Age 13 was the worst year ever; It felt like my prefrontal cortex prematurely developing faster than my body could. Navigating the growing pains of puberty meant being unable to articulate a deep depression owing to parts of a childhood taken from me. Brown, eldest daughter syndrome, as I like to call it, a.k.a mending your parents' shortcomings out of necessity.

I questioned my family estrangement and taboo experiences, without someone older to rely on. I grew, I overcame-- Then, my sister turned 13. And, like Mona, I wanted her to go through none of what I went through.