Short
An ‘orphan by choice’, getting by through petty crime on the streets of New York.
Long
Born to an upper class family in Manhattan, Sonia and her mother were exceedingly close. The mystery of Sonia’s early non-verbal nature stumped medical staff and the rest of her family, Kate got through to the girl and gradually opened her up. The unusual development proving to be just a phase. However as new problems cropped up as Sonia began school, she was re-examined and diagnosed with ADD.
Kate went to great lengths to make her daughter comfortable, causing resentment with her husband. But as Kate held significant power within the household, what she said was law. Sonia continued to gravitate towards her mother and with a private tutor made significant improvements in her abilities.
However Kate’s cancer diagnosis was a secret that couldn’t be held permanently, when her workplace let her go, she refused to while away her final days in a hospital. She devoted all that she could to her oldest daughter in particular. But also attempted to include her younger daughters too. However the pair were growing distant from their mother as her heath further declined.
Sonia’s attitude declined rapidly as her mother was admitted to the hospital, after Kate’s death Sonia’s adoption of stark, gothic fashion was dismissed as just another of her turns. Conflict with her father led to a major blow up and the teen storming off.
She didn’t return home that night.
Refusing to remain subjected to ridicule at home and the threat of being pushed back into the rigidity of school, the teen chose the streets as her new home. Over time hearing snippets of her old home, that her father had remarried and then divorced. She kept her distance from her sisters and also resented her step mother. Forming impressions from afar.
Subsisting on petty theft, whatever baggage or items people would leave down, she’d take for herself. Often relying on the city’s subway stations as crowds made for effective urban camouflage when a quick escape was needed.
