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    Easy Street
    Easy Street
    Easy Street
    Ebook74 pages52 minutes

    Easy Street

    By Jeff Ross

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Three years ago Rob’s brother, Adam, was sent to jail for his part in the death of a girl who overdosed at a rave.

    But now that he has been released, Rob hopes that things can go back to the way they used to be. He soon realizes this is impossible. His brother has changed, the times have changed, and Rob has changed. Adam tells his mom and brother that he is planning to apply to a college in Toronto. He has already discovered how difficult it can be for someone with a criminal record to land a job and thinks he needs to get some education under his belt. He invites Rob to go on a road trip to the city to check out the college. However, Rob suspects that Adam hasn’t asked him along just for company. Adam still believes that there’s an easy way to get to where he wants to be. And if Rob can’t find a way to save Adam from himself, he just might go down with him.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateJan 28, 2020
    ISBN9781459824034
    Easy Street
    Author

    Jeff Ross

    Jeff Ross is the author of several novels for young adults including several titles in the Orca Soundings and Orca Sports series. He teaches scriptwriting and English at Algonquin College in Ottawa.

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      Book preview

      Easy Street - Jeff Ross

      Fourteen

      Chapter One

      There was a delay in Adam’s release. We were told this is common. Not by the guards or officials at the prison, but by a woman there to collect her husband.

      He’s been up in here before, she said. But this is the last time. As far as I’m concerned anyhow. He gets himself put up in here again, he’ll get out to find no one waiting.

      My mom smiled at her and carried on a brief, stilted conversation before the woman recognized someone and changed seats.

      After that we sat in silence in the little waiting room. It wasn’t like the movies. Big doors did not slowly open. No one was slipping into a fast car and tearing off toward freedom. Mom and I had arrived in our red VW Golf, the same car we’d had since Adam and I were kids. We’d filled out a bunch of paperwork, then been told to wait. People came and went. At one point a van pulled up outside, and six men in orange jumpsuits, all cuffed together, were paraded through the waiting area and into the darkness of the prison.

      This place… Mom began, then lowered her voice as though someone might be offended. This place is horrible.

      When Adam finally arrived it was without any fanfare. He was led to the reception desk and uncuffed. A guard dropped a sheet of paper and a pen in front of him. Adam signed wherever the guard placed his finger.

      Releasing prisoner! the guard yelled, handing Adam a see-through bag of clothing.

      Prisoner released! a guard called back.

      And that was it. Adam walked past the desk and into the dim light of the waiting room.

      Mom looked like she wanted to hug him, but other men were being released at the same time. Big men whose eyes already seemed to be searching for the next hustle in this new world of freedom. Adam didn’t look like he wanted to be hugged anyway.

      Hey, Adam said. He was thinner but bigger at the same time. I guess leaner.

      Oh, Adam, Mom said. She looked like she might cry, so we turned her around, and the three of us walked out of there into the blue glow of early evening.

      What took so long? Mom asked when we were in the car. I’d slipped into the back seat, and before I knew what was happening, Adam had as well.

      I don’t know. They don’t tell you much in there, Adam replied.

      Isn’t someone going to ride up here with me? It was an hour-and-a-half drive from the prison to our house.

      I’m good, Adam said. He pulled his hoodie out of the clear bag and pushed it against the window. Then he rested his head on it.

      I guess I will, I said. I jumped out of the car and got into the front passenger seat.

      No one said anything for a while. Then we were on the highway, and evening was changing to night.

      So what are your plans? Mom asked.

      I don’t know, Adam replied.

      I glanced back. He was staring out the window. I remembered all the trips we’d taken before. Adam could always fall asleep in the car, but I never could. I was always too jumpy. I wanted to see everything and was freaked out that something was going to happen and I would miss it. Adam could sleep anywhere. Anytime.

      You’re going to need some, said Mom. Plans, that is. You’re not just coming back home to do nothing. I could see her hands tightening on the steering wheel. She’d talked a lot about how things were going to be different. How she needed to be around more to help steer her boys. She’d tried dating a little, but all the guys had seemed uninterested in us and were gone before they could plant any kind of roots. It had felt like it was just the two of us against the world over the past couple of years.

      Now we were three again.

      Uh-huh, Adam grunted.

      I got you an appointment with your career counselor tomorrow, said Mom. Adam didn’t respond. "He sees a couple of options for you right now. One, you finish off high school, which is something that’s going to happen one way or another, and then find a job. He recommends considering the trades. Lots of demand for those. Or you

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