Heading Home

An African-American busdriver befriends a white girl in this sensitive drama set in 1970 during the height of the Vietnam-War protests. Horace Jones, the bus driver, is frustrated that he couldn't keep his son Willie from enlisting in the military. What makes it worse, is that Willie was an excellent student in college, and only went because he felt it was his duty; now he is missing in action. While driving his coach to a war protest in Washington, Horace encounters 17-year-old Kate Polanski, who has led such a sheltered life that she has never met a black person before. She is not going to protest; she has more personal reasons for going, involving her family. During the overnight drive to the capitol, the two begin talking, and Horace becomes a father figure to her.