“I closed my eyes when I dreamed of being poor,” laments the richest boy in the world, Kai (KK) Kaine, a precocious 14-year-old with a pristine heart, and a fierce yearning for a simple life with a father, a friend and a complete family. KK’s mom, media mogul Celeste Kaine, has a vastly different vision for him. Together they live on an opulent estate in the hills of Vera City, Texas, – along with their 50 black-backed jackals - where Celeste keeps KK closely guarded and isolated, for clandestine reasons.
KK befriends a reluctant schoolmate Beau – a broken exchange student from Paris - who seeks the solitude that KK is eager to abandon. After causing a devastating boyhood tragedy, Beau has refused to laugh for five years. He hungers for atonement, pondering if this new friend can help.
Together the boys search for the identity of KK’s father from rattle snake farms of west Texas to the Shroud of Turin in Italy. During their search KK and Beau uncover several dark Kaine family secrets.
Can the boy’s new friendship be strong enough to conquer Beaus inner demons and KK’s outer devils? The answers are terrifying and enlightening.
I walked the land of my existence, aligned, side by side, beside another set of footprints… a friend, the friend, my reflection in the sea, a unifying light, eternally granting me fulfillment of yesterday, love of today, and for tomorrow - a laugh.