Crash

By Lesley Choyce

Just when sixteen-year-old Cameron thinks he's going to straighten out his troubled life, his parents break up and he ends up living on the street with his dog, Ozzie. He meets a girl named Mackenzie, who has been sleeping in a pup tent in the park. With her help, he tries to survive on the street and continue with school, despite the new challenges in his life.

Finding a safe place for them to crash at night is difficult, and panhandling for money isn't as easy as it looks. Cameron learns that Mackenzie has her own emotional baggage to deal with, and life for a kid with a dog and no home gets even more challenging. After Mackenzie gets into some real trouble, Cameron realizes he needs to come up with a realistic solution if they are going to survive the turbulence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781459805248

Lesley Choyce

Lesley Choyce is an award-winning author of more than 100 books of literary fiction, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, young adult novels and several books in the Orca Soundings line. His works have been shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the White Pine Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award, among others. Lesley lives in Nova Scotia.

Book preview

Crash

Lesley Choyce

Copyright © 2013 Lesley Choyce

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including

photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now

known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Choyce, Lesley, 1951-

Crash [electronic resource] / Lesley Choyce.

(Orca soundings)

Electronic monograph.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-4598-0523-1 (PDF).--ISBN 978-1-4598-0524-8 (EPUB)

I. Title. II. Series: Orca soundings (Online)

PS8555.H668C73 2013        jC813’.54        C2013-901924-3

First published in the United States, 2013

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013935382

Summary: Cameron thinks he can survive anything on willpower alone.

Not this time.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing

programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through

the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts,

and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council

and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Cover image by Getty Images

www.orcabook.com

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter One

It just hit me. I was at the New Year’s Eve party at Brian’s house. At first my plan was to get loaded. The usual. It had been quite the year. Busted for stealing a car, almost caught making a drug delivery for a dealer, and maybe a few more bad moves on my part. I guess I hadn’t found my focus yet, my path. I liked living on the edge a bit, and one thing kept leading to another.

But there I was at Brian’s, feeling oddly out of place, watching everyone else having a good time.

And suddenly it felt all wrong.

I turned sixteen three days ago. Nobody likes having a birthday right after Christmas, but then, this Christmas had not been anything special. Some kind of new weirdness going on between my mom and dad, and things had been a bit tense ever since my dad lost his job. It seemed like no one cared about my birthday. Me included. I found myself staring into the mirror, wondering who was looking back at me. After that I just had this weird feeling in my gut. I felt unsettled. I was about to freak, I thought. I was about to do something really stupid.

And New Year’s Eve at Brian’s was probably where it would happen.

But instead of me freaking out, something different happened.

I had only had one beer. Everyone else was way ahead of me. They were all laughing and having a great time. But I set the beer down and took a deep breath.

And suddenly everything became clear.

I knew who that person in the mirror was. It was the old me. And the old me wasn’t what I wanted. I swear I’d never made a New Year’s resolution in my life. I just knew that this was the year I was going to turn it around. I was going to get my shit together. No more messing around. No more talking. No more lies. No, this was not one of those half-assed New Year’s resolutions. This was the real thing.

I suddenly felt clear-headed and weirdly happy.

So I walked out of there and down the dark, cold street, sucking in sweet, clean winter air. I don’t think anyone even noticed me leaving.

When I got home, no one was there. No one but my dog, Ozzie. Part Lab and part German shepherd, Ozzie was a good old dog. Always happy to see me. Always there for me. I tucked into bed with Ozzie sleeping beside me on the floor.

I fell asleep focused on a new beginning.

Chapter Two

I had a good night’s sleep, but nothing could have prepared me for what came next. I think it was about eight o’clock when my dad knocked on my door.

Come on in, I said.

He walked in and sat down on the side of my bed. He looked like something was bugging him. I thought maybe I was about to get a lecture for something I had done, so I decided to tell him about the night before. I have some stuff I want to share with you, I said.

He held up his hand. Not now, Cameron. I’ve got some of my own stuff I’ve got to tell you. Man, he looked serious. I was thinking, Oh shit, what’s this about?

He couldn’t look me in the eye. He just bent down and started petting Ozzie. Cameron, you know things haven’t been so good around here with me out of work. And your mother and I have been having our problems.

I was feeling a little scared then. Yeah, well, so that’s nothing new. Things will smooth out.

He shook his head. "No, they won’t. I’m going crazy around here. I’ve decided I’m going to head out west and get work. It’s