Read Online Gooseberry Island by Steven Manchester - Free Book Online Page A

Denis pulled out a wad of cash. As if she were a little kid, he bought Lindsey a T-shirt and hat before they started back to their seats. The crowd was so thick, it was impossible not to bounce off of every third person.
    There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Ruggie sat on one of the hard aluminum seats. Lindsey followed, and then her dad sat beside her. Each one of them slid a cooler beneath their seat. With the exception of two bottles of water, Lindsey’s cooler was also filled with cold beer. It was her dad and Ruggie’s reserve stock. The old man told her, “You should have something to drink. It’s going to be a hot one.”
    The opening ceremonies were incredible, almost spiritual. The celebrity drivers were announced and, two-by-two, the pairs came whipping by in the back of brand-new pickup trucks. The crowd cheered for each one. Then the national anthem played loudly over giant speakers.
I pray you’re safe
,
David
, Lindsey thought.
    At the end of the song, two Air Force jets roared directly overhead, leaving Lindsey with an arm full of goose bumps and hair standing on the back of her neck. It was an amazing thing to see. Denis offered Lindsey his first drunken elbow. “Ain’t that something?” he asked.
    She nodded, knowing that the day promised plenty more elbows.
What fun.
    The row of cars circled the track and then lined up. The green flag was dropped, and they roared by with a fury unlike anything on God’s green earth. The sound was humbling. It gave Lindsey more goose bumps. Denis threw his second elbow. “Unbelievable, huh?” he said.
    You have no idea
, she thought.
    As the sun beat down on them, the lead car got a five-car jump and stayed there for almost two hours. For every ten laps completed, Denis replaced another “dead soldier” with a full beer, making Lindsey cringe. It didn’t take long before he was through his cooler and already into the one under Lindsey’s seat. The elbows started flying faster than the stock cars.
    Just like basketball, the race was going to be decided in the last few minutes. It was exciting. People got to their feet. Denis swayed. Seconds later, it was over. Jeff Gordon won—mass exodus.
    As they left the stadium, Denis stumbled along like a blue crab, skirting sideways until hitting something that would right his bearings. Somehow, they all made it back to the campsite.
    The grills were fired up, and everyone settled in. They got caught up with their old friends, while Denis slurred his words beyond recognition. It would have been humiliating, but everyone knew Denis Wood. As marinated venison smoked, the conversation led to drugs and alcohol. Someone should have steered it in a different direction.
    Denis screamed, “So you’re saying that if a man had one year to retire and the poor bastard tested positive for drugs, you’d get rid of him?”
    His words were so garbled that Lindsey could hardly make them out. “I’m saying that there are rules, Dad, and as long as everyone knows the rules, everyone should be held accountable,” she answered, surprised that she was arguing with the same man who’d raised her. The role reversal felt very uncomfortable. Lindsey only talked to him like this because he was loaded and wasn’t going to remember a word of it.
    The old man went off. “What the hell…”
    Lindsey stood. “Dad, let’s talk about this when you’re sober,” she said and headed off.
A quick walk might help me get through the rest of this nightmare.
    When Lindsey returned to the site, everything appeared to be the way she’d left it. The grill was smoking. Seven different conversations were going on at once. The radio blared with country twang. Then she saw him. Her dad was sitting alone on a fold-out chair. He had a plate of food in his lap, but his head was down. A sick feeling gnawed at her gut. She approached him. “Dad, are you all right?” she asked. When the old man lifted his head, Lindsey lost whatever air was left in her