- A young girl finds out the hard way that it's the smallest of things that can cause the greatest damage, and now she has a choice to make: Beat it or join it. It's 1999. Eleven year old Monica Montgomery, an innocent, highly sensitive, and unusually wise child, lives in a tight-knit urban community. In Monica's eyes, life is seen through rose colored glasses, where nearly everything is fun, vibrant, exciting - and hopeful. On one particular day, without warning and by pure happenstance, Monica's perspective is immediately broken. Her youthful innocence is shattered and forever changed. Her alternated view forces her to see the harsh realities in her life. Monica must fight. She must fight for that hope she once had, the innocence she just beheld, and the future she wants to obtain, for despite the violence, despite the destruction, and all the irreparable damage, a terrible cycle continues undeterred. Monica faces a choice. It's a choice everyone has had to make at one point in their lives. Will she continue the cycle too? Or will she be the one to end it?—Celina Igwe
- It's 1999. Eleven year old Monica Montgomery, an innocent, highly sensitive, and unusually wise child, lives in a tight-knit urban community. In Monica's eyes, life is seen through rose colored glasses, where nearly everything is fun, vibrant, exciting... and hopeful.
Everyday Monica walks to school with good friends L'Roy & L'Rhonda, twins who have recently relocated to the neighborhood with their single mother, Lolly. The twins have been reunited with their mother after several years in foster care. They too are full of optimism and hope as they look forward into their budding futures.
There is another young man and fellow schoolmate on the block named Derrick. He's the grandson of the highly respected and esteemed Deaconess in the neighborhood church, Sister Coretta. Good Shepherd Methodist Church is an important staple in the community. Its mission to obtain a majorly saved and sanctified city is taken with extreme sincerity. Though Derrick is associated with such a faith-filled woman, he himself is brimming with anger and fear. Derrick prowls for validation, respect, and a sense of proof that he can take control whenever he wants to. L'Roy deepens Derrick's anger when he refuses to give Derrick the affirmations he craves.
On one particular day, without warning and by pure happenstance, Monica's perspective is immediately broken. Her youthful innocence is shattered and forever changed. Her alternated view forces her to see the harsh realities in her life. Even her beloved neighborhood is much darker than it had once appeared.
Recently on edge, and increasingly prone to scandal and violence, Monica's neighborhood is swarming with tension. On her way to school the residents have become blatantly bizarre and completely sensational.
Upon reaching the residence of L'Roy & L'Rhonda, the tension explodes. With violence erupting in the streets, Monica and the twins seek refuge in their classroom. Yet Monica begins to see that these repeated actions of destruction, caused by scandal and savagery, are cemented into a perpetual cycle infecting the peers around her.
Derrick's anger uncaps. The classroom bursts into chaos. Monica must fight. She must fight for that hope she once had, the innocence she just beheld, and the future she wants to obtain. Despite the violence, despite the destruction, and all the irreparable damage, the cycle continues undeterred. Monica faces a choice. It's a choice everyone has had to make at one point in their lives. Will she continue the cycle too? Or will she be the one to end it?
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