Stubborn, disruptive, unpredictable, unfocused, angry, nine-year-old Tom is, to say the least, not a good fit in the regulated environment of a public classroom in El Paso, Texas. And his demands weigh heavily on his mother Elena, a single parent juggling jobs and social service assistance, while trying to maintain some sort of life of her own. Elena is initially cooperative when the boy is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and given a set of medications to counteract his “inappropriate” behavior. When Tom becomes a depressed shell of his former self, with a frightening potential for self-injury, Elena makes the fateful decision to throw away his drugs despite the consequences from the school, and then from children’s protective services who threaten to remove Tom from her care.
