Read Foolproof for Free Online

afraid, so you got me to do it. You sent me to do some scumbag work for some d-bag drug dealer you used to sleep with, and maybe are still sleeping with, because what the hell do I know? What do I know about you at all?” I downshift and floor the gas pedal, burying the tach. “Well, I know this. If you don’t have a car, you can’t run drugs.” I pull into the fast lane and blow past three cars.
    Cyn grabs the dash. “Slow down!”
    The speedometer reads twenty over.
    “I mean it, Daniel. Slow this car down!”
    I shift and grind my foot into the gas pedal. Ahead, blue and red lights start to flash.
    Cyn starts to cry.
    As I go through the speed trap, the speedometer reads forty over. Cops are jumping into their cars, and sirens are blaring. I let the car slow to a crawl and pull over to the side.
    Cyn looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. She says, “You have no idea what you just did.”

Chapter Ten
    Cyn is a no-show at school the next day, and she ignores my texts. Last night, she was so mad she wouldn’t speak to me. The car got impounded for seven days. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting the impound fee to be so expensive. But if Dove wants the car, he can pay the fee. Or the car can sit in the impound lot until it gets sold for non-payment. I really do not care. And I don’t care that I got a speeding ticket that will take me a year to pay. Cyn’s not driving anywhere for a while—that’s what’s important.
    After school I’m heading out to the bus loop when I hear a horn toot and see Megan pulling up beside me. I jump in her car.
    “Shh,” Megan says, motioning to the backseat. I turn to see Livy asleep in her car seat. One of her shoes has fallen off—that kid cannot keep both shoes on when she’s in her car seat. Megan talks as she drives. “I had my last class yesterday, so Livy and I had the day together to celebrate. She wanted to surprise you and give you a ride home after school.” Megan looks in her rearview mirror. “I must have worn her out at the playground. She was asleep as soon as I put her in her seat.”
    Livy’s hair is tousled from being outside, and her cheeks are pink. I say, “I’m glad you guys could hang out.”
    Megan nods. “I didn’t think I’d ever be finished school. I don’t know what I’d do without Mom and you.”
    I must look as surprised as I feel because she says, “I know, I know. I never acknowledge all your help with Livy.”
    “Well,” I say, “the time she puked mac and cheese all down my shirt exceeded the job description. And when she stuck the Smartie up her nose and I had to go after it with tweezers.”
    “You did that too when you were a little kid. You cried so hard you had chocolate-colored snot running out of your nose. It completely put me off Smarties.” Megan glances again in her rearview mirror. “But you won’t be on tweezer detail much longer. I got a job. I’m getting my own place.”
    She’s moving out? That means I can take a leak without first moving a kiddie seat off the toilet. I swallow. That means Livy won’t be there.
    I say, “Where?”
    “Well, not here. I’ll be working downtown, so I got a suite on the east side.”
    “Mom works downtown. She commutes from here.”
    “She spends hours on the bus each day. I can’t do that—I’d never see Livy. The place I found is less than half an hour from work, and there’s a daycare close by. There’s even a little park with a playground.”
    “It sounds like a done deal.”
    “I sure hope so.” She pats her handbag. “I’ve saved enough tips from my salon clients for first and last month’s rent.” She looks at me. “You could sound a bit more excited for me.”
    “I am, I guess. But isn’t the east side kind of rough?”
    “I’ll lock my door, obviously.”
    “Obviously. But what about walking to your apartment? What about Livy playing at the park?”
    “Shit goes down everywhere, Daniel. It’s not like Meridian is some magic kingdom.” She rolls