In Her Shadow
My workplace knew all about the skeletons in my closet and kept a tight lid on any info about me.
To keep my parents from tracking me down, they had spun a yarn about me skipping the country after getting my master's.
My parents finally stopped chasing ghosts. They needed cash and had debts to clear, so they hit the pavement looking for any work. However, the past scandal had left a lasting impact, and their rap sheets did not do them any favors. No one would touch them with a ten-foot pole.
Before long, on the streets of the town I once called home, an old couple scraped by, living off what they could salvage from the trash.