A Murder on Fifth and Dice and the Ruin of Fifeville

James tells the story of how a once prosperous neighborhood became gang-ridden drugged out and violent-prone. He speaks through the lips of Benjamin Luther Slokum and how Ben related to ghosts of his grandma his brother Ivy and his cousin Roy. These people were all murdered on the corner of Fifth and Dice Streets in the heart of Fifeville in Bens presence. Ben hid while his cousin was gunned down by Jamie Charles a notorious member of the Jamaican posse. A stray bullet killed Bens grandma. Ben held a gun but did not open fire. Ben had been a tagalong with the Fifeville Crew but was never a hardcore gangster. After the untimely death of his beloved ones he decided that he would have nothing to more to do with gangs of the gangster lifestyle. He found out that a life outside the gang was every bit as trying as one within it. He met Moisha (Mo) at a party one night and he and she got married brought two children into the world (twins Esau [Saw] and Jacob [Jay]) and tried to make a good life for them all in the same house that Ben had grown up in in the same neighborhood where his relatives had been murdered-on the Corner of Fifth and Dice Streets in Charlottesville Virginia. Ben decided that he would elicit change in Fifeville from gangs dope and violence by being a living example showing that anyone could have a good life without succumbing to criminal activities. But the crime around Ben and his family became a ravenous beast that consumed Ben and Mos firstborn son Saw. That murder turned Bens life upside down. Mo left him and took his remaining son with her. He ultimately lost the house he tried to cling to. He lost his job and he temporarily lost his mind. Mos love was the balm that healed his soul. He came to himself after talking to his friend Harry an ex-con and ex-gang member. The narrative ends with Mo Ben and Jay clinging to one another vowing to pick up the pieces and start over. This novel brings to life many of the hidden facts about drug dealing and gangbanging and how these helped ruin and destroy Fifeville.