Free Unstoppable by Tim Green Page A

come on. My treat. I cut three lawns on Sunday and the cash is burning a hole in my pocket.”
    â€œYou get money for cutting lawns?” The idea of work wasn’t strange to Harrison, but getting paid for his efforts had been unthinkable.
    â€œSure, a lot. People in the village like their lawns cut. Twice a week, some of them.”
    â€œCould I do that?”
    â€œI can help you find some work, sure.”
    â€œSo I’ll let you buy me a sub,” Harrison said, “but only if you promise I can cut a lawn to pay you back.”
    Justin laughed. “You don’t have to do that.”
    â€œYes, I do.”
    Justin shrugged. “Sure, you can cut one for me. We can go into business together.”
    â€œHang on, will you?” Harrison left his new friend and found Coach in his office.
    After knocking, Harrison went inside and closed the door behind him. Two metal lockers stood in the corner by a private bathroom. The scent of mold crept into Harrison’s nose. Coach sat at a desk facing the wall, drawing up plays.
    â€œSorry about hurting those guys,” Harrison said.
    Coach’s serious face broke into a grin. “That’s part of the game. They’re all fine. This team needs to be tougher, is the problem. Don’t you worry about it.”
    Harrison stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Can I go to Subway and get my hair cut later? Justin’s going to pay, but I said only if he lets me cut one of his lawns to pay him back. He said I can go into business with him. Can I do that? Can I work and make money, or do you need me to work at the house?”
    Coach tilted back in his chair and thumbed his hat back on his head so the brim stood up almost straight. “Work at the house?”
    Harrison shrugged. “You want me to work, right?”
    â€œYou can help out a little, I guess. Take out the trash. Maybe cut the grass, but I’d pay you for that.”
    Harrison narrowed his eyes. “You’d pay me ? Why?”
    â€œThat’s what families do. When kids help out around the house, they get paid for it. Not everything, but jobs like that, the grass, shoveling the driveway, digging a ditch.”
    â€œYou don’t have to do that,” Harrison said. “You feed me, I need to work.”
    Coach sat up and put a hand on Harrison’s shoulder. “Everyone under our roof gets fed. That’s not a big deal. Trust me.”
    â€œSo is Subway okay?”
    â€œSure. Tell you what—I’ll head over to the phone store and get you a cell phone, then I’ll pick you up at Subway and we’ll go get the haircut. Lots to do before six-thirty. Jennifer likes to eat right at six-thirty.”
    Harrison nodded because Mrs. Constable put the food on the table at the exact same time every night as well. “Did you say a cell phone?”
    Coach leaned back in his chair again and it squealed in pain. “So we can keep in touch. Most of the kids seem to have them. That all right?”
    Harrison felt a rush of excitement. “I’d love a cell phone.”
    â€œI’ll get you the basic plan,” Coach said. “If you want to use it more and text all the time like the rest of these characters, you can pay for that with your lawn money. Deal?”
    â€œSure, Coach. Thanks.” Harrison turned to go but stopped halfway out the door at the sound of Coach’s voice.
    â€œAnd Harrison?”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œThat was some performance out there today. You’re one heck of a runner.”
    â€œThanks, Coach.”
    Harrison hurried back into the locker room but slowed down when he saw Justin standing in the middle of a small group that included Varnett, Bulkowski, and Leo Howard. When Leo saw Harrison, he poked a finger in Justin’s chest, said something, then faded out the door with his buddies, leaving Justin alone in the corner.
    â€œWhat was that about?” Harrison asked, scowling at the