When Steven Ray Thomas was only fourteen years old a violent argument with his father forced him to leave home. After a short period of homelessness the family of his best friend opened their home and hearts to the angry young man. He dropped out of high school to work fulltime in order to pay his own way. As the years passed he grew content in spite of the reality that he was not living up to his own expectations. Then, as his eighteenth birthday approached, his adopted family relocated to Northern California leaving him without a place to live once again. Searching for temporary lodging he returned to his parents’ home only have another intense argument with his father. Pained and angry he left limping, hitchhiked out of desperation, and was given a ride by Briseidia Gabriela Santilláñes, an altruistic young woman with her own scars to bear.