Cinderella City

A Christmas shoplifting story about two brother's struggle with fractured family, love, and rebellion.

In 2001, my brother died instantly when the bullet from a Kansas City bar bouncer’s gun ripped through his head.

I was alone and sound asleep in my West Hollywood apartment when the phone rang.

“Mike. Rick is dead,” my father’s voice said to me in the darkness. His tone was a strange mix of grief, fury, and duty.

Rick didn’t make it to his 40th birthday…