Excerpt:
I sprinted around the corner toward the car, slid
behind the wheel, stuck the key in the ignition, and turned the radio to
blasting levels. I stepped down on the gas. The Rolling Stones song Paint it
Black played and the music fueled my anger. I sang along. . . . Black as night,
black as coal, I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky, I wanna see it painted,
painted, painted black . . .
My mind kept replaying the last moments: Matt with
no shirt, the girl’s hands wrapped around his waist. Her voice calling him from
upstairs. Long legs. Dark eyes.
Fuchsia lips.
Red lights.
In my rearview mirror, I saw them and snapped out
of my pity party. I peered down at the speedometer, and it read eighty miles an
hour. I slowed down and pulled to the side of the road. By the time the police
officer appeared, my emotional levee broke, and tears rushed down my face. I
cried. I cried until the salt from my tears gagged me.
The officer tapped my window with his stick. I
rolled it down and glared up at him with my tearstained face. He reminded me of
the police officer who came to our door the night Daddy died, the one who
stared at his shoes while the older one told us the news. And this one was
going to take me to jail because I was speeding, and I didn’t even have a
license. It couldn’t get any worse than this. Did God hate me?
BLURB:
The fourth anniversary of Olivia’s daddy and John Lennon’s death is
approaching. Like the shot heard ’round the world, TV and radio stations keep
the frenzy alive and recognize Lennon’s life, while Olivia’s mama remembers
Daddy’s death. Instead of healing, Mama’s strange behavior keeps getting worse.
After
viewing an afternoon talk show, Olivia discovers her mother might have more
than a case of eccentricity – she may be mentally ill. When those fears are
confirmed, Olivia is faced with more decisions than any sixteen-year-old should
have to make. With no adult family members to turn to, she is forced to trust
the only people who’ve offered help: one strange man and a friend her mother
makes at the mental institution.
Facing
the intricacies of her mother’s illness one minute and the decision to have sex
with her new boyfriend the next, Olivia finds that through faith and
determination, she can conquer it all in this poignant story of love,
intuition, compassion, and hope.
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Wendy Lynn Decker has lived in thirteen different
towns in the state of New Jersey. Now, she lives a bike ride away from the
ocean and her favorite restaurant. She is the author of the middle-grade
chapter book, THE BEDAZZLING BOWL, which is the first book intended for a
series.
Find her here:
WendyDecker19 - http://www.twitter.com/wendydecker19
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