The Unraveling....

The teenage mom, a tired toddler on her hip, ransacks through the edgy clothing on the store rack while laughing and chatting with her friend. The raucous hip hop music plays in the background. Moving frenetically from rack to rack she pays little attention to the child with a sleepy face and red eyes. The child begins to whine. "Be quiet!" she says abruptly. The child starts to cry. "Stop it!" the child-mother retorts even more sharply. The child's face is worn, her hair disheveled, her eyes droopy. She cries louder.