Homeless #1

By Christopher Lee Cousino

First story in the Homeless series!

Randy Hudson has it all. A wonderful family, beautiful home, and a successful, thriving business. But Randy's oldest daughter, Rose, is turning his perfect world upside down. Even worse than Rose's disrespectful new attitude is her disrespectful new boyfriend, Mark. There is something off about the arrogant teenage boy...and Randy won't rest until he finds out what.

Get started on the first story in the Homeless Short Story Series. This is the first story of 7 that were originally published as the novel HOMELESS (now a collection called HOMELESS: Origins). From here on out, the series will continue as ongoing connected individual stories. Story Arcs containing a few stories will be grouped together and released as a "novel". It will be much like comic books, where individual issues that make up a story arc are grouped together for a graphic novel. See Christopher Lee Cousino's website for more info.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Lee Cousino
• Release date: Aug 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370643134

Christopher Lee Cousino

By day, Christopher Lee Cousino is a Licensed Practical Nurse at a group home for special needs adults. But by night, he morphs into Super Writer, an author with the ability to lose sleep and create fiction for your enjoyment. He is hard at work on many novels and stories, so stay tuned. Christopher lives in Hudsonville, Michigan with his beautiful wife, three wonderful children, two free-loading cats, and his brave, loyal chocolate lab. www.christopherleecousino.com

Book preview

HOMELESS

By Christopher Lee Cousino

HOMELESS #1

Homeless Short Story Series

By

Christopher Lee Cousino

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY:

BSIC Publishing on SMASHWORDS

Homeless #1

Homeless Short Story Series

Copyright © 2016 by Christopher Lee Cousino

SMASHWORDS Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

HOMELESS is a work of fiction.

Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

FOR MOM

THE ONLY SUPERHERO I’VE EVER KNOWN, AND ALWAYS AND FOREVER, MY FAVORITE ONE.

Billie Sue Cousino

R.I.P.

10/21/54-----7/16/11

Show me a hero and I shall write you a tragedy

Unknown

Chapter 1

I am seventeen years old and you cannot tell me what to do! I’m not some damn baby anymore, Daddy, and I’m going out with Mark whether you like it or not!

Don’t you speak to me that way, Rose! You will obey me and your mother’s rules as long as you live under our roof! Randy Hudson said as he followed his daughter through their home as she grabbed her purse, coat, and cell phone.

Well maybe I won’t live under your roof anymore! Mark has his own place and would love to have me move in with him. You and Mom can go to hell! Rose screamed.

Then she spun around, opened the door and sprinted down the walkway to the waiting car of her boyfriend Mark. Randy stood in the doorway and yelled his oldest daughter’s name, then locked eyes with her boyfriend. He gave the weasel the worst look he could muster.

Randy hoped that it conveyed he would rip the punk’s heart out if he hurt his little girl. But the smug son of a bitch just smiled as Rose buried her face in Mark’s shoulder. Then they sped off. Randy hung his head a minute, then shut the door and headed back inside.

Randy knew there was something off about that little bastard. Didn’t matter much though, his daughter still wanted to spend all her time with Mark. Hopefully, Rose would come back before too late, or he’d have to go looking for her. Sighing, Randy rubbed his temples, hoping it would dull the pain of too much worrying about his quickly growing daughter. He knew she thought she knew everything there was to know about life and love, but she didn’t. She was still just a baby, his baby…one of them at least.

Randy smiled as he walked into the kitchen and saw his younger daughter Daffodil working on homework at the table. At thirteen she was so much more level headed and mature than Rose, maybe even more than him. She was always the calm in the storm called Rose.

Hey Daffy, what are ya workin’ on? He asked.

Daffy had always been Randy’s nickname for Daffodil, since the day she was born.

"A little math,