Eye On The Prize

The adventures of Nova Odyssey ("Jean", Jesus Christ Rides the K Train) continue in this 20 page full color chapbook, 4.5K words of prose.

A numbers-running-comic-book-reading preteen turns her grandmother into an unwitting loan shark, in a salsa-infused household where love’s for sale and liable to get stolen. 

A few salsa songs get a nod here, but the main feature is “Ojos” by Willie Colón and Rubén Blades, written by Johnny Ortiz.

Nova Odyssey is in a bind. Grandma’s given the boot to her bookmaker boyfriend, Juan, and has instructed Nova to run this week’s bolita numbers for her instead. Nova, though, already spent the money Grandma had given her—on comic books, so what was she gonna tell bodega owner Yason? Her aunt and uncle meanwhile are in their typical tug-of-war of the hearts in that Cecelia has too much of one, and Marcus, like an “Ojos” crooning Ruben Blades, is all eyes. The showdown for these household characters happens at the bombazo in the projects’ courtyard: Nova’s chancleta fate, Juan’s quest for a Trojan Horse back into Grandma’s life, and a conclusion to her aunt’s heartache that would make Lieutenant Columbo proud.