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.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

> 1) 1938 Campaign Sign on Building at 36TH Street and Cedar Avenue by Frank J. Aleksandrowicz: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1938_campaign_sign_on_building_at_36th_Street_and_Cedar_Avenue,_Cleveland._-_NARA_-_550133.jpg

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

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