The Old Neighborhood (51 page)

I want to thank all the people who opened doors for me, patted me on the back, picked me up off the floor and encouraged me in any way. You helped me more than you'll ever know and I am forever grateful.

For my father and for the Old Neighborhood.

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ZERO FADE
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“Kevin Phifer, 13, a black seventh-grader in 1990s Richmond, Va., and hero of this sparkling debut, belongs in the front ranks of fiction's hormone-addled, angst-ridden adolescents, from Holden Caulfield to the teenage Harry Potter.”

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Thirteen-year-old Kevin Phifer has a lot to worry about. His father figure, Uncle Paul, is coming out as gay; he can't leave the house without Tyrell throwing a lit Black ‘n' Mild at him; Demetric at school has the best last-year-fly-gear and the attention of orange-haired Aisha; his mother Sheila and his nerdy best friend David have both found romance; his big sister Laura won't talk to him now that she's in high school; and to top it off, he's grounded.

KISS AS MANY WOMEN AS YOU CAN
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Kiss
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CURBSIDE SPLENDOR PUBLISHING

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of short passages quoted in reviews.

 

This is a work of fiction. All incidents, situations, institutions, governments, and people are fictional and any similarity to characters or persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

 

Published by Curbside Splendor Publishing, Inc., Chicago, Illinois in 2014.

 

First Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Bill Hillmann

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014933482

 

ISBN 978-1-940430-00-3

Edited by Leonard Vance

Cover and author photos by Jacob Knabb

Designed by Alban Fischer

 

Manufactured in the United States of America.

www.curbsidesplendor.com