Aug 2024

As Kiara straddles the blurry line from adolescence to adulthood, she experiences abandonment from all sides—father deceased, mother in prison, brother off chasing a dream and the young boy next store left alone by an addicted parent. Left in a bare-bones apartment at the run-down Regal-Hi with sulfur wafting from the poo-polluted swimming pool and notices taped to the doors that rent has doubled, she takes to the streets and stumbles into an income that might just keep a roof over her head. As she braves the Oakland streets, a sacrifice that, at first, seemed survivable becomes as dangerous as it gets. A girl with all odds against her is now a target of police corruption, and while a stroke of luck gives her a fighting chance of inadequate justice, she may not be able to fix the damage incurred by too many promises broken. As small and scary as life becomes for Kiara, in the face of annihilation, she grasps ahold of joy and experiences love in what has to be the most unlikely happy ending.