Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Scam
    Scam
    Scam
    Ebook67 pages54 minutes

    Scam

    By Lesley Choyce

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Josh’s mother always had issues—with drugs and just getting by. And Josh has always been the one who kept them together. But when his mom dies, he really is on his own and must find a way to look after himself. On his way to his mother’s funeral he meets Lindsay, a cute girl who flirts with him but then steals his wallet. When he confronts her and tells her where he is going, she apologizes, returns his wallet and convinces Josh to let her accompany him to the funeral. So begins a complex relationship that changes both of their lives forever.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9781459811768
    Scam
    Author

    Lesley Choyce

    Lesley Choyce is an award-winning author of more than 100 books of literary fiction, short stories, poetry, creative nonfiction, young adult novels and several books in the Orca Soundings line. His works have been shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the White Pine Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award, among others. Lesley lives in Nova Scotia.

    Read more from Lesley Choyce

    Related to Scam

    Related ebooks

    YA Social Themes For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      White Hat Hacking

      Mar 2, 2021

      There’s a school of thought that says we (or anyone) shouldn’t provide information that budding hackers could use to cause damage or distress. In February the UK’s West Midlands Regional Organized Crime Unit even launched a poster campaign naming and

      1 min read

    • Article

      19 Things You Can't Return to Amazon

      Aug 16, 2021

      Amazon shoppers may believe they have nothing to lose when trying out new products from the online retailer. After all, if you're one of the more than 100 million members of Amazon Prime, you get free shipping. And if you don’t like your impulse purc

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Ins And Outs Of Wireless Security

      Oct 19, 2020

      In the years since its introduction in 1998, Wi-Fi has become a bedrock of most people’s home networking solutions – and that’s why it has become such an important factor for home security. Having your Wi-Fi network hacked can be devastating. It puts

      4 min read

    • Article

      Ann Beattie

      Sep 15, 2017

      I’d started to visit Olivia more often because it was obvious she was lonely. The ALS lady who’d been moved to Hopkins had been Aunt Olivia’s closest friend, leaving aside Merton Hillstead, who actually went home. Even the friendly paperboy who somet

      23 min read

    • Article

      Love, Lust, and More

      Feb 12, 2020

      Fleetwood Mac was singing She is dancing away from you now, and I squirmed in my seat. Kabir was rubbing my thigh as he drove, a gesture I once thought was reserved for me. Bah! I also used to think he only took naked selfies in bed with me, but then

      11 min read

    • Article

      Jude

      May 3, 2018

      Jude
      9 min read

    • Article

      Siphons

      Feb 6, 2020

      Siphons
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Family Plot

      May 7, 2020

      The Family Plot
      10 min read

    • Article

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin

      Jun 26, 2020

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin
      5 min read

    • Article

      From The heart

      Nov 26, 2020

      Dear Sally I was on a ghost hunting tour for charity that my daughter had arranged at Ruthin, Wales. I just kept taking photos even though I couldn’t see anything and when I got home the next day and uploaded them to my PC, I saw what looked like an

      5 min read

    • Article

      David Sedaris

      Sep 15, 2017

      Our house on Emerald Isle, The Sea Section, is divided down the middle, and has an E beside one front door and a W beside the other. The east side is ruled by Hugh, and the bedroom we share is on the top floor. It opens onto a deck that overlooks the

      12 min read

    • Article

      Being Elliot Page

      Jun 2, 2022

      Being Elliot Page
      16 min read

    • Article

      Protagonists

      Jun 18, 2021

      Was the craft of fiction around desire and obstacle taught by men and for men, for men protagonists and men readers? Was fiction part of the patriarchy? Was the craft of fiction part of the patriarchy? The answers were all yes. The post Protagonists

      7 min read

    • Article

      After “The End”

      Oct 10, 2022

      I walked down the road with a hunched back and a wet cigarette in my mouth—the fire had died a while back. My hands were tucked into the pockets of my jacket, and my hair fell over my face, limiting my sight. But I wasn’t really seeing where I was go

      10 min read

    • Article

      I See Dead People

      Jun 6, 2022

      I See Dead People
      3 min read

    • Article

      Love Never Dies

      Jan 19, 2021

      Love Never Dies
      4 min read

    • Article

      Daisy’s Day In The Sun

      Jul 12, 2022

      Daisy’s Day In The Sun
      8 min read

    • Article

      Denise Mina

      Jul 11, 2022

      Denise Mina
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Ones We Sent Away

      Aug 7, 2023

      The Ones We Sent Away
      47 min read

    • Article

      Mr. Bojangles

      Feb 26, 2022

      Mr. Bojangles
      4 min read

    • Article

      The End Of The Line

      Mar 26, 2019

      The End Of The Line
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Charm

      Jul 30, 2020

      The Charm
      5 min read

    • Article

      I’ll Be There

      Oct 25, 2019

      I’ll Be There
      7 min read

    • Article

      Alan Cumming

      Nov 1, 2021

      Alan Cumming
      5 min read

    • Article

      Sophie L Morgan

      Feb 6, 2023

      Sophie L Morgan
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Book

      Oct 30, 2019

      The Book
      20 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Scam

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Scam - Lesley Choyce

      Fifteen

      Chapter One

      I don’t think I ever had it easy as a kid. My dad left when I was only eight. He might not have been the best father, but at least I had one. He and my mom were party people. I was mostly just in the way of their fun. Their madness.

      In her darker moments, my mom admitted that she wasn’t much of a mother. She had her own demons. Plenty of them. Looking back, it seems that she could have pulled herself together, but every time she planned to clean up her act, something would surface that would drag her down. She had tried her share of drugs. Mostly different pills. I was never sure which were the worst. Painkillers sometimes. Antidepressants. But it wasn’t like she got them from a doctor.

      It got worse over the years. I tried to get her to ease off. She tried to quit a few times, but by the time I was sixteen, I guess I knew it wasn’t going to stop. It was wrecking her health. I worried about her all the time. I tried to help. I really did. But it didn’t do any good.

      And then it happened. It was on a Wednesday a week after school was out for the summer. I woke up in our rundown apartment and the sun was shining in. I could hear pigeons out on the window ledges. My mom seemed to be sleeping in, but that wasn’t unusual. But by eleven o’clock I went into her room to check on her. I’d had nightmares about this a million times, but they were never as bad as the real thing.

      She was gone, and there was no bringing her back. End of story.

      Or, in this case, beginning of story.

      It’s hard for most people to imagine my life. Not many people were as alone in the world as I was. I was trying to protect my mom up until then. I was trying to keep her going. I did the cooking. I paid the bills. We had welfare money coming in—not much, but enough to squeak by. When it came time to meet with our social worker, I got her cleaned up. I made us look respectable. Or at least like we were doing okay. I was a good cover-up artist. I knew that if they wanted to, the social workers could have me sent away to a group home. I couldn’t let that happen.

      Mom went along when I took charge like that. That was my part of protecting us—that is, keeping everyone from seeing what basket cases we were. Because of my cover-up, I didn’t really have any friends. And there were no relatives who wanted anything to do with us. Aside from social assistance, we were on our own.

      But now my mom was gone. I was truly on my own. And it really sucked.

      Chapter Two

      Picture this.

      It’s five days after my mom’s death. A warm, sunny summer day. But I feel, like, terrible. How can I feel any other way? When my mom died, our social worker, a nice but frazzled woman named Emma, took over. She handled the cremation and organized a funeral. And now I was walking down the street on my way to that funeral service. Emma said it was the right thing to do for my mom. Not that we ever had anything to do with a church. The people who would be there would not be family or friends. They would be members of that church. The minister there did these services for welfare families when someone died.

      I hated the idea. I didn’t want to go. My mom was dead, and this would be a bunch of strangers trying to do a good deed by showing up for me—Josh Haslett, poor teenage boy who lost his mother to drugs and bad health. Screw them.

      I had almost decided not to go to the service at all. It would only make me feel worse. I was trying not to think about my options. Well, I really didn’t have much in the way of options. I didn’t want to think about my future. Maybe I had no future outside of being placed in a group home. Screw that.

      But then this strange thing happened.

      This girl walked up to me out of the blue. Great day, she says. I love this weather.

      Girls don’t usually stop me on the street and

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1