Brain surgery shattered me at 27 - left me a stumbling shadow, chemo looming, my life unraveling fast. In The Last Ziti, I told part of our tale. Now, the rest spills out - raw and unfiltered. San Diego, 1984: a city of drugs, scams, and chaos. Gene ran with Tommy, a meth-ravaged disaster, through a nightmare of mass shootings, botched deals and serial killers. Baja whispered threats; jealous Mafioso circled closer. From small-town corruption to a bullet waiting at home, his life was a web I couldn't unweave. I checked the headlines. Every word held up. This is Gene's story-and mine. A collision of survival, madness, and the truths I buried to keep breathing.