Red Hats (19 page)

“I love you, Alma Debron.”

Alma didn’t know what she said in return, but it was loud enough to wake up the planet.

acknowledgments

Sue Ellen Cooper and the Red Hats, I salute you for being such a wonderful worldwide sisterhood. You have brought much joy to many lives. I’ve witnessed it firsthand, through my mother.

I want to thank the entire WAYANS CLAN (brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren) for their love and support, especially my parents. Pops, I love you very much. You don’t get thanked enough for the example you have set before your sons as a man of integrity and self-sacrifice. Momma, thank you for taking me back and forth to hospital after hospital to get my clubfoot fixed. I don’t have any idea how you paid for it, but you saved me a life of pain and humiliation by getting it done at such an early age.

Aunt Muriel, thank you for always making me feel special as a little boy. It helped shape me as a man.

Aunt Moe, thank you for your love and kindness. I will never forget how you let me into your home as a young man. That was a wonderful time in my life. Uncle G, I love you and appreciate all the visits you and Aunt Trudy made to see me the hospital.

Shout out to all my cousins, again way too many to mention individually so I thank them all.

I send my love to the Wayans on my dad’s side of the family. Thank you to Don Reo and Dean Lorey, my good friends who went before me paving the way with ink into the wonderful world of writing books.

Joey Vassallo, thank you for everything, my brother.

Bob Nedd, I see you!

I want to say thank you to my book agent, Lydia Wills, for helping get this novel published. Your excitement meant a lot to me as an author.

To Judith Curr and her incredible staff at Atria, I send my heartfelt gratitude for working with me on
Red Hats
.

Special thanks to Malaika Adero, you were a joy to work with as my editor. Your great notes and gentle prods helped get me through this.

I also want to thank Alysha Bullock, Todd Hunter, Donald Goble, and Jon Moonves.

If I’ve forgotten to mention anyone else who has helped me along the way, I’m sorry or . . . maybe I didn’t on purpose. LOL.

—Damon