Page 1 of Out to Find Freedom

Chapter One

Emerson

When my sixty-year-old father died six months ago, it was the day I stopped living. It honestly felt like my world ended in that ambulance when he took his last breath. He’d been my father, my friend, and my confidant all rolled into one.

Life wasn’t fair.

My heart still ached. Like, with every breath I took, my chest compressed painfully, as if wrapped tightly by a boa constrictor.

I didn’t remember my mother. She passed away when I was two from a snake bite. Living out on a property meant we’d been too far away to get help. By the time the ambulance arrived, she was gone. At least, that was what my dad told me, and he was a man I believed with my whole heart.

When dad passed, I had no one except Gloria, my mum’s younger sister who was twenty-five—eight years older than I was—and her sleazy boyfriend, Lenny, who was around the same age as Gloria. I didn’t actually know because I didn’t really care. Dad and I had nothing to do with Gloria. I knew nothing about the woman beyond what Dad had told me. That she was a young fool, and always in trouble with the law after her and Mum’s parents died a year apart of one another.

I couldn’t even bring myself to call her my aunt. To me, she wasn’t family. I only had one person who was, and he was gone.

Thankfully, my estranged family kept to themselves and let me mourn. My routine was set in stone since the day I moved in with them. Go to school, back to the house, make myself dinner, eat it in my room, study, and go to sleep.

When I’d first walked through their door, they’d told me I could do what I wanted, but I had to be home by nine, in bed by ten, and make sure I cleaned up after myself. Gloria then went on with a bored expression and said she wasn’t my slave, so I would be making my own meals. Which I was fine with. I’d been independent for many years since Dad would be busy taking care of the land on our fifty acres.

One year and I could be out of the place.

One year and I would be old enough to live on my own. I was going to use the money Dad’s life insurance paid out, also what he had in his bank account, and then there was the amount I had saved from helping him out around the property, to get away from them.

Then in seven years, I would have access to my inheritance.

Dad wasn’t stupid. He’d known how to invest his money, and it had paid off. By the time I turned twenty-five, I would be a millionaire.

Only I would have given it all up,allthe money, if I could have kept my father with me.

“Hey, how about we head to the lake and chat?”

I wanted to groan, but I withheld it and turned to Donny. Why I agreed to a date in the first place, I didn’t know. I was seriously thinking of getting my sanity checked. Though, I did have a little red-haired devil sitting on my shoulder, which often encouraged me to do some daft shit. Harriet White, a close friend from my new school, had talked me into giving Donny a chance. In fact, she’d begged me to because he was best mates with Walt, the guy she was interested in.

However, with Donny bringing up the lake, the known make-out place, I knew he only wanted one thing, and I wasn’t about to give it to him.

“No thanks. I’m not feeling the best.” I had to sit through an hour of him talking about football. I was about ready to fall asleep. “I only live up the road. Do you think you could take me home?”

He frowned. “I thought you were staying at Harriet’s?”

Damn, I was supposed to. I even dropped my bag off at her place, but right then I didn’t want to face her and all her questions.

“Yes, but if I am coming down with something, I don’t want to stay there. I’ll text her.” I took out my phone and waved it in my hand.

“Fine.” He sighed.

Me: Sorry, can’t stay. Not feeling well. Must have ate something bad.

Harriet: WHAT? No way, you have to tell me how it went.

Me: Tomorrow at school. Promise.

Harriet: I’m eye rolling so hard right now.

I didn’t bother replying since Donny was already driving up my street. “Just in the next block, number eight.”

He hummed under his breath. When he pulled up, he turned off his car. “I’ll walk you in.”

That was sweet but unnecessary. “You don’t have to—”

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