Hard Living

Contents Hard Living Dedication Copyright Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Acknowledgments About the Author Guide Contents Start of Content Hard Living Dedication This book is dedicated to anyone who struggles to find meaning and purpose in life. “Hope is the courage to take one more step, to try one more time, to believe that things will get better”. Copyright Copyright © 2023 Kate Davidson All rights reserved. All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No copyright infringement intended. No claims have been made over songs and/or lyrics written. All credit goes to the original owner. Edited by: KDP Cover Design by: Angela Haddon PROLOGUE MILES 15 Years Ago My alarm buzzes on my bedside table, but I smack the snooze button before rolling onto my stomach. My best friend, Julian, and I stayed up writing a song until midnight at his house, and I crawled in through my bedroom window to avoid waking my parents. Five minutes later, my alarm goes off again, and this time my dad barges through the door and turns it off. “Get up.” I groan. He throws my covers off and grabs my arm, yanking me out of bed. “Jesus, I’m up!” “Did you sneak out again last night?” “No.” My dad smacks my ear hard enough to make it ring. I hold the side of my head and wince. “Try that again,” he says. “Okay, I was at Julian’s finishing up a song for our next demo.” “Even after I told you that if you did it again, I’d throw your ass out of here?” I clench my jaw and nod. My dad towers over me and reeks of Bud Light. His bloodshot eyes burn with anger. “Get ready for school. I’ll deal with you when I get home.” I furrow my eyebrows as my dad walks out of my room, surprised he let me off easy. He usually calls me a worthless piece of shit or socks me a couple of times in the stomach. I do as he says, scramble to change into clean clothes, and then comb back my hair. Shouting comes from the kitchen when I pick up my backpack. My mom is attempting to reason with him. “Where is he going to go?” “He’ll figure it out.” “He’s a child!” “He’s fifteen fucking years old, Marie! All you do is spoil him. It’s time he knows what the real world is like.” I sit on the top step and peer into the kitchen through the stairway railing. My mom crosses her arms. “We are not kicking him out.” My dad throws a frying pan at the pantry door. “Fuck you!” Her eyes widen when he rushes towards her. “This is my house. I choose who lives here and who doesn’t. You don’t have any say in this,” he says. “Then I’m leaving with him and Lucy.” He slaps her cheek, and I sprint downstairs to stand between them. I push him back. My dad laughs. “You think you’re a tough guy?” “Leave her alone.” He cracks his neck and sniffs. Then he pulls his arm back before his fist connects with my jaw, and I stumble backward into my mom’s arms. “Kurt!” “I’m sick of no one in this house respecting me. I work my ass off to put a roof over your head, to feed you, and this is how you treat me?” My dad picks up a plate from the dish rack and smashes it against the counter, shattering it into pieces. He storms out of the kitchen and into the garage. He starts his truck up and peels out of the driveway. “Oh, Miles.” My mom runs over to the freezer to grab a bag of peas. She rests it on my jaw to numb the throbbing pain. “Why are we still here, Mom?” I ask. “I need a little more time, honey. Aunt Ivy is helping me find us a place to live in Cincinnati. We’ll be out of here soon.” I nod and hold the bag of peas. It’s taken many late-night conversations to convince her to leave. She used to never listen to my pleas, reasoning that she loved him too much. That was when he only used her as his punching bag. Last year, he hit me for the first time when I got the courage to stand up for us, and he’s done it plenty of times since. I told her it was only a matter of time before he did the same to my little sister, Lucy. That was enough for my mom to research new places to live. A car honks out front, and my cousin, Carter, and Uncle George are here to drive me to school. My mom holds my face in her hands. “Focus on school and your music. Let me deal with your father.” “He’s dangerous, Mom.” “I know he is. But this is temporary. We’re getting out, okay?” I furrow my eyebrows and nod. I kiss her forehead, then head towards the front door. Lucy is curled up on the couch, listening to music through her headphones. It’s her way of blocking out the constant fighting. She’s two years younger than me but so much brighter. I