In fall, 2007, Jende Jonga, an immigrant from Limbe, Cameroon, gets a job as a driver for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Living in a small, illegal apartment in Harlem with his wife Neni and son Liomi, Jende has applied for asylum he doesn’t need per advice of his immigration lawyer Bubakar, who said it would be easier. Meanwhile, Neni is in New York City on a student visa, taking classes at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in hopes of one day attending pharmacology school.
As he drives Clark around and talks to his secretary Leah, glimpses of the impending recession appear, as well as cracks in his marriage. His wife Cindy is unhappy and insecure, always calling her friends for reassurance. Vince, his eldest son is at Columbia Law, but will barely speak to him. Mighty, his youngest son is caught in the middle, desperate for attention from everyone in his family.
As the recession inches closer, Vince reveals to Jende that he is planning to drop out of law school and move to India, who promises to keep it a secret until he’s ready to tell his parents. Having earned the Edwards trust, Clark and Cindy offer Neni a job as a housekeeper for their summer house in Southampton, which she gladly accepts. During the beginning of her stay at Southampton, Neni discovers that Cindy has overdosed on Vicodin, and rushes to save her. The next day, Cindy reveals that she grew up poor and had an abusive mother. She then offers her old designer clothes to Neni in exchange for her silence, which she gladly accepts. Halfway through the summer in Southampton, Vince tells his parents he is moving to India, leading to a huge fight between them. After their fight, Cindy confides in Neni and reveals her insecurities in her relationship with Clark and her children, and confesses that she is haunted by the fact that she was a product of rape. After she returns from Southampton, Neni is hired to help the Edwards’ housekeeper Anna run a party, where she asks Neni to help her tell Clark about Cindy’s alcohol and pill addictions. Neni tries, but cannot bring herself to tell Clark, fearing that Jende will lose his job.
Before Vince goes to India, he sneaks Mighty uptown to Jende and Neni’s apartment where they have a goodbye dinner for him. Neni cooks traditional Cameroonian dishes, to the amazement of Mighty, who is enchanted by the Jonga’s, and enjoys playing with their son Liomi.
Jende makes Neni, pregnant with their second child, quit her job as a home health aide, and decides that she should go on medical leave and take the upcoming two semesters off of school. Furious but resigned to do what Jende says, Neni followed his lead. Soon after their fight, the Lehman Brothers collapse is announced to the world, sending Clark into a tailspin. He begins having Jende drive him to the Chelsea Hotel to see prostitutes. One day, he leaves his tie behind, which Cindy notices. Though he denies any wrongdoing, Cindy approaches Jende and asks him to record where he takes Clark in a notebook. Having previously signed a confidentiality agreement, Jende asks Clark what to do. Clark tells him to write down his movements- except for the Chelsea Hotel. Cindy’s suspicious temporarily subside until a news article breaks where a prostitute alleges that former Lehman Brothers executives had been using bailout money to pay her. Though Clark didn’t use bailout money to pay her, he is named as a frequent client.
Neni gives birth to their second child, a girl. They name her Amatimba Monyengi, and call her Timba for short. Amatimba is for “She has returned,” after their first child, a girl who had passed away shortly after birth. Neni begins attending a church in light of Jende’s immigration crisis, seeking solace, and possible protection. Jende is furious at the thought of hiding out at a church, but Neni keeps going and gets to know the pastor, Natasha, and starts forming a friendship with her.
Shortly after Christmas, Clark fires Jende at the insistence of his wife. In want of money, Neni goes to Cindy and asks her if she could get Jende his job back, or find him work somewhere else. She refuses, so Neni asks if Cindy could find her work, which Cindy again says will not be possible. Left with no other option, Neni pulls out her phone and shows Cindy a photo from the day in the Hamptons that she overdosed. She hadn’t intended to blackmail Cindy, and explains to her that she had taken the photo in case Cindy died and the police accused her of murder, but Cindy doesn’t believe her. Furious, Cindy gives her $10,000 in cash, and Neni leaves. However, when she tells Jende what she has done he is furious. Neni confides in Natasha that she is considering temporarily divorcing Jende for a green card marriage so she can obtain citizenship for herself and Liomi. She advises against it.
In March 2009 Cindy dies of a seemingly accidental overdose. The Jonga’s attend her funeral and pay their respects. Soon after, Jende’s father dies and he is unable to attend the funeral due to his pending immigration case. Beaten down by life in the U.S. he decides to move the family back to Limbe against Neni’s wishes, telling Bubakar to petition the judge to close Jende’s deportation case in exchange for himself voluntarily leaving the country. Devastated, Neni confides again in Natasha that she is considering asking her former precalculus teacher and his partner to adopt Liomi so he can stay in the U.S. She again advises against it, telling Neni that she would miss him too much. Neni begrudgingly agrees.
Before they leave, Jende says goodbye to Clark who tells him that he had found a new job in Washington, D.C. and will be moving himself and Mighty to Virginia. Neni packs up the apartment and gives away her cooking supplies and textbooks- marking the end of her education. The Jonga’s move back to Limbe, where Jende intends to start a business with the money they have stayed. He is relieved to have returned home.
