Nightcrawling

Kiara takes the bus to the halfway house to visit her mother; Marcus refuses to accompany her. She thinks about the day their father was released from prison and she and Marcus went with their mother to pick him up.

At the halfway house, Kiara repeatedly asks her mother for Uncle Ty’s phone number, but her mother avoids the subject, telling Kiara that she will return home soon. Kiara grows frustrated, especially when her mother asks her to write a recommendation letter on her behalf. Kiara recalls the circumstances that led to her mother’s incarceration—her toddler sister Soraya’s death by drowning in the pool at the apartment complex—and demands that her mother take responsibility for her action.

After returning from the visit with her mother, Kiara walks the streets in search of potential johns. She is approached by one, but instead of taking her to a car or hotel room, he pulls her down a street and assaults her. Police arrive and tell Kiara she will be taken into custody.