What simile is used to describe how terrible Quan feels when his father is arrested?

Simile:

“That night he got arrested turned everything upside down. I knew things were about to get bad because my dad had been like the duct tape holding our raggedy
shit together. He paid for a lot and gave my mom money, and he really was the reason I stayed out of trouble. The minute that van drove away with him in it, I felt…doomed” (26).