Author: Laura Scalo

Publisher: Regal House

ISBN: 9781646033614

How far will you go to be accepted? How far will life take you when you do not value your own?

Two young women are living in a basement apartment. One daring and reckless and creating her own set of rules and the daughter of a wealthy Congressman.

That is Chry. Mina is her roommate and was found abandoned as a small child in the baptismal font in a church. Her goal is to be like Chry. But life brings sudden dangers and changes in both of their lives when two young men, Dare and Nyro, who work at Wall Street, change their complexion to a darker color.

The year is 1985, and these four young people had their idyllic plans for their lives. Imagine truth or dare, a game played at parties, and you chose to dare. Would you survive being hurled into the East River, praying you are lifted out? They barely make it, and what follows are steps taken to help her survive, but in the end, what Dare does after the ordeal lets you know it was all a game to him and no more.

How does it feel to have money for everything and want none of it? They are over the top but do not see or understand those in front of her, including Mina, who walks in her shadow. Even her dream of being part of Dare's life is naive and wishful thinking. Mina wants to be incited for St. James Day but is overlooked. Why?

 Each one wants what the other has or does not, and Chry is blinded by it all. Each time she, Mina, Dare, and Nyro are together, you feel uneasy about Nyro. Dare seems oblivious to it all while Mina relates the events and why she wound up going to St stem Island. Why are they playing, in a sense, following the leader? Why is Nyro in control, and why are the other three following by command?

Then the situation gets tense, and Mina and Nyro have an unusual encounter, and Chry and Dare do too, but what does it all mean to each of them? Spring comes, the weather controls events, and Chry seems short of cash. When Mina learns what she's doing with the rent, why not confront her? Why Dare? But friendships change, and Chry hurts her hand and can't play her banjo, at least for a while. The Staten Island Ferry and the Statue of Liberty play notable roles as the torch on the statue is being reconstructed. The ferry is aging, plus the wild parties, liquor, the Twin Towers, and feeling you, the reader, getting swept up in it all.

But at the center and tragic are Aids and Coke, plus paying for their deeds, consequences, and hope. Some enjoy this Arcadia, a place where all of them enjoy a life of luxury and comfort at the expense of others at times and friendships formed by needs and wants. What do you envision when all our young people create their own moments, and we take many buses and ferry rides across landmarks in our city? Each event is brought down with violence, and one involving the police did not even faze Chry. There is much more to come, as their personalities clash, selfishness within each, and the harmony turns to discord.

As the story moves to Arcadia and we experience St. James Day and the traditions, you begin to wonder what is real and what they have created as GA, her grandmother orchestrates it all. When they finally leave and return home, a terrifying revelation as Chry relates her diagnosis and how the others will respond. Do you wonder if the four created false friendships for convenience and Chry's wealth?

Tragic circumstances and truths emerge, and Chry must face her fate like someone else. Loyalties are tested; Mina and her mom air secrets, and Chry tries to play her music, bury the illness, and mourn a friend. Like a house of cards -or dominoes standing up as worlds fall apart, tragedies multiply. Anger increases as Chry wants Mina to try to ask for a favor, but will it be granted, and you won't believe who she asks?

An ending that ties so many lives together yet is shattered as author Laura Scalo takes each character through different emotional stages of love, harmony, grief, friendship, and hope. Some endings change perspective on life, while this ending brings tears and sadness to Mina, Ray, Vince, and Nyro, realizing that nothing will ever be the same.

True friendship and memories as friends remember the past and traditions, as the last paragraph sums up all the hidden emotions in one."