Aging out of a broken system, three foster siblings' paths from East New York - school, service, streets - are detoured when mothers reappear, forcing them to lean on African rhythms and heal their own wounds without benefits.
Jackie, Duke and Dante ("Don") journey on the common paths for escaping the realities of their early existence. Jackie-the student and dancer-needs a heart to deal with her feelings of abandonment instead of numbing them through self-harm, Duke-the runt-turned-soldier-a stronger brain to withstand PTSD from his tours in the Middle East, and Dante-the hustler with a green thumb-courage to fulfill his promise to stop dealing drugs by his twenty-first birthday. These three traverse a yellow brick road that's scarred them beyond belief after witnessing a friend die when their group home staff hesitated to call 911, but they've always had each other to turn to...until now.—Tamika R. Guishard