This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author''s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.


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    Re: Language — Set in 1978, characters in this story use period-appropriate racial terms that I find offensive. Realism dictated I use them, but heeding the people of color whom I trust, I chose to bleep-out the ''n-word,'' using "n***er." However, I have kept the milder racial language, like "coloreds," intact. My aim was to reflect racial sensitivity while allowing the reader''s imagination to fill in the realism.


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    I created the cover using several public domain images, available from the links below.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


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    1) 1938 Campaign Sign on Building at 36TH Street and Cedar Avenue by Frank J. Aleksandrowicz: </a>


    2) Back View of Detective or Mafia Boss by Master1305: https://www.freepik.com/photos/person/</a>


    3) Photo of a 1960s Opal Diplomat, a streetlamp, an energy ball, the pavement, and a grunge paper texture: https://pixabay.com/</a>


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