Five Years Later

At thirteen, Cadoe's life changes overnight.

Already on probation after stealing a car, he's accused of something far more serious when his drug dealer father is murdered. Instead of reporting his father's body when he finds it, he steals his father's cash and drugs and goes to hide out at one of his friends' houses. When he's found and drugs are discovered in his possession, he's given a drug test and fails.

The boy who was already considered trouble finds himself buried beneath a reputation he can't escape. The murder accusation eventually disappears once he retains an alibi, but the consequences don't. Cadoe is sent to a Youth Development Center, where he spends the rest of his teenage years learning how to survive a life he never imagined for himself.

Five years later, Cadoe walks out at eighteen with no idea what he's supposed to do with the freedom he's spent dreaming about.

With nowhere else to turn, Cadoe's grandmother takes him in. She doesn't excuse the mistakes that landed him there, but she refuses to give up on him. She gives him a place to sleep, helps him adjust to life outside the system, and patiently teaches him how to stand on his own feet.

For the first time, Cadoe has someone in his corner who believes his past doesn't have to determine his future. With her support, Cadoe begins rebuilding his life from the ground up.

He quickly learns freedom isn't as simple as walking through a set of gates.

Cadoe has to learn how to live in a world that kept moving while he was gone. He has to confront the mistakes he made as a child, the reputation that followed him, the mistreatment from his parents as a child, and the fear that he may never become anything more than the person everyone expected him to be.

For the first time, Cadoe gets to decide who he wants to become. And with his new support system, he's determined to prove that a troubled beginning doesn't have to mean a troubled ending.