Unspeakable Read Online Free PDF

like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, from his mother’s favorite movie. In his new, PG-rated version, Dave and the Kid were wronged by characters patterned after Collin’s unkind classmates. These villains always met a gruesome end. It was usually a somewhat comical, justified demise, too—like something out of Willy Wonka .
    Once in a while, Collin would run away to a little shack by Shilshole Bay, which he’d discovered during a visit to Seattle years ago. He and his mom had been walking along some beach property his grandfather owned. In the woods, he’d found the shed, which he’d cleaned out and turned into a fort over the weekend. When he’d returned to Seattle earlier this year, he’d been amazed to see the place still standing. He’d cleaned it out again and bought a lock for the door. Whenever it got too awful at home, he’d take the bus to Shilshole and camp out in the little shack. He felt safe there—away from his mother’s creepy friends.
    His mom had started seeing Chance about four months ago, and he’d moved in with them shortly after that. She’d made Collin swear not to tell his grandparents about their new lodger. Chance had long, dirty gray hair and a neck tattoo. Plus he always smelled like stale cigarettes. Collin did his best to avoid him, which was easy, because Chance slept all day and went out most nights. But his seedy friends would drop by the house at all hours. It didn’t take long for Collin to figure out Chance was a drug dealer. He was also a damn thief. A week after Chance moved in, Collin’s People’s Choice Award disappeared from the bookshelf in his bedroom. Collin confronted his mom, who swore Chance would never steal from them. Yeah, right . If it wasn’t Chance, it was one of his scuzzy, drug-addict friends who had made off with the lead crystal prize. Collin figured his award must have ended up in some pawnshop or on eBay.
    Chance was always inviting over his buddies to party—as if the place were his. Those were the nights Collin felt safer in a sleeping bag in a shack in the middle of the woods.
    He wished he were there now—instead of tossing and turning and trying to ignore the noise downstairs. They all roared with laughter about something. Collin pulled the sheet down from over his head to squint at the digital clock on his nightstand: 1:36 AM .
    Downstairs, his mother shushed the others and whispered something.
    â€œOh, who gives a shit?” he heard Chance reply. “He doesn’t have school in the morning. It’s summer. The smart-ass ex-movie-star can sleep late tomorrow. . . .”
    Collin listened to them laugh about something else. Then there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and after a few moments, his bedroom door yawned open. Collin sat up and frowned at the silhouette in the doorway.
    â€œI thought that last round of laughter might have woken you,” his mother said. “Chance said the funniest thing about—”
    â€œI’ve been trying to fall asleep for the last hour,” Collin interrupted. “But I can’t, because of all the stupid noise downstairs. When are they leaving?”
    She shrugged. “I wish they’d leave, too. But I can’t exactly kick them out.”
    â€œYes, you can, it’s your house. How many people are down there anyway?”
    â€œJust Chance and me and four of our friends,” she replied.
    â€œThey’re his friends, not yours,” Collin said. “And they’re scumbags, let’s face it.”
    With a sigh, she strolled into the room. He could see she had a bottle of pills in her hand. From the hallway light, he also saw the lines on her face. Blond and petite, she used to be so pretty. Now she looked kind of beat up and wore way too much makeup. She had on a black T-shirt and jeans. She kept touching her nose and her lips, a sure sign that she’d just recently snorted some