The Wrong Side of the Tracks: A Coming-Age-Story of First Love and True Friendship - Book 1

By Mike Wells

14 year old Stephen moves into a tough neighborhood and soon finds himself in love with Kristine, one of the prettiest girls in his class. Kristine appears to like him, too, but Stephen learns she "belongs" to a big, mean football player who's three years older. Despite warnings from his best friend, Stephen moves ahead anyway. All hell breaks loose. Will Stephen allow himself to be shoved into the background, or will he win the girl he truly loves?

5 Stars! Wrong Side of the Tracks is set in the teenage hell known as high school. -- Cindy Harrison
5 Stars! Very well-written, exciting, and keeps you reading till the end! -- Billie J. Copas

5 Stars! a great book with a lot of turns and twists in it. -- MacKenzie Becker

From Dustin Reviews
The Wrong Side of the Tracks was one of those remarkable reads thatsucked this reader right out of the real world and into Wells fictional story book universe. When one finds such a read, it's magical. From the first paragraph, I was reminded of the 1986 American dramatic film: Stand By Me, directed by Rob Reiner. Based on the novella The Body by Stephen King which starred Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and others. Reading The Wrong Side of the Tracks was like visiting old friends that I hadn't seen in years. Although Stephen King's and Mike Wells stories are quite different, they share a similar overall feel. Wells brought the teenage (main) characters to life in a way that I felt I was actually part of the story itself, although I was a silent observer. Wells descriptions and dialogue are spot on and weaves a very realistic and believable story. The Wrong Side of the Tracks holds true to Wells reputation as a writer of 'unputdownable' novels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mike Wells
• Release date: May 27, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452433448

Mike Wells

Mike Wells is an author of both walking and cycling guides. He has been walking long-distance footpaths for 25 years, after a holiday in New Zealand gave him the long-distance walking bug. Within a few years, he had walked the major British trails, enjoying their range of terrain from straightforward downland tracks through to upland paths and challenging mountain routes. He then ventured into France, walking sections of the Grande Randonnee network (including the GR5 through the Alps from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean), and Italy to explore the Dolomites Alta Via routes. Further afield, he has walked in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Norway and Patagonia. Mike has also been a keen cyclist for over 20 years. After completing various UK Sustrans routes, such as Lon Las Cymru in Wales and the C2C route across northern England, he then moved on to cycling long-distance routes in continental Europe and beyond. These include cycling both the Camino and Ruta de la Plata to Santiago de la Compostela, a traverse of Cuba from end to end, a circumnavigation of Iceland and a trip across Lapland to the North Cape. He has written a series of cycling guides for Cicerone following the great rivers of Europe.

Book preview

The Wrong Side of the Tracks

Book 1

by

Mike Wells

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Mike Wells

http://www.mikewellsbooks.com

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author.

Praise for Mike Wells’ The Wrong Side of the Tracks

5 STARS!  Ben McClean is a modern-day Huck Finn, what an awesome character! I loved him! The Wrong Side of the Tracks was a fabulous page-turner, kept me glued to my Kindle for hours.

5 STARS!  I bought this book for my 14 year old son but read it first out of curiosity; this was a heartfelt story, very moving, and reminded me of what it was like to be a teenager, all the problems, angst, bullying, argh!—what tough years those were, wouldn’t want to repeat them for anything! Well done, Mike Wells! I just downloaded Wild Child and the sequel book, can’t wait to read those, too. Super!

5 STARS! An arrow straight to the heart! Fantastic book!

5 STARS!  My heart was in my throat at several places in this story—the pace was great, read the whole book in 2 sittings. I was sad about the ending but it had a good lesson in it, I think. I’m going to give this to my twin boys to read.

5 STARS! I cannot imagine any reader with a heart and soul not enjoying this story. I have read four other Mike Wells books and, in my humble opinion, this is his best work, the one with the deepest feelings and the story that is most poignant. I would call this book LITERATURE in the purest sense of the word (I am a high school English teacher)

5 STARS! "The stunts the kids were doing with the freight trains scared the hell out of me. We live near railroad tracks and now I wonder what goes on over there—I sure hope nothing like what was in this book The Wrong Side of the Tracks. Anyhow this story was really gripping and really funny, too, I like Mike Wells and now I have 3 of his books on my iPad. He has a really good blog, too, you should check that out.

5 STARS!  I am 15 (boy) and I do not read many books but I liked this book. It was interesting and I was liking Ben from the start he’s a cool character I know a guy kind of like him at school. I love how this ending is I want to read more books by Mike Wells, he is a really good writer.

5 STARS!  First love, adventure, spills and thrills—a colorful cast of characters and a darn good tale, very realistic—I wonder how autobiographical this is? Apparently very much so from what was written on the author’s blog. Excellent book! My advice is to write more like this one.

5 STARS! "I noticed a lot of young people reading this book (in reviews) but I am 72 and I really loved it, brought back so many memories, like one other person said, it really made me remember being that age and also the crushes I had and how I was helpless to do anything about them. I was a very shy kid, so much like Stephen in this story. A spectacular book! I hope Mr. Wells can make The Wrong Side of the Tracks into a movie!

For James

Book 1

Chapter 1.1

Stephen climbed up onto the railroad line and looked down at the bend. The seven o’clock freight train wasn’t in sight. The tracks were desolate, the trees lining both sides still visible in the dusk light.

Stephen was glad. He had been trying to wrench himself away from Ben and Tommy for the past half hour—he didn’t want them to witness what he was about to do.

He knelt down beside one rail and, using a roll of masking tape, attached three new, shiny pennies to the track. Pennies smashed by the train made nice necklaces. At least Stephen thought so. Hopefully one of the pennies would be flattened smoothly enough to make a good one for Kristine Elliot.

Hey, Stephen, a voice called.

Stephen quickly stood up.

It was Ben. And behind Ben, Ben’s little brother, Tommy.

The two sauntered up to Stephen, looking down at the pennies taped to the rail.

Ben touched one with the toe of his bare foot. What are you doing that for? Ben thought smashing pennies on the train tracks was kid stuff.

Makin’ a necklace, Stephen said defensively.

Necklaces are for pussies.

It’s not for me.

Who’s it for, then?

Kristine Elliot.

Ben stared at Stephen. You’re makin’ a necklace for Kristine Elliot?

Stephen has a giiiiirl-friend, Tommy sang. Stephen has a giiiirl-friend!

Shut up, Ben said, lightly swatting Tommy on the head. He was only ten.

Tomorrow is Kristine’s birthday, Stephen said. I just thought I’d give her a birthday present, that’s all. It’s no big deal.

Ben lit up a cigarette and blew out the smoke, studying Stephen’s face. He seemed to see Stephen in a new light. They had often talked about girls, but as Stephen was only 14 and Ben 17, for Stephen it was only in theory. Now Ben saw that he was actually interested in a real, live female.

Ray Hatcher won't like it. You know Kristine is his girlfriend, don’t you?

Ray Hatcher was in the 11th grade. A big oaf who could crush Stephen like a bug. Of course I know that. But he doesn’t own her. Anyway, Kristine and I are just friends.

I get the feeling you and Kristine are more than friends.

Stephen felt himself blushing. I don’t know….maybe.

You better watch your ass, Stephen.

Stephen didn’t say anything. Ben watched him another moment, finishing his cigarette. He threw the butt down on the railroad ties and ground it out with the heel of his bare foot.

Awesome, Tommy said.

This always impressed Tommy. In warm weather, Ben never wore shoes except when he had to, like to go to school. He loved the outdoors. He had calluses on the bottoms of his feet that were so thick they were almost like sandals, so he said.

Well, Ben said, if you’re going to make a necklace, at least do it right. He stepped over to the rail and peered down at the pennies in the semi-dark. You put on too much tape on that one...

Ben made some adjustments, pulling up some of the tape. If you put on too much, the penny would get run over too many times and be pulverized into a thin slice of copper foil, no good for anything.

Tommy screamed so loudly and unexpectedly that Stephen started. "Train! It’s coming, it’s coming!"

Stephen and Ben turned and looked down the tracks. It was only an automobile that had stopped on the Tomlinson Pike crossing. It continued on its way.

That’s not the train, you little fart. Ben pushed his little brother over with a shove of his foot. Tommy fell on his side. He lay there for a few seconds, until he realized the iron rail was bisecting his midsection, then leaped up and scrambled into the ditch that ran alongside the tracks.

What a pussy, Ben said, laughing. Tommy was deathly afraid of the train. He had to work up his nerve to put his head down against the tracks to listen for it, even when the train was nowhere in sight.

"I’m not a pussy," Tommy said, though Stephen doubted that the boy even knew what the word meant. Thrusting out his lower lip in defiance, Tommy climbed back up onto the tracks and stood next to Stephen and Ben.

Go home, Ben ordered.

Tommy stubbornly shook his head.

Go home. This is no place for little kids.

I’m not a little kid. Anyway, you’re s’posed to be watching me.

Ben gave Stephen a frustrated look. Ben’s mother and father both worked, and he was supposed to look after Tommy until one of them came home, which could be at any hour. Ben’s father was a construction worker and usually came home drunk, if at all. His mother supposedly had a job at a store, but Stephen half-wondered if she was a prostitute. She sometimes came home and cooked supper, then was off again if her husband wasn’t home, wearing gaudy makeup and tight-fitting clothes.

If you’re not a kid, Ben said to Tommy, then you don’t need nobody to look after you. So just go home.

No. He stuck out his chest. I’m staying here with you guys.

Ben took a menacing step towards Tommy, and the boy backed away. Mama said you better not hit me again!

Ben gritted his teeth, but then seemed to regain control of himself. He lowered his voice to almost a whisper. You want to end up like Eddie Bumpus, Tommy?

Tommy’s skin turned so pale his freckles seemed to be penciled onto his face. Eddie Bumpus was an eight year old boy who had been run over by the train. The grisly event had happened about five years ago, long before Stephen had moved into the neighborhood, but he had heard the story so many times he felt like he had been there himself. Eddie Bumpus had been trying to find Sparky, his cocker spaniel. Instead, Eddie had gotten run over himself. All the local kids had rushed to the scene, and most of them had shared what they had witnessed with Stephen in graphic detail. One particularly troubling image was that Eddie’s legs had been sliced so cleanly in two that, from the side, they looked like one of those diagrams in a medical book, where you can see layers of bone, muscle, skin... This particular description, in fact, had come from Ben.

You’re just trying to scare me, Tommy said.

"Just go home!" Ben shouted, unable to fight his anger any longer.

Tommy stuck out his lower lip again. Why don’t you try and make me?

Ben’s right hand shot out and slapped Tommy hard this time. The