What Happened a Fiction The story is a drama, mystery, and a suspense novel. The storyline is about a family which owns a "Used Furniture and Appliances" business. The husband (Pa) neglects his wife emotions and pursues his business. The husband accuses the son (Johnny) for having a sexual affair with his mother (Bessie). The mother dies of being an alcoholic. The son moves away to live with his best friend, Razz. The daughter (Lisa Ann) gets pregnant by the son's best friend. Other friends of the family (Benfields) become foster parents to the daughter and baby. The friend's husband dies of injuries received in World War II. A civil rights struggle ensues and the best friend gets killed. The daughter's best friend (Betty Jo) whom she knew from school knows too much. The town of Middleton, Mississippi, segregates and despises colored people. Old man Coolidge is the ringleader of hatred between the coloreds and whites. The law enforcement helps to defray integration. Henry Bolton (Pa) stands on the sidelines. He meets and marries his daughter's best friend's mother, Wendy, his soul mate. The son disappears and never being heard from again.