August 1999. UCLA.

The dorm room smelled like cabbages, but I didn't care. It was mine. All my own. No Donny here to ask for a few bucks to buy his next fix. No Gil to play mom to when he needed help. I was finally on my own.

UCLA. It's so much better than home, and I was finally on my way to becoming a veterinarian. Just like Mom. I lit a candle, the raspberry smell trying to take over the eggroll smell. I lay down on my bed, arms and legs spread out like a starfish.

This was my new home.

"Um, excuse me. You can't have open flame in the dorms." I looked over to my door. A woman, maybe two years older than me stood there, her arms on her hips.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

"Yeah, well, you're not home anymore, sweetie. There are rules here."

Wow, what a bitch. If only she really knew anything about rules.

January 2002. Los Angeles, California

Minus my spat with that bitch in the dorm that first day, I loved college. I loved my friends and my classes. I'd even met a guy. His name was Bradley.

But that was all over now, since my father had cut off my funding. I was only twelve credits short of my B.A. The school wouldn't approve me for a loan. My mother had left me too much money in her trust. Too bad that all came from my father, who refused to give it to me. Unfortunately he could actually do that. I had gotten my things out of my dorm. I'd lived there for three years.

But there were more important things than wallowing in my own self-pity. There was someone who needed me more.

I stood outside Santa Rosa Mental Institution in Los Angeles. It was a decent facility. But not the kind Donny needed. My father wouldn't pay for rehab, so he stuck Donny in this place. I walked inside.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked me as I walked in.

"Yeah, I'm here to visit my brother."

"Of course. What's his name?"

"Donald Samuels."

"And your name please, miss."

"Tia Samuels."

She typed it into the computer. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear," she said. "It seems that you're not the approved list of visitors."

"What?" I was confused. He couldn't keep me from seeing my brother!

Could he?

Everything was going to hell. My college life, my brother's life. Gil was still stuck in that house. I walked over to a chair in the waiting area and sunk into it, wishing I could disappear.

"Is everything alright, dear?" The receptionist asked me.

"No, no not really," I answered, trying to keep my oncoming tears at bay. Crying was so gross.

"Is Donny special to you?"

"Yes. He's my brother. And he shouldn't even be here!"

"Donny is a great man," the receptionist said. "He brings me my lunch every day. It's one of his therapeutic activities. He cooks and delivers the food to other patients and staff."

Donny loved cooking. He was good at it too. "So he's okay here? Like, he's doing well. It's helping him?"

She smiled at me. "Would you like to see for yourself?"

My eyes widened. "You would do that?"

"I'm not supposed to. But I think Donny would like to see you just as much as you'd like to see him."

I let out a sigh of relief. I was going to see my big brother.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."