FOUR!! (Yes, I Know, You Don't Spell it THAT Way!)

     Chapter Four is in the can! Yes, yes, it is. It was a relatively easy chapter to write; I didn't have to do too much thinking. I described the housing authority projects and the types of people that Leigh, Mathew, and others will encounter. That and Leigh was given a crash exam by the city's brave and handsome fire Chief, Doug Dempsey, who has, for the past quarter century, been putting out fires all over Sarasota, Florida.

    Dempsey will be instrumental in bringing peace and awareness to the people of the housing projects when it comes to dealing with the cops, and he'll be sure to put in a good word for one of the local boys who is about to graduate high school and wants to do more with his life than simply join the military. He feels he can put his wits and strength to good use on the fire force - - if he can get past the requirements of having at least an associate's degree to apply. It didn't seem fair, but it is what it is.

    When it comes to understanding those less fortunate, Leigh has had little firsthand experience, but her heart has always been in the right place. Though she wasn't born with a silver spoon to suck on, she was born among a group of solid salt-of-the-earth types whose idea of inclusion meant allowing the Hatfields and the McCoys to come to the Sunday picnic now and again. When Leigh's grandmother, a faithful and devout Christian woman, refused her little black friend inside the house for ice cream once, it wasn't her friend who felt the jolt of racism; it was Leigh. She couldn't believe her own kin would be so backward; she had a lot to learn about living in the South.

    Chapter Four is about understanding ground zero of the most economically challenged people in the state and what it will feel like, look like, smell like, and be like to be among them for several hours and to try to not only not stick out like a sore thumb, but to be useful, helpful, understanding, and giving without any type of judgment no matter what she saw,  heard, smelled or felt. Chapter Four is the beginning of the book in some ways; it gets the characters set and ready to rumble.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.com