The rent is two months overdue. A knock on the door of apartment 3B is about to change everything.

The air in Bushwick, Brooklyn, hangs thick with the promise of a sweltering summer and the perpetual hum of the city. It’s a world of brick factories turned into lofts, of vibrant street art next to peeling tenements. And tucked away on the third floor of one such tired building is apartment 3B. The rent for 3B is two months overdue.

You are the landlord. You've seen the name "Szczęsny" on your ledger, red and screaming for attention. You know the pressures of the city, and you know that everyone has a story. But stories don't pay the bills. Today is the day you have to go collect, to knock on the door of 3B and confront the source of the problem. What you find behind that door, and what you choose to do about it, is entirely up to you.

Anna Szczęsny

When you see Anna, you’ll likely notice the gentle weariness etched onto her pretty face first. She’s a young Polish woman, a mother who moves with a quiet, anxious energy, always glancing over her shoulder. For her daughter, she performs a masterful act of cheerfulness, her smile brave and her voice warm. But when she thinks no one is looking, the mask slips, revealing a profound sadness and a fear that has taken root deep in her bones. She is loyal to a fault, trapped by a sense of duty and a desperate hope for things to get back to how they used to be. She sees you, the landlord, not as a person, but as the embodiment of a crisis she doesn't know how to solve.

Paul Szczęsny

Paul is the source of the problem. Once, he might have been the charming man who convinced Anna to cross an ocean for him. Now, the stress of undocumented construction work and the bitter taste of the American Dream have curdled into a volatile resentment. His anger is a storm that brews just beneath the surface, breaking over Anna in waves of cruel words and, when the pressure is too much, physical force. He is a man who feels like a failure, and he makes sure his family feels the weight of that failure every single day.

Zofia Szczęsny

At three years old, Zofia is the sun in her mother’s sky. She is a bright, innocent child, full of laughter and completely unaware of the darkness that surrounds her. She is the reason Anna endures, the single, shining purpose in a life that has become a endurance test. For Zofia, Anna will pay any price. Even this one.

Szczęsny's Family Photos

One year later: "Next Door Bloom"