Title: Hippie Mafia
ISBN: 978-1-62420-308-4
Author: Jessica Evans
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Excerpt Heat Level: 1
Book Heat Level: 2
TAGLINE
Hippie Mafia is a story of urban redemption,
examining how greed and loyalty influence decisions in a sub-culture that is
generally accepted as being peaceful and without strife.
BLURB
Hippie Mafia is a multi-voice narrative that examines
gender roles within the constructs of urban identity. The antagonist of the
work, Mason, is the antithesis of the female archetype, both in her decision
making skills and in the progression of her character through her stand-alone
agency. The female protagonist, Amy, is one who responds to the situations she
finds herself in as one might expect of a standard female character. It is the
hope of the work that these two conflicting female identities will help the
reader to begin to understand and examine ways in which female characters do
not need a male counterpoint to advance their own stores.
EXCERPT
Amy
shakes her head and looks at Ghost. He wonders just what his sister is
thinking, and why he can't see the same kind of rage he's feeling in her.
"So,
what? We need to go get you packed?" Ghost's mind is thinking ahead to the
logistics of getting Amy out of the apartment in Norwood. He knows Julian has
an extra room at his spot in Mount Auburn he would gladly offer up to Amy.
"Your
girls know? Beata? Who did you tell?"
"I
couldn't," Amy starts, shaking her head, "I couldn't call anyone. The
only one who knows is you. Beata would've come last night."
"So
would I if you would have called me right after it happened. You shouldn't have
waited. I would have been right there."
"But
I know you. Your temper. Really, I was worried about what you would do."
"You
mean you were worried I'd force you to make the right choice is more like
it."
"Something
like that," Amy says into her palms. "Like I don't think he set out
to do it. I'm sure he was stressed, and whatever he was on didn't help.
Probably, I should have just left when he started yelling like that."
"So
what, now you're justifying his behavior? You sure this is the first
time?" Ghost squints his eyes at Amy, trying to read into her.
She
nods her head but doesn't say anything, confirming Ghost's suspicions.
"Right,
well. We still need to get you out. Since no one knows, I'll just tell Julian
your spot has ants or something. I don't know, I'll figure it out. We need to
get back over there and get you a bag of whatever you need. I'll handle getting
the rest of your stuff out later."
His
mind in overdrive, Ghost sees him helping his sister move out of the apartment.
He's never disliked Dugan, but he's never been a big fan either. There's
something to be said about a dude who has a chick for a best friend. Something
about that has never sat well with Ghost, and looking at his sister's face, he
wonders if he's known something like this would happen all along.
"Ghost,
I can't do that."
"Why
are you arguing this with me, homie? I don't get it."
"It
was an accident, man. I can't just get up and leave over something Dugan didn't
mean to do."
"Yes,
you can. You should. You will." Ghost lets the words sit between he and
his sister before going on. "When we were little, there were a million
times I wanted to be able to do something to save you. To save us. To get us
out of that bullshit we had to deal with. I couldn't then. Had no money, no
heat, and no options. Now I can. You need to listen to me, Amy. Listen hard.
You say this was the first time, we both know that's probably not true. But
this was probably the worst so far. You think he's just going to stop? That all
of a sudden a chump ass dude like Dugan is going to realize he shouldn't go
around hitting females? You have to see it's just going to keep getting worse.
I mean, you have to. Until the next time you call me, it's not going to be
about a black eye, but a broken arm, or getting shoved down the stairs, or a
slug in the chest. I get that you want to be solo and indie and all that. Cool,
I dig. You can't do this on your own, and you can't go back to him."
"I
don't know what to do." Amy reaches for her cheek. "I hear you,
brother. I really do. Promise this was the first time, but I can see how you
might think otherwise. Thing is, I know you're right. I can't just leave. I
can't abandon him like that. I know he didn't mean it. I called you because I
was scared. Looking in the mirror and seeing this is not the way to start a
morning. Shit freaked me out, and I didn't know what to do. Just running away
isn't going to solve this problem either."
Ghost
shakes his head. "Amy, you realize how you sound right now?" he asks.
"I mean really. I've watched you over the last few years let yourself get
so wrapped up in this dude, you've lost all your drive. Remember when you were
a person outside of Dugan? There was this whole other life you always talked
about, the one where you're getting out of the city, doing something with
yourself. Now what? Dude's clocking you in the jaw and you're growing boomers
in your spot? How is that any different from the shit we saw growing up? Thank
god you're not pregnant at least."
Ghost's
voice has been steadily rising. A few of the early morning coffee sippers are
cutting sideways glances at their table. Ghost realizes they're being observed
and tries to dial it back in a bit.
"All
I'm saying is you're too narrow. Your focus is too pinpointed. It's always
Dugan. Dugan can't just be your whole world. Let this be it, man. Get your ass
out of there while you can still remember who you are."
Amy
stares at her brother, unflinching. Her eyes move in a pattern from the table
to the sugar canister to Ghost's eyes and back, a constant revolving circle, as
if she's running on a wheel. She sits like that for a while, and Ghost doesn't
say anything, hoping his words are sinking in and will have some effect. He's
already cleared his schedule for the day so for the first time in a while, he
has nowhere else to be, nothing more important to do than to sit and vibe with
his sister, to protect her the ways that she protected him for so many years.
He finishes his coffee and stands up.
"I'm
getting another one. You need an answer by the time I get back."
Amy
looks at the line, four people deep, and then down at the ground. She doesn't
say anything to Ghost, but nods her head. Her mouth forms into a flat line and
she starts chewing her cheek.
"You're
going to chew a hole in your cheek, kid," Ghost says lightly, putting his
hand on her shoulder. It's a throwback to something their mother used to say
before she went off the deep end and landed herself in prison. Amy smiles wanly
and pats Ghost's hand.
"Sounds
like something Mom used to say," she replies.
"I'll
get you another cup," Ghost says as he walks off.
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