Amazon
Scratchin' on the Eight Ball
Category:
Young Adult/Teen
ISBN-10: 0595129714
Type: Fiction
ISBN-13: 9780595129713
Reason Nelson, a young man living in Lincoln, Nebraska, struggles with drugs, alcohol, and doing what's right in the face of a world that tells him everything but what he needs to hear. He becomes embroiled in a police cover-up that, if the truth was ever discovered, could uproot the entire city.
Excerpt
Chapter One
"It's a bust!" shouted the young boy as he ran through the dark room, clouds of pot smoke drifting in the air around him.
Seconds later, the front door burst open and dozens of stoned kids madly scattered as officers stormed into the party house. Scrambling away from the cops, two girls collided with a pole lamp and the lights went out. Running blindly, one boy kicked and shattered a bong situated on the hardwood floor. Another boy tripped over a case of beer, scattering ruptured cans in all directions. Wielding flashlights like light sabers, several cops leaped over the hissing cans in pursuit of a large man running toward the kitchen. As their beams pierced the darkness behind him, the man passed through a screen door and vanished into the night.
In the far corner of the dark party room, 13-year-old Reason Nelson realized he had to get out of the place. Totally bombed on Kool-aid mixed with Everclear, he clumsily lurched to his feet. Scooping up a jean jacket draped over the arm of his chair, Reason set his sights on the kitchen doorway. He then began to weave his way across the room.
He'd taken less than a dozen unsteady steps, when a beam of light stabbed him in the eyes. Reason froze.
The officer grinned at the sight of the small, seemingly harm- less, long-haired kid standing there before him. He gasped in surprise, however, when Reason lunged at him and swatted the flashlight out of his hand. Catching a glimpse of the black Harley T-shirt Reason wore, the cop bent down to retrieve his light.
Reason stumbled past him and into the kitchen. Still clutching the jean jacket, he hurled himself through the flimsy back door. Landing on the porch beyond, he rolled down the steps and into the yard.
Clenching one sleeve of the jacket between his teeth, Reason crawled forward and bumped heads with a German shepherd chained to a doghouse. The dog glanced at him, yet continued to gnaw on a bone. Offering him a drunken grin, Reason crawled into the doghouse and promptly passed out.
Moments later, the furious officer charged outside. He was three feet from the porch when the shepherd lunged at him, grazing the front of his trousers with his teeth. The cop leaped back, grateful for the short chain on the dog. He then retreated up the stairs, abandoning his search.
Inside the house, seated on the living room floor, a group of kids received citations from four officers. A black detective stood in one corner of the room, examining a backpack. In the pack, he discovered several bags containing a white powdery substance. He smiled as he snapped a set of handcuffs on an older boy standing beside the backpack.
He smiled again as he said, "This party is over."
|
