Yumi entered her bedroom and shut the door. She could still hear her mom crying.

I can't stand the sound

Your pain is painful

And it's staring me down

As I sit up in my bed

I told dad you didn't mean

Those nasty things you said

Yumi got into her bed and tried to ignore everything. She sat up when she heard a glass break, but tried to get to sleep. The next morning she talked to her dad and told him that her mother didn't mean anything she said, that she was just angry.

You fight about money

Bout me and my brother

This I come home to

This is my shelter

Yumi got home from school that afternoon with Hiroki and heard their parents fighting about money for one of Hiroki's field trips.

It ain't easy

Growing up in world war three

Never knowing what love could be

I don't want it to destroy me

Like it did my family

Yumi decided that she would never, ever get married so that she wouldn't have to deal with all of this.

Can we work it out?

Can we be a family?

I promise I'll be better

Mommy, I'll do anything

Yumi talked to her mom after the fight and begged her to get along with Yumi's father. She just wanted to fix this. She said she'd never be bad again if they wouldn't fight any more.

Can we work it out?

Can we be a family?

I promise I'll be better

Daddy, please don't leave.

When Yumi finished speaking to her mother she saw her father heading for the door. She grabbed his arm and begged him not to go. She asked him to get along with her mom, but he said that it was impossible.

Daddy, please stop yelling

I can't stand the sound

Make mama stop crying

Cuz I need you around

Yumi woke up the next morning to hear her dad yelling and her mom crying. She ran downstairs and separated them, telling her dad to stop shouting and her mom to calm down because everything would be ok.

My mama she loves you

No matter what she says, it's true

I know that she hurt you

But remember, I love you too

Later, when she and her dad were in the car, she spoke to him about her mom and how she really felt. When he said he wanted a divorce, Yumi told him to stay at home, if not for her mom then for her.

I ran away today

Ran from the noise, ran away

Don't want to go back to that place

But don't have no choice no way

Yumi and Hiroki decide to run away later, so they packed their bags and left. But soon they got hungry and tired, and there was nowhere else to go, so they went back home and got ready for another fight.

In our family portrait

We look pretty happy

Let's play pretend

Act like it comes naturally

Yumi glanced at the picture of the family on the wall. If only they could be as happy as they were when that picture was taken. She went upstairs and went to bed. When she woke up, her dad was gone. He'd moved out while she was asleep. She called his cell phone and when he picked up, she told him:

"I don't wanna have to split the holidays

I don't want two addresses

I don't want a stepbrother anyway

And I don't want my mom to have to change her last name!"

Yumi's father didn't say anything, so Yumi hung up the phone and went up to her room. Next to her bed was another family picture.

In our family portrait

We look pretty happy

Let's play pretend

And act like it comes naturally

In our family portrait

We look pretty happy

We look pretty normal

Let's go back to that

Yumi stuffed the picture under her bed so that she wouldn't have to look at it any more. She sat down and wondered if her dad would come back. She hoped she could fix this.

Daddy don't leave

Daddy don't leave

Turn around please

Daddy don't leave

Don't leave us here alone

Later, Yumi went back downstairs and decided to send a letter to her dad to bring him back. It said:

"Mom will be nicer

I'll be so much better

I'll tell my brother

I won't spill the milk at dinner

I'll be so much better

I'll do everything right

I'll be your little girl forever

I'll go to sleep at night"

The last thing Yumi expected was for her dad to answer, but two days later he sent her a letter. All it said was, "I'll give it one more try." He came back home the next day.