries to give the car to Lyman, but he refuses to take it. 

Lyman and Henry Junior get into a brief but violent fistfight. Suddenly, Henry Junior starts laughing. Both men being to laugh, and this breaks the tension. The brothers then drink beers and Lyman suggests they head back and maybe pick up some girls. Henry Junior calls all the girls crazy, and Lyman jokes that Henry Junior is crazy. He continues to joke that they are a pair of crazy brothers. Henry Junior jumps to his feet and says all Indians are crazy. He begins to do an erratic dance that makes Lyman laugh. After a moment, Henry Junior yells that he needs to cool off, and he jumps into the river. The strong current takes Henry Junior under. Lyman dives in after him but is unable to save him. It is dark when he emerges from the water. It is unclear if Henry Junior drowned accidentally, or if he intended to die. The story ends as Lyman pushes the red convertible into the river and watches it sink.

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