Robert Friedman

The Surrounding Sea Robert Friedman

The year is 2000 in Puerto Rico. Stevie Pérez and his girlfriend, Laura Rosario, have joined a student protest against the U. S. Navy's bombing exercises that have caused illness, environmental damages and death on the offshore island of Vieques. The riot squad is called onto the campus to quell the protest and in the ensuing violence, Laura is hit by a stray bullet and killed. A grieving Stevie vows to keep Laura's memory alive by creating a scholarship in her name. He is frustrated in attempts to get help in the community and decides to become a drug mule to obtain the scholarship money. After a few lucrative trips, he is set up in a drug theft. His 20-year-old life in danger, Stevie is forced to flee as the drug gang pursues him from the Bronx to San Juan to the mountain towns of Puerto Rico. Along the way, Stevie learns hard truths about life, love and loss.

This is a joint publication of Floricanto and Berkeley Presses.