Sugar Pop Moon (31 page)

I'm finally free because for the first time in my life I'm not hiding from who I am: an everyday Joe who's doing the best he can with the hand he's been dealt.

I pull onto the highway and jam the stick into fourth gear. My arm smarts in its bandage but the doc told me it will heal in time. I don't bother checking the rearview mirror because there's nothing behind me I need to see.

I've got the radio on and Rudy Vallee joins me as I make my way to a place I've never been before.

I'm on my way home.

It's hard not to feel as if you and I are at the Pour House, nursing one last round before they close up for the night. The stools are empty, the radio's off, a mound of stained aprons are piled atop the ice cooler. Let's stay 'til they kick us out.

In the meantime, join me as I raise my glass to a special group of people.

Dan Mayer at Seventh Street Books had enough faith in Jersey Leo to bring
Sugar Pop Moon
to press. And my agent, Elizabeth Evans of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency, put the deal together.

Fellow writer Alex Jackson, also Ellen Neuborne, helped me build a novel out of a few meandering pages of prose. And many sciencey friends shared their time and advice along the way—here's to doctors Greg Plemmons, Dave Page, Tim Doran, and Brian Burnbaum; geneticist Lenore Neigeborn; and the inimitable, irreplaceable optometrist, Arnelda Levine.

Two automobrothers, Larry and Jeff Trepel, gave me the keys to Jersey's Auburn, along with the other vehicles that rolled through these pages. And speaking of brothers, my own, Bill Florio, eagerly knocked down drafts as quickly as I served them up.

The clock is running out and our glasses are nearly empty. It's time I head home to my wife, partner, first reader, and biggest fan, Ouisie Shapiro. She believed in Jersey, believed in me, and kept me believing in myself. For that, I offer a humble thank-you and a bottomless heart.

The lights are out, so I'll say farewell for now. I hope to see you here for Jersey's next adventure. I'll be at the bar with the rest of the gang, waiting to pour you a shot of moon.

John Florio is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in print, on the web, and on television. He is also the author of
One Punch from the Promised Land: Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, and the Myth of the Heavyweight Title
. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is at work on the next Jersey Leo novel. Visit him at
johnfloriowriter.com
.