Segunda Rodriguez feels a mixture of anticipation and dread. Her fiancé, Fito, waits for her in New York City, but Segunda is hesitant to leave her family behind in Puerto Rico. Nevertheless, she longs for a better life in America. Upon her arrival at the New York harbor, Fito meets Segunda, and they move in with her brother in the projects. She finds a job and begins to make friends, all the while saving money for her future. Fito and Segunda marry and begin a new life together, but after Segunda gives birth to their first child, Fito cannot handle the responsibility and leaves.
Segunda forges a life for herself and her daughter, Sally. She finds companionship with a man named Angel and basks in Sally's academic success, but memories of Puerto Rico continue to linger. It is only after Sally's marriage that Segunda returns to the land of her birth and realizes that two homes are better than one.
