A haunted woman.*
She was raised traditional. Off-the-grid.
After her father, a Vietnam veteran, killed her mother and himself she walked alone to go live
with her distant (blood ties and miles) cousins.
She had Qi when she was 16. She raised Qi and Benny as brothers.
She struggles with addictions [alcohol, cutting].
She is immensely eloquent in silence and in expressing herself in wordless song.
*If necessary, this character can be omitted.
But her presence must be sensed and honored as living breathing grieving real.
Or she's just another Silenced Invisible Indigenous Woman for others to 'write' or ignore.