WENDELL HAWKINS

Here's back-cover / Amazon-style copy for the book:TO BE OR NOT TO BE THE FATHER A True StorySome men become fathers by accident. This one became a father on purpose - over and over again, in courtrooms, in jail cells, and in a decision made every single day for four straight years. At twenty-one, working two jobs and still learning who he was, he fell for a woman with two young sons and no idea that within a few years he'd have two more children of his own to fight for.
What starts as a love story - drive-in movies, a million-dollar shoe department, a stolen Camaro - turns into something far harder when a manipulative grandmother, a broken support system, and nine days behind bars threaten to take his children away for good. This is the true, unflinching account of a father who refused to disappear. Stripped of his rights, jailed for standing his ground, and forced to represent himself in court with nothing but a briefcase and a copy of the original custody order, he built his case one hearing at a time - and won.
It's a story about the price of showing up, the humiliation of a system that punishes poor fathers instead of protecting children, and the quiet, stubborn love that outlasted all of it. Raw, honest, and told without apology, To Be or Not to Be the Father is for every parent who has ever had to prove, in front of a judge or just to themselves, exactly how far they're willing to go.