Brief

Anaya Goode manages family dysfunction with patience, love, and silence. Her brother was murdered, her father an alcoholic, her sister a conspiracy theorist and her mom is controlling. Anaya soon finds herself entangled in some personal drama of her own.

What We Liked

- This was a very in-depth story with full backgrounds and plots for every character;
- As a film, this would be a coming of age film with a wide draw among younger audiences;
- This would be a good TV show as it would be a good alternative to the white washed "family shows," and show a dysfunctional family and circle of friends honestly;
- Unique issues, unique characters.

Synopsis

Anaya Goode is a college senior with a dysfunctional family and group of friends. Her brother was murdered recently, and no one knows for sure what happened. Her sister, Ava, is heavily involved with a niche church that seems more and more like a cult every day. Her father, Roscoe, is an alcoholic. Her mother, Anita, has feuds with their extended family that leak into all of their relationships. Her two best friends since childhood have troubles of their own as well--her friend Catie makes extra money as a prostitute, and her friend Sophie occasionally struggles with drug addiction. Anaya, however, manages to keep her head clean and focus on her studies and goals--that is, until her handsome Professor, Jeff Andrews, suggests she leaves her job to come work for him.

At first, things are going well--Anaya misses her job at the library, but she's dating a new guy, Carl, and getting increasingly close to her boss, Jeff. She has some struggles at the law firm: her other boss, Taylor, is a harsh rule follower with an iron fist, and Anaya feels underqualified for the role and overwhelmed with the workload. However, she makes friends with the receptionist, Octavia, and begins to adjust to her job. She starts to notice that she's losing interest in Carl and getting too close to Jeff. At first Anaya is able to deny her attraction to Jeff, but she soon realizes that she feels jealous when she hears about his wife and kids. Anaya is invited on a weekend trip with Carl which she reluctantly accepts, and the entire weekend is awkward with Carl trying to figure out why Anaya won't express affection towards him. Anaya returns to work to find out that Jeff is angry and jealous about her weekend away. He confronts her and finally admits his feelings towards her, but she's reluctant to admit how she feels back to him. Anaya is afraid to tell her therapist or her friends about the affair, and it's made more difficult by the fact that Sophie has disappeared and is unreachable by even her family. At the same time, Ava has gotten into trouble for some activism she did on behalf of the church.

Sophie finally returns, strung out, and Anaya and her family check her into rehab. Anaya realizes that she can no longer handle her feelings for Jeff, especially when he reveals to her that he and his wife are about to have another baby. Anaya moves out of her house and takes a temporary job as a teaching assistant at a college an hour away. She enjoys it enough and makes a new friend, but a few months later she becomes too homesick and concerned over her mother's increasingly bad health. Anaya's mother ends up in the hospital and Anaya finds comfort in the arms of her friends and Carl, who visits the hospital and keeps her and her mother company. Carl confronts her, asking what went wrong in their relationship, and Anaya admits her situation to him and kisses him, promising to try and show her feelings more. Anaya's mother dies, and Jeff shows up to the funeral, telling Anaya that he'll always love her but allowing her to move on. Ava's church is revealed to be mild and not a cult, and Sophie seems to be keeping clean and sober.

About The Author

A Bay Area native, Tamika Christy began writing at an early age. With pen in hand, she continued writing throughout college. Tamika continued to nurture her love for writing while attending law school. Tamika describes her writing as urban prose---funny, warm, soulful, with blunt dialogue and familiar realism.