True Colors Read Online Free PDF Page B

breathed.
    “It’s a doughnut.”
    “I can see that, dumbass. I just haven’t had one of these in a long time.”
    “A doughnut?”
    “No, a Krispy Kreme. Jesus.”
    Logan smiled. “Yeah, I praise the Lord when I eat them, too.”
    Justin closed his eyes as he took the first bite and chewed. His expression said he’d tasted something beyond decadent. “It’s fresh,” he said softly, eyes still closed.
    Logan felt a tug at his heart at how much this kid missed the finer things in life. He cleared his throat. “I’ve been there.”
    “To Krispy Kreme?” Justin asked. “It smells like heaven. Mom used to take me there after school sometimes. When I was a kid and got good grades.”
    Logan didn’t point out that he was still a kid. “I meant I’ve been where you are now. Living on the streets.”
    Justin peered into the bag and grinned when he spotted two more doughnuts. “Hot damn.” As he tore into the second one, he said, “It could be worse. This could be freaking Chicago or New York. I don’t get cold at night. Much. And there’s this cop who brings me food on his lunch hour.”
    “I can get you some help. Get you a place to sleep.”
    “You’re talking about a foster home, right? I’m not going into the system. The system is screwed.”
    Logan couldn’t argue with that. A front-row seat could provide a hint of the problems, but a starring role during a long-term run made the flaws glaring. “I can help with that. Make sure you get a decent place.”
    Justin studied him as he chewed. “What’s in it for you? I already told you I don’t do guys.”
    “Not yet you don’t. And that might not be around the next corner, but it probably will be around the one after that.”
    “No freaking way. I don’t do that shit. It’s disgusting .” He spat out the last word a bit too vehemently.
    Logan squatted, bracing his forearms on his knees, so that he was eye to eye with the teenager. “I’ve been here, Justin. I know what I’m talking about. There comes a point where you don’t feel you have a choice.”
    Justin’s eyes rounded. “You—”
    “And then there’s gangs. They make it sound like family, but it’s not. Your family doesn’t kill you if you decide to leave the fold.”
    Justin finished off the last doughnut with a thoughtful look on his face. “You’re trying to scare me straight?”
    Logan chuckled and shook his head. “You’re too smart for the streets, Justin. You’re too smart to flush your life down the toilet because your parents don’t know shit about how to deal with you. Instead of being bitter and pissed off, you can do something about it. You can prove that you’re better than this.”
    “Hey, my mother obviously doesn’t give a crap about me, ’cause here I am. So what am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go? I have nothing .”
    “Yeah, it sucks. But you know what? You’re in charge now. You’re the one who decides what happens next. I’m just trying to give you some decent advice. This is the first step, sleeping in an alley and depending on the kindness of a stranger to keep you fed. You can spend the rest of your life wallowing and making bad decisions until you finally die young. Or you can get off your ass, brush yourself off and do something about it. Don’t do what I did, kid. Don’t roll over and play dead.”
    Justin looked him up and down with narrowed eyes. “You look like you turned out okay, cop.”
    “Took me a while. I’m offering you a shortcut.”
    Justin glanced away, working his jaw as though either biting back angry words or suppressing tears.
    Logan rose and his knees popped. Withdrawing a prepaid cell phone from his pocket, he tossed it to the boy. “I programmed my number into speed dial number two,” he said. “When you decide you’re going to do something constructive, give me a call.”
    He turned and walked away without looking back, hoping like hell that he’d made an impression. Maybe it’d take a few, or