Read Online Flee by Keely James - Free Book Online Page A

the one who’s lucky. If there’s any good in me, it’s come from you.” I looked down at my sandwich, going over her words in my head. She'd brought up a lot of good points for which I didn’t have answers. I wished I was as sure of myself as she was of me. I turned down my music and placed the offending forks in the sink. Picking up my sandwich, I glanced at her shopping bags.
    â€œWhy were you shopping at babyGap?” Mom looked down at the bags, smiling, and then back up at me.
    â€œWell, on my way to the store this morning I passed this girl panhandling on the corner of Flint Canyon and MoPac. She was young and miserable looking and strung-out. I don’t know on what. The saddest part was she was very pregnant. It broke my heart. I gave her some money, not much. I hope she used it to feed herself. And then I decided to buy her some clothes and things for the baby. I’m going to put together a care package, include some food and gift cards and some names and addresses of places here in town where she can go for some help. I’ll need to do a little research and calling around on that. And I hope I can find her again tomorrow to make my delivery.” Mom’s face was animated, as it always was when she had a cause.
    â€œAnd you accuse me of wearing my heart on my sleeve? I’m proud of you, though. It’s the right thing to do.” Her eyes were contemplative. I knew she was thinking it was not enough. She wouldn’t let her conscience be eased until every drug addict she found was clean and healthy.
    â€œDo you think, Mateo, that your father would let me continue to work on the Clean Water Initiative?” She looked anxious. I could tell this had been on her mind. It was a good sign. She was beginning to see past us, past our circumstances, and do what she did best, which was focusing on the needs of others. She didn’t do well when she wasn’t helping people.
    â€œI don’t see why not.” I thought for a minute and then continued. “It’s good PR for the family, and he’s always been behind it one hundred percent. You wouldn’t even have to interact with him at all, just the board. He can continue to consider us dead to him, and you can continue to do good works in his name. I gotta say, Mom, you’re getting the short end of the stick on that.”
    â€œIt’s okay. My consolation is knowing more and more people across Mexico will have safe drinking water. I don’t care who gets credit. It’s never been about that for me. And when we’re done with Mexico, we’ll move on to South America or maybe Africa.”
    â€œDream big, Mom. I’m with you all the way.” I picked up my plate, careful to balance the overloaded sandwich on it. Doodles was right at my heels, hoping for the spill I was trying to avoid. “Why don’t you contact the board tomorrow and see what happens? The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a good idea. I bet Dad is maintaining appearances. I’m sure he’s come up with some cover story for why we’re here. You could probably continue all of your volunteer work by phone and computer. Why didn’t I think of that before?”
    â€œYou’ve had a lot on your mind, Mateo. We both have.” Mom moved to the fridge, replacing the sliced turkey and mustard I had left on the countertop.
    â€œStop, Mom, I’ll get that. Just let me eat first. I’m starving.” She narrowed her eyes and scowled at me. “Okay, I mean I’m really, really hungry.”
    Mom was a stickler for proper adjectives. She firmly believed that no one as privileged as we were should ever use words such as starving or dying of thirst. She had helped people who were truly both. She smiled at me, though, and continued to clean up my mess.
    â€œI don’t mind doing this for you. You get up before dawn, go running, attend school all day and football