Free Crash by Lesley Choyce Page A

the car start. And then, I guess, he was gone.
    I don’t know how long I lay there in shock, thinking this was something that happened to other kids but not to me. If I had known what was coming next, I don’t think I would have gotten out of bed that day.
    But eventually I did.
    Downstairs, my mom was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in her hand.
    â€œCameron, we need to talk,” she said.
    I let Ozzie outside and then sat down across from her. I suddenly had a flashback to the party the night before, and I was thinking now that maybe I should have stayed and gotten really wasted. “Dad’s gone. I know,” I said.
    She nodded. “It’s my fault,” she said.
    â€œWhat do you mean? I know things have been tough since he lost his job.”
    â€œIt’s not just that.”
    â€œThen what?”
    â€œThings haven’t been the same in the last year. And I’m sorry, but I haven’t been exactly honest with you. I’ve been seeing someone else.”
    â€œ What? Who?” I couldn’t believe my mother was saying this.
    She took a sip of her coffee. “Nick.”
    That was my second slap in the face that morning. “Nick? Nick’s an asshole.” Nick was my father’s friend. I’d always thought he was one of the biggest bullshitters I’d ever met. This couldn’t be real.
    â€œI’m sorry. It just happened. I didn’t mean for things to go this way.”
    Ozzie was scratching at the door, and I got up to let him in.
    â€œI think Nick is the real thing,” she continued. “I think this is finally my chance to be happy.”
    I wanted to scream out every obscene word I could think of, but my brain grabbed on to that odd word— happy . Wasn’t that what my revelation was about last night? I was going to clean up my act and learn how to be happy? And now this crap.
    â€œNow that your father’s gone…”
    I cut her off. “Is that why he left? Because of you and Asshole Nick?”
    She didn’t answer me. “Now that your father’s gone, I won’t be able to keep up the rent on this house. Besides, there are too many memories here. I need a new start. We need to go someplace else.”
    â€œWhere?”
    She couldn’t look at me. “Nick says he wants me to move in with him. You can come too, of course.”
    I shook my head. “This is insane.”
    â€œNo, Nick said you could have the whole basement to yourself.”
    The nightmare continued. I looked down at Oz. He gave me his paw. I knew I couldn’t move in with Nick, and then I remembered something else. “Nick hates dogs.”
    My mom shrugged. “Yeah. I guess we’ll have to find another home for Ozzie. We can work this out.” And then, more confidently, she said, “We can make this work. I know we can.”
    â€œThis is all bull,” I said. I grabbed my coat and walked out into the cold, bright day with Ozzie trailing behind me.
    â€œWelcome to the new year,” I said to no one as I walked out to the street, my breath puffing small angry clouds into the morning air.

Chapter Three
    It was one of those nasty cold winter mornings. The sun was out, but it was way below freezing. Ozzie was happy to be tagging along, sniffing at every tree and post and peeing on everything he sniffed. I didn’t need to keep Oz on a leash. He was well trained. He was a good dog. And I wasn’t going to give him up.
    I wasn’t dressed warmly enough, but I didn’t want to go back into the house to get gloves or a heavier coat. I cursed my cheating mother and my runaway father. I didn’t know who to blame most. I thought maybe my mom. She and stupid-ass Nick. Maybe that was really why my father had left.
    I thought about my decision the night before to clean up my act. That lightning bolt from out of nowhere. Who was I kidding? Right now if someone were to offer me a