I dedicated Gas Money to my mom who is the central character. In 1958 at the age of 16, her parents moved to Pennsylvania taking jobs as a butler and maid for a wealthy white family. My mom remained in Virginia with the responsibility of raising her five siblings, aged 13, 11, 10, 8 and 5. She continued high school, washed, cooked, cleaned, hunted, chopped wood and did whatever else was necessary for the next 12 years until her parents returned for good in 1970. My mom was a drill sergeant. I never quite understood what made her that way until I learned more about her life as I got older. By the time she was 20 years old, she had three more mouths to feed with the addition of my 4-year-old cousin, my little sister and me. How she kept her sanity was hard for me to fathom. She taught us all right from wrong, smacked us up side the head when needed and never allowed us to use the word "can't."