Patrick Burton

Father Figure Patrick Burton

Ronnie Whelms has taken a great pride in the fact that his education in Child Psychology has allotted him the luxury of giving back to his community. His current case, sixteen-year- old David Jones has the not-so-rare-situation of being raised by his mother and step-father. While David can appreciate the fullness of family with them, he can't help but desire the closure he needs from a relationship with his biological father. Knowing that David's biological father has no more interest in him other than the final child support check, Ronnie has every intention of championing the mending of their relationship by getting them back to what a biological father and son is truly supposed to be. There's only one problem... Ronnie has his own new found abandonment. While on her death bed, his mother lets him know that the man he has called father all of his life is not his real father. With his world now up-side down, he finds himself outside of his textbook resolve to dysfunctional families. It will take the navigation of David's case in conjunction with deep, dark family secret held by a long distance relative in order for Ronnie to truly come to grips with his abandonment issues.