Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Taking Sides
    Taking Sides
    Taking Sides
    Ebook73 pages51 minutes

    Taking Sides

    By Patrick Jones

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Todd and Tina Morgan were both there the night their mother died. They both saw their father kill her. But they can't agree on what actually happened. To Tina, their father is a murderer. Their mother was trying to defend herself. To Todd, their father is a protector. He saved Todd and Tina when their mother turned a knife on them.

    Now their father is on the run. Todd and Tina are in separate foster placements. Todd knows there's only one way to clear his dad's name: get Tina to change her story. Get her to tell the truth. But the truth may not be as simple as Todd thought. Whose story is right? And whose side should Todd really be on?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLerner Publishing
    Release dateJan 1, 2015
    ISBN9781467777032
    Taking Sides
    Author

    Patrick Jones

    Patrick Jones lives in Minneapolis and is the author of many novels including the Support and Defend series. A former librarian, Jones received lifetime achievement awards from the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association.

    Read more from Patrick Jones

    Related to Taking Sides

    Related ebooks

    YA Coming of Age For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Flynns’ Effect

      Aug 11, 2019

      The Flynns’ Effect
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Spirit Of Power

      Jan 24, 2020

      A Spirit Of Power
      6 min read

    • Article

      'Promise I won't die'

      Feb 8, 2024

      'Promise I won't die'
      4 min read

    • Article

      Teddy And Roosevelt

      Jun 10, 2023

      They call it Friends Group. But there are no friends, and there is no group. Just me, a state-funded social worker, and another sixth-grader, the kids call Sweaty Teddy. We sit in a converted cinderblock office between the furnace and the chapel and

      16 min read

    • Article

      Someone To Watch OVER ME

      Jun 15, 2022

      Someone To Watch OVER ME
      9 min read

    • Article

      Fatherhood at 1:10AM

      Dec 2, 2019

      Fatherhood at 1:10AM
      9 min read

    • Article

      Teddy And Roosevelt

      Jan 10, 2021

      They call it Friends Group. But there are no friends, and there is no group. Just me, a state-funded Social Worker, and another sixth grader the kids call Sweaty Teddy. We sit in a converted cinderblock office between the furnace and the chapel and l

      16 min read

    • Article

      Life After Death

      May 27, 2022

      Life After Death
      14 min read

    • Article

      How Wrong I Was…

      Aug 17, 2023

      How Wrong I Was…
      6 min read

    • Article

      Famous People

      Mar 1, 2022

      Famous People
      15 min read

    • Article

      The MEN we LOVED and LOST

      Oct 30, 2019

      The MEN we LOVED and LOST
      8 min read

    • Article

      Bad-Time Dimitri

      Feb 3, 2022

      Bad-Time Dimitri
      16 min read

    • Article

      Heavy Heart

      Feb 5, 2022

      Heavy Heart
      6 min read

    • Article

      Six Million Reasons

      Jul 9, 2021

      Six Million Reasons
      6 min read

    • Article

      Riccardo

      Jun 14, 2022

      My understanding of my family’s religion was that we didn’t have to go to church if we didn’t want to and that our belief in God was tenuous at best. I grasped the seventh principle, “the interconnected web of all existence,” and I understood the hum

      14 min read

    • Article

      POISON ON Pink Paper

      Jan 2, 2020

      POISON ON Pink Paper
      8 min read

    • Article

      This Comedian Says Words Often Fail During Tragedy. And That's OK

      Oct 1, 2023

      Rob Delaney found out his youngest son Henry had brain cancer. This is a story about the saddest of places life can take you, but it's also about the biggest of loves and how to scrape up bits of joy.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      Quantum Radio

      Feb 22, 2023

      Quantum Radio
      5 min read

    • Article

      Hell Is A City in Texas

      Jun 14, 2021

      Hell Is A City in Texas
      10 min read

    • Article

      Two Wrongful Convictions. One Happy Marriage.

      Dec 1, 2017

      This article was published in collaboration with Vice. In many ways, Peter Pringle and Sunny Jacobs were destined for each other. The two experienced a bizarrely similar injustice: Both were convicted of murdering police officers and sentenced to de

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Power Of Love

      Jan 25, 2024

      The Power Of Love
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Power Of Love

      Jan 25, 2024

      The Power Of Love
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Taking Sides

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Taking Sides - Patrick Jones

      —P.J.

      1

      It’s my mother. He killed her.

      Todd resisted the urge to rip the phone from his sister’s hand. It was too late for that. He stayed where he was, kneeling on the blood-spattered kitchen floor, listening to Tina’s teary side of the conversation with the 911 operator.

      Yes, my father, she said. Todd’s hands tightened around the towel he held. He glared at his sister, but she was turned away from him, her ear pressed hard against the phone.

      Then: We’re safe—he’s gone. Send help, please.

      A pause. Tina’s breath, coming in rough half-sobs, was the only sound in the kitchen.

      My brother’s here with me.

      Another pause. What could they be asking her?

      He’s—he’s cleaning up the blood.

      Another pause—another question?

      What about my dad? Tina asked. Todd’s father was gone. The thought scared him. Even more than the lifeless body of their mother, sprawled on the floor beside him.

      OK, Tina said shakily into the phone. She ended the call and wrapped her arms around her raised knees. They’re coming, she told Todd. The police. She was shaking so hard she dropped her phone.

      You didn’t have to make that call, Tina, Todd said quietly.

      "She’s lying on the floor dead, Todd!"

      The police can’t change that, Todd shot back. No one could change what had just happened. The words that had sparked the fight. The knife in his mother’s hand, pointed at her husband and children. His father’s quick lunge and twist.

      Todd felt sick to his stomach: the smell of the blood. Look, we just need to stay calm. It’s going to be OK.

      Tina let out a wail. Nothing is ever going to be OK again.

      Todd didn’t argue. He couldn’t look at her, or at their mother’s body. He had to focus. Closing his eyes, he turned his thoughts to his father: an innocent man on the run. Dad, I’m with you. I’m on your side.

      2

      Todd finished cleaning the blood from around his mother’s prone body. His dad wouldn’t like anyone to visit his house, even the police, and have it be such a mess. Tina was still curled up in a tiny ball in the corner. And crying, so much crying. Todd knew Dad wouldn’t approve.

      Todd carried the blood-soaked towel to the washer in the basement. Dumped in detergent. Turned the temperature to hot. He had a vague memory of his mom doing that in the past. This certainly wasn’t the first time that his parents’ arguments had left someone bloody. Once the cycle started, he returned to the kitchen, where Tina rocked back and forth like a baby.

      Grabbing a garbage bag from the utility closet, he headed to the dining room. Started picking up the bits of broken china that littered the floor. It had been good china—his mom had been proud of it. She was proud of the whole house, of the airy rooms and the nice furniture and the carefully arranged knickknacks. Everything had always looked perfect, even on days when the cleaning lady didn’t come.

      Even on days when Todd’s parents fought.

      Many past fights had begun in this room, normally over something small. But this one had been something big.

      Todd, Tina, get your stuff. You’re moving in with me.

      You walk out on us for a month, and now you think you can just show up and take the kids—

      Well, you certainly can’t take care of them, Katya. You’ve never known how to take care of them.

      That’s for the courts to decide.

      Oh, you would know, after all the time you’ve been spending with those lady lawyers. Some corrupt judge doesn’t get to tell me what to do when it comes to my family. You won’t take my kids from me.

      If it had just ended there, thought Todd. If Todd’s mom had just let him and Tina pack some things and leave with their father. If she hadn’t argued and threatened him. If Tina hadn’t sided with their mom and refused to go. If their mom hadn’t gone for the knife. Then none of this would’ve happened. There would’ve been no broken pieces for Todd to pick up, no blood to scrub away.

      The police arrived before the ambulance. One of the cops checked Todd’s

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1