Table of 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 Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chasing Ellie
Paige P. Horne
Copyright © 2016 Paige P. Horne
All rights reserved.
License Notes:
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Publisher’s Notes:
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without express written permission from the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronical, mechanical, or photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Published: Paige P. Horne 2017
[email protected]
Editor: Paige Maroney Smith
Cover design: [email protected]
Proofreaders: Crystal Jones, Monica Lewis, Julie T.
Dedication: To all the wild, carefree girls. May you always stand out in the crowd.
Also by Paige P. Horne
The Perfect Love Series
Give Me Love
Give Me Perfect Love
Close to Falling
Chasing Fireflies
Table of Contents
Copyright © 2016 Paige P. Horne
Also by Paige P. Horne
Acknowledgements
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 Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
About The Author
Acknowledgements
I’d like to think I could do this all by myself, but the truth is, I can’t. I wouldn’t be able to do what I truly love without the support of my family. My mother in-law, Cathy, thank you for allowing us to drive you crazy so I can follow my dreams. Billy, thank you for listening to me go on and on about my imaginary friends who become more like family to me once I finish a story. I know you love all my time, so thank you for sharing me so I can follow my passion. Crystal, Monica, and Julie, thank you for showing interest in my work. I come up with crazy stuff, and I love talking to you all about it. Thanks for putting up with my insecurities and telling me over and over after you’ve already told me over and over, that it’s good!
Thank you, Mama, for giving me the gift of loving to read, because it is truly a gift. There’s nothing like diving into a good book and letting it take you away.
Thank you to my dad who always seems so in awe of me. Like Cash is to Ellie, you’re my favorite.
Thank you to my boss, Jimmie Scott, for allowing me to have such a great schedule so I can come home and jump on my laptop. I’ve worked there for ten years, and to say you mean a lot to me would be an understatement. You’re family.
Paige, thank you so much for all you do. I can’t imagine what you must think while editing my books! It’s been two years now that we’ve been working together! Time flies when you’re having fun!
Cassy Roop, your work is beautiful. Thank you for sharing your talent and making my books so pretty!
And last but certainly not least, thank you to every single person who has read one of my books. You make this all possible for me. After all, there would be no point in me writing if I didn’t have someone to read it.
Chapter One
Tommy
Dirty streets and empty houses line the sidewalks we’re walking on. Protecting my hands from the bitter cold, I shove them into my coat pockets and watch my Vans to keep my face from the burning wind as we walk to the L train. It’s got to be subzero, and the small flakes that start to fall prove it. My brother, Hudson, offers me the smoke we three are sharing. It’s his last one, and I’m shocked he’s being so generous. I remove my hand and take it, filling my lungs as we turn the corner onto the main road. Jessie, my buddy, kicks his foot, trying to get a piece of paper off that flew out of nowhere.
“Chicago’s street sweepers do a fine job,” Jessie complains.
“Hence all the damn trash,” Hudson says as he snaps his fingers for his nicotine back. We pass by the local basketball court.
“Hey, little shit, you gonna pass me the ball or what?”
I rub under my nose and look over at a bully shoving a kid younger than him. The court isn’t empty, and the big guy seems to have a few friends, but my boys and I like a challenge, and I especially like to beat a punk’s ass. I walk over to the fence.
“Yo, you wanna leave the kid alone, tough guy?” I smile and feel the stin
g as I wrap my fingers around the cold metal link. He peers over with the kid’s shirt bunched in his fist.
“You gotta lot to say on the other side of that fence there.” He lifts his brow before shoving the boy to the ground.
Hudson throws the smoke onto the pavement as he starts to walk to the gate. “He’s gonna regret this,” he mutters.
Jessie and I give each other a look and grin.
“My brother here usually likes to fight people his own size, but I don’t give a shit,” Hudson says, trying to intimidate him because he knows better—I’ll fight anybody.
“Oh, yeah?” the bully questions, walking closer.
“Yeah,” Hudson replies, swinging his fist upward and slamming it into the guy’s face.
I grin before I ram my body into one of his friends, and I hear a loud thump as Jessie tackles another. Warm blood rushes through my icy veins, heating up my anatomy and making me forgot how cold it is.
The amount of punches I receive doesn’t equal to the amount I give. Regardless, I still get a busted lip and a pretty good cut on my face from all the rolling around we do on the court. We win though, and I look behind me at the sound of sirens. The boys in blue pull up, and the punks take off running.
“Come on,” Hudson yells to me as I walk over and grab the ball.
“You gotta start standing up to those punks,” I say to the kid as I toss him the ball.
“Tommy, let’s go!”
I glance behind me at the cop walking closer, and I smirk at the kid before we three take off.
“Hey, you!” he yells.
I look over at a grinning Hudson, and we both run faster with Jessie right behind. We make it to the stairs of the L, skipping steps and running up. I put my hand on the side of the turnstile and jump over as my boy and brother do the same. We bolt through just as the doors start to shut. Out of breath and still high from the fight, I lean with my hands on my knees.
“You’re crazy, Tommy.” Hudson slaps my back.
I cough and start to laugh, looking over my shoulder at Jessie as he shakes his head and takes a seat.
“They almost got us this time,” he says, turning around.
I look past him at the cops standing outside the doors. I give ’em a little wave just as the train starts to go. As Hudson flops down in a seat, I notice everyone looking at us, so I take a bow.
“Glad we could entertain,” I say before I sit beside Hudson, still breathing hard. “Damn cigarettes are gonna kill me.” Leaning back in my seat, I rub my forehead and slide my hat up.
“You think that’s gonna be your problem?” Hudson says.
I shrug and look out the window. “You give Ronnie the rent money?” I ask.
“Yeah, at the beginning of the month.”
“Good, I gotta figure out what I’m going to do for work next week.”
“What happened this time?” Jessie asks me. “They were making some changes.” I shrug.
He smirks. “Dude, when’s the last time you kept a job more than a week?”
“Man, like you can talk. You get canned more than tuna, bitch,” I say over to him.
An older lady scuffs at us, disapproving of my language. Jessie just laughs and shakes his head. We stand as the train stops. A man exits, pulling a cigarette out of his hard pack.
“Yo, can I bum one?”
He doesn’t question my age as he slides another out and hands it to me.
“’Preciate it,” I say as I put it between my lips. “I’ll catch you guys later.”
“Where are you going?” Hudson asks.
I light my smoke while walking backward. “Gotta see a man about a job.” I wink, turning around.
“Good luck with that cut on your face,” Jessie yells back at me. I throw my hand up and give him the middle finger.
*
“Get up.”
I roll over and look at Ronnie, my so-called father. He’s in three-day-old clothes, and like me, he’s got a busted lip. Jeans that have seen better days have holes in the knees and bleach stains on the bottom. His T-shirt looks no better. I put my hand over my nose and scrunch my face as the smell of alcohol rolls off him.
“Why?”
“They’re kicking us out.”
“You didn’t pay the rent?” I sit up and look over at dysfunctional and dirty.
“Haven’t in months.”
He’s blithe, showing he couldn’t give two shits. The man who presses all my buttons leans down and lifts my smokes from the floor beside my bed.
“What the hell, Ronnie. We gave you the money!” I reach over to snatch the pack from his hand. He steps back before I grab them and scratches his head.
“Yeah, well, we’ve got other bills besides rent.”
“You’re kidding me, right? What’s the point in paying them if we don’t have a place to live?” I throw the covers off and sit on the side of the bed, scrubbing my hands down my face in anger.
“Cool your panties, son. It just so happens that your grandmother died.” He leans down and scoops up my lighter to light his smoke.
“What grandmother? What’s that got to do with anything?”
With smoke rolling from his lips, he smiles. “Luck’s on our side, Tommy.” He tosses the pack to me as he goes to walk out. “Pack your shit, boys. We’re moving to bumfuck Egypt.”
I exhale and grab my Camels, feeling that the pack is empty. “Fucking Ronnie. Give me my lighter back!”
*
I rest my head against the cool window of the old bus and see a sign that reads so many miles to Green Ridge. Ronnie snores beside me, and I wonder why the hell he didn’t pass out somewhere else. My ass hurts from sitting so long, and I need a smoke like Ronnie needs a bath. The brakes squeak when the bus comes to a stop. I nudge him, but he’s out cold from taking one too many sips out of his flask.
“Yo, this is our stop,” I tell him. I reach back and see Hudson is asleep too. “Hudson, come on.” I shove his shoulder, and he opens his eyes. “Grab your bag,” I say, standing up. Ronnie still hasn’t moved. I’d leave him here, except I don’t know where his mom’s house is. Hell, he probably doesn’t either.
“Get the hell up, Ronnie.” I pull my bag from above our seat. Ronnie stirs.
“Can’t a man get any rest around here?” he says, unfolding his arms.
“You’re not resting. You passed out, stupid.”
“Hey, don’t talk to your old man like that,” he grumbles.
I roll my eyes as he places his hand on the seat in front of him. He snags the girl’s hair as he lifts himself up and she turns around and gives him the death stare.
“Sorry,” I tell her.
Ronnie looks at the yanked out blonde hair in his hand and shakes it off, obviously not caring.
“You getting off or what?” the driver yells back to us, lifting his brow in the big rearview mirror. I nod and lift my index finger for him to hold on.
With Hudson behind me, we walk to the front of the bus. Climbing down three steps, I hit the road and see how different this place is from back home. Small businesses line the sidewalks with people walking in and out. The doors have bells I can hear from here and some folks are taking leftover Christmas decorations down. A park sits in the middle of the town. I look over at my brother.
“Great. We’ve moved to fucking Mayberry,” Hudson grumbles as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. He reaches for his smokes in his pocket.
“Let me get a Red. I’ll hit you back when I can get me a pack.”
He hands the pack to me, and I pull one out with my teeth, turning around as Ronnie finally rungs out, almost falling on the last step.
“Jesus,” I mutter as the disaster swings his bag over his shoulder. He rubs his hair back, and I wonder what it would be like to have a dad who gave a shit.
Growing up without a stable home on the south side of Chicago can teach you quick that you’re in this alone. No one is going to do anything for you nor do they care to. There’s no sympathy for the
poor where I come from, and no one gives a shit about what kind of parents you have or don’t have. So, you grow balls, and you handle your own.
“Come on, boys. Let’s go visit your uncle.”
I look over at Hudson. “Uncle?” I say.
He shrugs, like this is news to him too.
*
“Well, I’ll be damned, if it isn’t my long-lost brother.” A man steps out onto his porch as we three walk up, each with a bag over our shoulder and tired feet. He looks younger than Ronnie and has the same facial features.
“Goddamn, look at you, Joe. You’ve gained weight,” Ronnie says.
I smirk over at Hudson.
“And you look like you haven’t had a bath since the last time I saw you.”
He’s probably right.
“Screw you,” Ronnie says, grabbing his brother for a hug.
“You must be Tommy and Hudson,” Joe says, letting Ronnie go and looking back at us.
I lift my chin as a woman walks out behind Uncle Joe.
“You ain’t coming in my house looking like that, Ronnie Kingsley.”
“Nice to see you too, Elizabeth.” Ronnie leans into Joe. “See, she hasn’t changed,” he whispers.
“I heard that,” she says, giving him a hard look before peering out at us. “You boys hungry?”
“I could eat,” I speak up.
“Come on in then,” she says.
Ronnie walks past Joe.
“Not you,” she adds, looking like someone shit on her shoe. He stops.
“Aw, come on, Elizabeth. I’m about to starve.”
“Well, you go jump in the creek and bathe that funk off and we’ll talk.”
I chuckle as I walk past her into the house. “The creek?” I mutter to Hudson with a smirk.
“Dude, I feel like we’ve stepped back in time,” he answers.
*
“I bet Tommy can take Hudson,” Uncle Joe says. I laugh as I walk out onto the porch, hearing Ronnie and his brother talk. Ronnie leans back in his chair, balancing on two legs with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth. He’s freshly creek-dipped and has a full stomach just like we do. Aunt Elizabeth kicked us out so she could clean the kitchen and I hear rocks hitting cans out back from our twin cousins and their slingshots.
Chasing Ellie: A Chasing Fireflies Spin Off Page 1