AS AMI PLACED BOTH HANDS ON THE DOORKNOB OF HER BATTERED HOME, she lifted it slightly as she turned. The door had been slammed so many times in drunken rage that it was barely clung to its hinges.
Stepping inside, her parents' heated argument greeted her like background noise. Unfazed, she made her way to her room—it was just another routine morning. She walked quickly, head down, careful not to get dragged into their fight like she had far too many times before.
"How about you get a new job and stop being Mr. High and mighty?!" was the last thing Ami heard before she leapt onto her bed and slipped on a pair of headphones.
When night comes, he'll take me away from here, she thought, letting the music carry her somewhere—anywhere—else.
The Akitas' lives hadn't always been like this.
It started with a tragic mishap—a catastrophic incident that left five dead and dozens injured. What followed was a nightmare. Wrongfully accused and unceremoniously fired from their jobs, her parents lost more than just their income—they lost their dignity, their identity.
Despair seized the opportunity, sinking its fangs deep. Her parents turned to destructive vices in a futile attempt to numb their pain. As grief consumed them, the steady foundation they once provided crumbled, leaving their daughter to navigate the wreckage of a life they could no longer hold together.