This book is a true chronicle recording a roller-coaster of events of a young girl who was brought up by a mentally ill mother and then enchanted with a Sicilian gangster who was 29 years her senior. Her life was entwined around the street life of mystery, danger, murder, drugs, guns, and crime; living a life of fantasy, which turned into a reality. Her life was filled with destruction and dysfunctional events. Her life styles lead her into incarceration. After her release, she vowed to assist others like herself and started a Half Way House for mental health returnees (D-47 parolees). She teamed up with a program called SOS and conducted "From the Ground Floor Up Reentry". She returned back to school receiving her limited license through the State of Michigan as a social worker. She is working as a substance abuse counselor assisting adolescent and adults. Encountering a long struggle of prejudice, slamming of doors and biased individuals because of her past, she is determined to conquer society and regain the life of freedom, while she continues to fearlessly and morally search herself daily. This book is a memorial of her struggle. The grammar and sentencing structure is not completely in order; the author wanted to leave it in her natural street dialect. This was her street lingo in the sixties, seventies and part of the eighties. It allows the audience to feel her personality and ignorance to life and the situation of events as she encountered them. Some characters in this book have passed on through death while others are still alive. She is not trying to hurt anyone or expose anyone. She is just speaking on her life experiences and events of trials and struggles she came across throughout her life. This book was not written to get money for the crimes committed but to shed a light for others to change their life and record for posterity the mixed up street life of Detroit in the late twentieth century. She is not proud of her past and very embarrassed by some of the items in this book. She felt naive not understanding the complete concept of consequences of her wrong doings. The ripple effect it had on all the lives around her. She lives for recovery now and has dedicated her life to it. She believes in recovery and the penal system. Without it, she has no idea where she might have been with her life choices. She owes her Higher Power for all her success and frame of mind. Her main prayer is for all those she has hurt in her life time, will find forgiveness, as she has learned to do the same. She does not claim to be a writer and this book seems more like a diary than novel but many who have read it, stated it was interesting and kept their curiosity. It is segments of her life that has turned into a nightmare. She wanted it to help others with their self-esteem and choices in life. "Never give up, giving up, on giving up."
About the Author: Billy Joe was only a year old when her parents divorced, leaving her mentally ill mother to raise her alone. In the midst of the unstable lifestyle her mother offered, Billy Joe spent her teens moving from one bad situation to another. At twenty she fell in love with a Sicilian gangster-a man twenty-nine years her senior. She found herself involved in street life, mystery, drugs, murder, and various other crimes. Her world of destruction and dysfunction finally came to a halt when her crimes won her eighteen years of incarceration. After her release, Billy Joe vowed to assist others like her, people whose lives led them to places they never should have been. Billy Joe developed a program for Transitional Housing, a service that focused on mental health returnees, Youth from Foster Care and Juveniles. It is called: SOS / From the Ground Floor Up Reentry. Inspired by her work, she returned to school and received a limited license on social work from the state of Michigan, credentials that certified her assist adolescents and adults struggling with substance abuse. Her long struggle with substance abuse and the prejudices of others gave her a unique and valuable perspective in her work. Determined to live a free and stable life, Billy Joe continues to fearlessly search her daily. In her memoir, Billy Joe lays herself bare, sharing her darkest secrets in hope of inspiring others, those who might be facing some of the most life-altering decisions of their lives, to make the right choices now and avoid the peril she has suffered. Billy Joe is a proud mother and grandmother. Since her release from incarceration, she has worked diligently to rebuild relationships with her family and to contribute to her local community. She currently lives in Michigan.