I'm here to help

Seventeen-year-old Renita discovers some subtle inconsistencies in her birth certificate that put her mother, Sharon’s long held account that she was adopted into doubt. Sharon decides that it is finally time to tell Renita about both the laudable good deeds and the lamentable oversights that had led them to the current situation. Using a series of old framed photos that have hung for years in the living room, Sharon slowly reveals the complex set of events involving a star-crossed trip to Mexico, a very young stowaway Hispanic baby sitter named Juliana, the untimely death of Sharon’s husband, the unexpected pregnancy of Juliana, the eventual birth of Renita to Juliana and finally Juliana’s struggle with clinical depression that leads to her suicide. Through some sketchy paperwork filled at the county recorder’s office, Sharon was listed as Renita’s mom.

The first in several short-novels to follow, I'm here to help involves the characters (and generally society's) misperceptions about illegal immigration, suicide, the marginalization of undocumented residents, clinical depression, teen pregnancy, home childbirth and adoption.