Woman Breaks Her Back Trying to help her family but she's unappreciated and Despised

It's 5 a.m. in the morning in Portland, Oregon City. Our protagonist Lynette, is woken up by a voice message, warning her to pay back her outstanding loan balance, as the voice threatens that if they don't hear back from her any minute from now, they would evict her from her home. It is revealed that Lynette is a struggling lady in her 30s in a town that's facing some serious gentrification. She lives in a rented apartment with her mom Doreen, and an older brother Kenny who is a down syndrome. That morning Lynette wakes up her mom to remind her that they would be meeting their attorney to sign some documents so they can get a loan and buy the apartment and tells her not to miss the appointment. On her way to work, Lynette assures her brother Kenny, that she would do everything in her power to buy the house so the government doesn't take him away. To support her family and take care of her older brother, Lynette has to work different jobs in order to survive. After her shift at a bread factory, Lynette picks up her brother from a care center, then drives to meet her landlord so she house from him. Upon arriving to collect the money, Lynette is told that she can't get the loan unless her mom is here with her to sign the documents. Getting frustrated, Lynette calls her mom only for her to inform Lynette that she won't be making it to the place, and without giving any reason, Doreen hangs up. Disappointed Lynette, drives back home to confront her mother, only to find her with a new car she just bought at an auction house, revealing she got it for $250,000. Lynette is saddened by her mother's act since they could use the same money to buy back the house so they don't get thrown into the streets. Doreen replies saying it's her money so she can do whatever she wants to do with it, telling her daughter she's been working for years and this is the only nice thing she's done for herself. Lynette wonders why she has to buy the car at this very moment where they are about to be evicted. They get into a heated argument and Lynette tries to get the car keys so she can take it back and collect the money, but hearing complaining about their constant fight makes them stop. Before leaving with Kenny, Lynette begs her mom one last time to think about what she's done but she simply shows her the document of the purchase and drives away. Lynette calls one of her old clients to set up a meeting before going to a bar where she works as a waitress. While on her shift Lynette gets a call from the landlord reminding her that her time is ticking and he's running out of patience for her. He gives her tomorrow morning to come up with the money or else they'll be thrown out of the house. After the call Cody appears behind to ease some stress and they introduced each other. Another call comes in and Lynette rushes to the bathroom to clean up before heading out, much to her boss displease. Lynette makes it to a fancy restaurant where he meets with David, a very successful realtor and businessman, although he's married but he still does the naughty with Lynette because of the way she makes him feel. Lynette begs him to loan him the amount she needs for the apartment but he just tells her off, reminding her that he's only here to have a good time and not to share her problems with her. After they're done David offers her $500 as payment and even tips her with another $500. After he heads out, Lynette realizes that he's forgotten his car keys so she grabs it and waits for him to come out of the hotel before driving away with the car. Few minutes later she gets a call from David asking her to bring back his car because it belongs to his wife and doesn't want to get into trouble. Lynette ignores his plea and drives off to a secluded location before stopping where she has a breakdown. After taking a moment she goes to meet with her old friend Gloria, who lives with a politician in a fancy apartment where she satisfies him sexually. Lynette tells her friend about her predicaments and begs her to give back the $3,000 she loaned her way back as she's in dire need of it right now. Gloria refuses to give her any money revealing she's broke and only leaves off from what her boyfriend gives to her. After much persuasion Gloria offers to give her $2,000 but has to take it from her boyfriend's safe, revealing that she knew the combinations to the safe but has to keep it a secret. After giving her the cash, another dreadful thought starts to play in Lynette's head. Instead of following Gloria outside she tells her she would need a minute to calm herself and when Gloria leaves, Lynette immediately heads to the safe to try some few random passwords but it doesn't open. As she drives across the street she finds Cody walking home and tells him she needs his help. Lying to him that she wants him to help unlock her safe box and presumed he had some knowledge about picking locks because their boss once told her he did time. At first Cody is reluctant to help her because everything appears too sketchy to him at first but agrees to look into it if she gives him $400. Lynette agrees to the deal so they drove back to the apartment. Cody makes a comment saying how does a bartender live in such a beautiful apartment and thinks something is fishy about the whole story that she told him. Lynette tries to play dumb but after some few questions Cody learns the truth. Lynette apologizes for lying to him in the first place and Cody decides to help her but first Cody remarks that a drill cannot break the safe and using such tool would make the neighbors suspicious. He says he knows someone with a tool that could break it but they have to take the safe out of the building and the process would cost another $800. Lynette agrees to the deal so they both head out after using some clothes to cover the box, making it look like they're trying to do their laundry. When they get to the location, Lynette shares the same lie about the safe saying she had her money there and forgot the combination code. The man believes her and starts cutting through the metal. After the first tool doesn't hit, the safe box finally opens, upon revealing the content that was inside. The man finds some cash and almost a kilo of happy powder including some other valuables. Thinking this is all a setup the man threatens Lynette to tell him where she got the money. A fight ensues and Cody takes on one of the guys and Lynette rushes to grab the money. As they struggle for the bag Lynette starts hitting one of the guys to make him let go but he seems persistent. Lynette then grabs one of the tools and throws it at him knocking him to the ground as he starts to shake like crazy. This gives them the chance to run to Lynette's car and drive away. On the road, Lynette is starting to feel uncomfortable about the whole situation and tells Cody to stop the vehicle. She tries to pull herself together and Cody offers her a drink. There they talk about their lives and Cody reveals that what they told her about him wasn't true. He didn't rob the place he worked before rather he was framed by his girlfriend. Lynette goes back to the car to count the stolen money and learns that it's $19,000, now remaining $4,000 to complete the house payment. Lynette remembers David's car she took earlier and makes a deal with Cody. She offers to give him the car if he can provide the $4,000. Cody agrees to the deal but first he needs to see the car before he can give her the money. Lynette agrees but first she has to pick up his brother from a daycare center because it's getting late. Inside the car, Lynette introduces Cody to Kenny and they both get acquainted really fast, Kenny even started rapping which impresses Cody. After making a quick stop for Cody to grab the money, they make it to the car where the door appears to be open, and Lynette says she left it like that because she panicked. After Lynette brings out the car key and requests for the $4,000 as promised, that's when things take a dark turn. Cody mentions that all this while, she's never thought of him or how they could split the money together, talk less of giving him the $800 that was agreed upon earlier, showing her that the $4,000 he had for the stolen car was just some papers he folded since he has nothing, and wants them to split the money instead. Lynette explains that she was about to give him the stolen car for $4,000 which should be enough to settle the scores, but Cody insists that he wants his share of the money. This escalates into a heated argument and Cody now says he wants everything to himself. A fight ensues between the duo as they start fighting for the bag of cash, pushing Kenny back when he tries to help his sister. After taking the bag of cash, Lynette couldn't sit and watch her sweat slip away from her like that, so she runs Cody over with her car, knocking him out. Lynette then grabs the bag of cash and leaves the stolen car keys for Cody before leaving. They both stopped at a restaurant where Lynette tries to make her brother understand that what she did back there was an act of looking out for the family. Kenny says he misses their dad and tells Lynette that he loves her but can't stand the kind of life she's living and is the man of the house he wants to help. Lynette then tells him he can help by coming with her to collect the remaining balance so they can keep their house. Later, Lynette drives to an old store where she meets Tommy. Turns out Tommy was once her abusive lover who used to offer her to other men to make some profit. Seeing another woman with a kid indicating he's found another girl for himself, Lynette calls him out for ruining her life. Tommy replies that she was wild and he had to do what he felt was appropriate for a wild girl like her but Lynette points out that she was only 16 and didn't know what she was doing, saying she only came to him for help but instead he exploited her. Back to what she came here for, Tommy says he doesn't have enough money here to offer her for the stuff, but gives her an address of someone to meet so she can sail it to for the amount she wants. Before giving her the address Tommy warns her never to show up at his place ever again. Inside the envelope Lynette finds some pictures of her old self where Tommy used to offer her to men for few hundred bucks. Lynette and Kenny makes it to the location which appears to be an enclosed bar where hideous activities are carried out. She's taken to the guy that would buy the powder and he takes her to his office to give her the money. The man reveals he knows everything about Lynette's past and offers her the $4,000 she desperately needs. He tosses the money to the floor, watching with amusement as Lynette drops to her knees to gather the scattered bills. As she tries to leave, he blocks her path. Lynette pleads to be let out, but the man taunts her relentlessly. Frustrated, she lashes out, hitting him. He moves closer, trying to calm her, his touch almost hypnotic. In a trance-like state, Lynette begins to undress, but suddenly snaps out of it, shoving him away. The man makes one final move to control her. In a flash, Lynette grabs a glass and smashes it over his head. She bolts from the office, frantically searching for her brother. The man screams that Lynette stole his money and attacked him. The crowd turns on her, grabbing her and slamming her body against a glass table. Bruised and battered, Lynette limps away with her brother as onlookers stand aside, watching in silence. The next morning, Lynette arrives home. She pauses outside the house, stealing herself before entering to face her mother, Doreen, who's been waiting up all night. As Lynette picks shards of glass from her skin, she begs Doreen to help her reclaim their home. Doreen, unmoved, insists she doesn't want the house. Lynette realizes the painful truth, her mother doesn't want her around anymore. Determined, Lynette plans to get a new apartment and take her brother, Kenny, with her. Doreen objects, arguing Lynette can't care for him and always puts him in harm's way, like the night before. She reminds Lynette that, as Kenny's mother, she's responsible for his safety, but Lynette's dangerous lifestyle makes her unfit. Doreen recalls how Lynette ran away at 16 to live with Tommy. Lynette snaps back, saying she needed her mother then, but Doreen failed her. Doreen admits that after their father left, she had little to offer and couldn't save her daughter. Now, as an adult, Lynette can either keep blaming her or start fixing her life before she drags everyone down like a sinkhole. Lynette takes a moment to reflect on her future. The next morning, she visits Kenny's room, reassuring him of her love and promising to always look out for him. She leaves a note for Doreen, admitting she fought for their family the only way she knew how and has learned from their talks. Now, Lynette's fighting for herself. She urges Doreen to care for Kenny.