Book excerpt: This story is set in modern-time South Carolina and along the east coast of America. It is inspired by true events that are both bone-chilling and promising. The scenes in the story are also enhanced by the author’s imagination. A young man named Jillian is set on chasing a high by any means necessary and starts a journey on becoming a martyr to some and a symbol of hate and racism to the rest of America. At the same time, in Charleston, South Carolina, an innocent child’s life has been turned upside down by the loss of his mother, leaving him in the care of his drug-addicted aunt who is at odds with the only person who would truly care for him, his mother’s best friend. Losing her mother to a drug overdose, a young child, symbolic to love, is overshadowed by her hateful father who contradicts everything she holds dear—her mother’s words. As the severe changes in their life lead them in opposite directions from the way they were raised and as they fight their circumstances to remain steadfast, hate, racism, police brutality, inequality, drug abuse, child neglect, and many other evils affect their lives in drastic ways and leave many others at a crossroad in their own lives. When one outrageous act rips through the country and with the peaking happenings in America, will the people unite and overcome these tragic times, or will it be the beginning of the next civil war?