Ian Carlson

When a heated moment spirals into violence shortly after high school graduation, Tommy winds up in prison for manslaughter. Once he's released three years later, he tries to reconnect with old friends but finds that life has moved on without him. Now, Tommy must come to terms with the consequences of his actions and the loss of his former love as he attempts to pick up the pieces in this poignant drama.

Steve Moore is sixteen and lives with his younger sister, mother Cheryl and her boyfriend John, in a modest house in Bakersfield, California. An abusive and often intoxicated man, John rules the household, and though his attacks on Steve result in emergency hospital visits, Cheryl's loyalty is to her boyfriend. To protect her relationship with John, she "ditches" her son, having him arrested and locked in a correctional "mental" facility, before coercing her older brother Burt, who lives in Hollywood, to take him. Steve quickly discovers that Burt cannot even provide temporary lodging, but an administrator at his new high school directs him to a shelter for runaway kids where he soon learns to navigate his way.