The following version of this short story was used to create the guide: Solomon, Asali. "Delandria." McSweeney's 55. McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, 2018.

Asali Solomon's short story "Delandria," is written from the third person point of view and in the past tense. The short story takes an unconventional approach to plot and form. The following summary employs a primarily linear structure and the present tense.

Main character Magna does not like her life or her work at Lashington & Wiis University. She originally accepted the teaching position at the Southern university because she had no other options. She longed for a job at a California school, where black professors were desired and valued. When she failed to secure one of these posts, she moved to the small unnamed town in the South.

For a time, life at Lashington & Wiis was bearable because Magna had the company and security of her boyfriend, Jamal. She and Jamal met in graduate school. When she reflects upon their relationship, she is unsure why they were ever together. Jamal was attractive, smart, and well-liked. He was also an English department favorite. When people started seeing Magna and Jamal together, they began to treat her with more respect.

Not long into their time together at Lashington, Jamal began to pull away. He wanted to focus on his dissertation. Shortly thereafter, Jamal announced his plans to move back to California. He told Jamal he was not ending their relationship, but merely attempting to explore the potentiality of a relationship with another woman.

Magna still has trouble rationalizing their breakup. She spends nights drinking wine and watching television alone. When her discomfort becomes too unbearable, she goes for long drives, convincing herself she is not drunk.

One night while driving, Magna speeds towards home. When her apartment building is within sight, Magna stops paying attention to the road. Suddenly a blur of color appears in front of her car. She hits whatever was in the road. Terrified of what she might have done, Magna flees the scene.

She realizes that she has hit one of her students, Benton Anders. She has no idea if she has merely injured him, or if she has in fact killed him. She knows that because she is a black woman living in a racist Southern town, the repercussions for what she has done will be severe. She drives and drives, trying to decide what to do and where to go.

Finally she makes a U-turn, and drives back to the scene of the accident. Once back, she drags Benton out of the road and onto the curb. She then calls the police. She has only ever called the police one time, and it was to file a noise complaint. She and Jamal were trying to sleep and the neighbors' house party was disturbing them.

On the phone, the operator asks if she would like to provide her name. Though she does not give her name, she tells the operator that she will wait at the scene of the accident. While waiting for help, she props Benton's head on her leg and talks to him. She wonders if she will be arrested, feeling as if she has been waiting for this moment her entire life.