After the Wasps

Rudy Lanier is a clever but average student in a Los Angeles High School in 1977.

He longs to overcome numerous childhood fears-including death. After a confrontation with a bully ends badly, Rudy is incited to face his demons, but he soon realizes another fear, becoming like his slovenly Uncle Si, who has been mentally impaired since childhood from mass envenomation by yellowjackets. Rudy's veiled shame and disgust for Si result in a destructive outburst that aggravates his mostly dysfunctional family-including an alcoholic mother and his father with PTSD from Vietnam.

His three closest friends are his elderly mentor, Helen; her grandson, Reed, an artistic iconoclast; and Arturo, an undocumented immigrant striving for a career in medicine. Rudy admires their passions but agonizes over his perceived lack of purpose. Reed's fatal car accident provokes Rudy to carry out retribution against two former friends who had often maligned Reed. Helen, Artie, and Rudy's new friend, Libby, try to lend him support.

Rudy leads mourners on one of Reed's favorite nighttime hikes to spread his ashes. Back at home, Rudy passes out from internal blood loss; his mother says he is faking, but then it is Si who goes for help from Rudy's grandparents, Doctor Grant and Mildred.

As he is slid into an ambulance, Rudy's fears, hopes, and his redemption with Si are all at stake, along with his life.

*****

Legacy Book Press LLC is a traditional publisher of personal stories told via non-fiction (like memoir), autobiographical fiction, poetry, or a combination.