Maya Reyes has been in the foster care system since birth. Seven homes in sixteen years. She doesn't unpack anymore. Doesn't learn the names of the family pets. Doesn't say goodbye when she leaves, because no one asks her to stay.

The Reeves family was different. Janet and Tom and their son Marcus. A cat named Cheeto. A bedroom with curtains she got to pick out herself. One week of feeling what normal might taste like before her caseworker moved her to a "permanent" placement with the Boggs family, who had a clean record and a spare bedroom.

The Boggs house has locked cabinets and rationed food and two other children who have learned not to make eye contact. Destiny, fourteen, hasn't spoken in over a year.

On the eighth night, Daryl Boggs opens Maya's basement door at two in the morning. He takes one step down the stairs.

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