A Shot at Freedom Read Online Free PDF

it.”
    “How did you wreck it?”
    “If I wasn’t conceived, maybe your mum and my dad would have found a way through it and stayed together. Maybe he would have been happy eventually and stopped drinking.”
    “He would have found a way to keep drinking, David. And secondly, for the record, you didn’t have that much say on your conception. It was pretty much up to your mum and dad.”
    “Dad was drunk and gave it to my mum, probably in some back alley somewhere. Or a toilet. How romantic. Once your mum found out about me, he had no chance with her after that.”
    “Your mum got to have you. She loves you. And she loves your dad.”
    “He never loved her back. If it wasn’t for me, she could have been free.”
    David knew one thing for sure, his life was a life of should s where no one got what they ever really wanted. And all he ever had running through his head was how his birth had poisoned everyone’s life and set this calamity in motion. There was never an end to it. Even when he shot someone, his own father, his dad, the air didn’t seem any clearer.
    “There was nothing anyone could have done to make anything different.”
    It took everything he had not to fidget, under the weight of Brooke. A part of him wanted to take her home, but more of him didn’t want to. When she was with him, he had a better chance of forgetting all of their complexities and he knew she did too. For a moment, they had each other to think about. Friendship if it’s deep enough and real enough can make you forget anything.
    He felt his breath falter when Brooke carefully peeled herself off his chest. She sidled across the seat and reached back into her bag, pulling out her mobile. The screen lit up. She bit her lip.
    David kept his gaze on the road. It took everything he had not to rip the phone out of her hand. He didn’t want her to know about the mess he’d left behind. If she did, she’d know how sick in the head he was. Only a sick person could do what he did. David knew he was no good. He didn’t want Brooke to know it.
    But then if she knew she might go back, and that might be the best thing in the end. She should always have the option to go back if she wanted to. In fact, if she did, it might even be a relief. There was no way he could make her an accessory after the fact.
    “No messages?” he asked.
    “Nothing. No one knows yet.”
    He watched her swipe and tap at the screen . “I’m surprised you’re even getting reception,” he said.
    “Oh, there you go.”
    “What?”
    “Facebook. Lost my last friend.”
    “Did you wipe them or they wipe you?”
    “They’re all posting like mad about how disgusting we are. It’s getting out of hand. Pretty cruel. You don’t really want to know.”
    “So you wiped them.” He raised his eyes to the roof, shaking his head. “Facebook,” he tutted. “They weren’t real friends anyway. None of them really knew you.” It was because they’d found out about him, that all the friends had turned on her. They’d hung out together for years and no one knew a thing. Why she suddenly rebelled in the last week of school and told everyone about them was beyond any sane reasoning. “You shouldn’t have told them about us. I’m just a friend. I’m sure they have friends nobody knows about.”
    “Who cares? I’m happy .” She shut the phone down and laughed. “They can all think what they want.” Brooke tossed the phone into her bag,
    “Do you want me to take care of your phone?” he offered.
    “No it’s right. I want to keep it.”
    “Your mother will be ringing you.”
    “I’ll deal with it.” She sighed.
    He let her curl into him again, pulling his arm around her. He watched her play with his fingers as though they weren’t really connected to him.
    “Did you bring your phone?” she asked.
    “I gave it to Mum.”
    Brooke lifted her head and met his gaze. “My parents have that number. It was my phone. Mum thinks you have it.”
    David shrugged.