I wrote this book for one reason and one reason only; with hopes that I may save one youth from traveling the same path I did.

I grew up in San Francisco, CA and I was a relatively good child. I had a dream like most boys my age and that was to become a professional basketball player. When I reached the junior college level a coach...more »

I wrote this book for one reason and one reason only; with hopes that I may save one youth from traveling the same path I did.

I grew up in San Francisco, CA and I was a relatively good child. I had a dream like most boys my age and that was to become a professional basketball player. When I reached the junior college level a coach stated, “You’ll never be a division one player let alone a professional”. As those words sank into my psyche I thought, then what? That thought affected me so much that I just lost hope. My grades began to fail. What ultimately happened was I was kicked off the team.

So with a sense of hopelessness I became a failure at college and eventually left and got a job.

I needed to feel successful at something. As a drug dealer, I was just that, successful. I built a multi-million dollar business and didn’t care who fell in that process. Or so I thought. In my book I speak of a little boy begging me not to sell drugs to his mother and the child banging on the door while I had sex with her. But this is what I didn’t get the chance to write. I ran into that boy. I didn’t recognize him but he recognized me immediately. He made sure he reminded me of where I knew him from. I embarrassingly asked about his mother and he told me she had died of a drug overdose. I couldn’t help but notice that he was very well dressed. He then proceeded to share with me that he was now in the life and some of the terrible shit that he was involved in.

The Game Is Ova is my true story.

Derrick O’Neal is former drug dealer who is now an anti-drug activist. He spends his time speaking with youth groups about the danger and addiction of dealing drugs. Derrick is a single father of three boys, and resides California. To learn more about his novel visit his website.

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