Free The Way Back from Broken by Amber J. Keyser

me to go with Mrs. Tatlas and her psycho daughter to the middle of freaking nowhere? Are you crazy? I’m not doing that.”
    His mom began to explain, but his dad cut her off. “This is not a choice.”
    Rakmen swung his head from one to the other and back again, trying to read their faces. He knew they were desperate, but he’d had no idea they were so far gone. Mrs. Tatlas wasn’t a life raft. She was a sinking ship.
    â€œYou can’t do this,” he protested. “She’s not right in the head. You’ve seen her. She’s worse than you guys—”
    His mom stiffened. “She is grieving. There’s nothing wrong with that. And she’s been good to you. Extra help on that last test and now this offer to take you on vacation.”
    â€œVacation?” Mrs. Tatlas was half in this world and half in the grave. His mom couldn’t see it, and his dad didn’t seem to care. Fear slid through Rakmen. Nothing good could come from following her. “Please, Dad” he said, imploring. “I won’t get in the way. I won’t fight again. I’ll find a job.”
    A tired, sad smile rolled across his dad’s face and then faded. He reached over and squeezed Rakmen’s shoulder. “This family has been through a lot. I’ll do what I have to do here. You might be surprised what you get out of the summer if you’re open to it. It’s time to man up. For both of us.”

CHAPTER 9
    Molly leaned into Rakmen’s shoulder. “I can’t believe they’re sending you away.”
    â€œMe neither.” It was the last day of June, and the two of them sat on the porch steps leaning against his dad’s old army duffel, waiting.
    â€œPromise House is going to suck without you,” she said.
    â€œIt sucked with me.”
    Molly laughed. “You’re right. It did.”
    He shifted against some unidentified lump in the duffel. Bear mace? Snake bite kit? Who knew what Mom had packed in anticipation of his two-month sentence to the wilderness. She’d gone off her rocker at the army surplus store buying boots, rain gear, bug repellent, a flashlight, and even a sheath knife that looked more gang-banger than Boy Scout.
    â€œThis is gonna be worse,” he said.
    â€œThere’s nothing worse.”
    â€œJacey,” Rakmen offered, raising one eyebrow.
    Molly elbowed him. “She’s not that bad.”
    Rakmen snorted. Jacey had called three times this morning to remind him to eat dinner early because they had to leave for the airport at six o’clock sharp. “You could be wrong,” Molly continued. “You’re staying on a lake. Maybe you can learn to water ski.”
    â€œI’ll probably break my neck.”
    â€œThat’s cheery.”
    He kept the lid on his real worry—Mrs. Tatlas. He doubted she could keep it together long enough to do anything as complicated as water skiing. She could do far worse than break plates, and he’d be a long way from anyone who could help. “Anyway,” he said, nudging Molly’s forearm and staring at the sprinkling of freckles there. “You didn’t have to come for the send-off. Couldn’t wait to get rid of me, huh?”
    She snorted. “There’s your girlfriend.”
    The Tatlases’ battered blue Subaru wheezed around the corner. Jacey hung out the window waving so hard he thought her arm might fall off.
    â€œI can’t believe this,” said Rakmen.
    â€œHey, before they get out, I want to give you something.” Molly handed him a small wrapped box.
    â€œWhat? You didn’t have to do that.”
    â€œI thought it would be nice if you came back.”
    Rakmen tore through the paper to find a Garmin GPS. “Wow! Thanks. This is amazing.” He couldn’t imagine ever affording something so nice. And his hand was very close to Molly’s on the box.
    â€œPromise you won’t get