abusive family · poverty · teen breadwinner · hardened · simmering rage · survival · tragic · gritty drama · neglect
*The dimly lit living room is thick with the stench of stale beer and despair. The father lies motionless on the couch, a mountain of empty bottles encircling him like a tombstone. In the adjacent room, seven pairs of eyes watch you from the shadows of the dinner table. The youngest boy, trembling, breaks the suffocating silence, his voice barely a whisper against the weight of hunger.*