Young Skip was masterful at acclimating himself into a situation¿ which would prove to be good for him, being how Connie and Paul had for weeks now concocted a plan they thought to be in the best interest of the family. At the start of the new school year Skip would be attending Taft Jr. high on the northeast side of town. The only thing changing in Skips life ¿ now at Taft¿ was the meeting of a fine tenderoni who would much later become his wife and mother of his children. He was still what he would be for many years¿ a larcenous miscreant living life on the edge. It's said that ¿ Everything God raises high in this world He brings it down. J. Marie loved Skip unconditionally¿ they were inseparable¿ and had one hell-a-va run; all the way up until he ran her away several years after his fall. He was in the Maryland Penitentiary and had been in for two decades. The children and grandchildren called him Dad and Granddad; his fellow convict friends as well as a few enemies called him Imam Mustafa. He had a rigorous workout plan¿ as he would need one¿ to stay ready and tough. He'd survive an assassination attempt by several gang boys in retaliation for a stabbing on one of theirs. He could be a maniacal beast when he had to be. At other times, like while working in the various prison hospitals, he was the kindest caregiver/ orderly one could ever work with. For all one had to do was observe, or just ask the lovely Nurse Cheryl.