Chemical Dependency and the Dysfunctional Family

Shaneen's mother gets drunk quite often. Shaneen has had to clean up Mrs. Rand's messes more than once, and she has also found herself apologizing and making excuses for her mom's embarrassing behavior.

Shaneen has had to take on many of the responsibilities at home. She cleans up, fixes meals for her brothers, and pays the bills—all the things that her mother is supposed to be doing. Shaneen resents having this much responsibility. But she knows that if she doesn't take care of things, no one else will.

Shaneen's life at home is full of confusion, abuse, disorder, and pain. When things get to be too much for Shaneen, she escapes with a six-pack of beer.