Page 56 of Out on a Limb

“Right. Thanks, Cameron.”

Cameron hung up and put on a pot of coffee. He poured himself a glass of water, chugged it, then another, chugged it. He double-fisted water and coffee. He dropped and did pushups on the kitchen floor.

“How wasted are you?” Greg asked from the living room.

Being drunk was all a state of mind, he told himself. He gave himself a nice one-two slap on the cheeks.

I’m good.

“I’m good,” Cameron said.

He thought of those parents who could lift cars to save their children. If he could harness just a fraction of that, sobriety would be his.

Cameron stumbled back to the living room. Not stumbled, walked. Walked like a sober, confident, responsible adult.

“Guys, I have to pick up something. I’ll be back in a little bit. Can you clean up the beer bottles and trash?”

“What are you picking up?” Henry asked.

Cameron held onto the wall for balance. “A party guest.”

Φ

Cameron took deep breaths in the cab. Deep, sobering breaths. He stared out the window, but that made him dizzy.You arenotpicking up a child drunk. You will sober up for Walker and Hobie.

“How’s your afternoon going?” Cameron asked the cab driver, hoping conversation would help burn off the booze.

“It’s okay.” He pulled out his earbuds, and Cameron heard talking on the other end. “I had to make a few trips to the airport. There was lots of traffic on the highway.”

“Oh, really? What kind of traffic?”

“Construction. They closed one of the lanes.”

Nope. Not helping.The alcohol sloshed in his stomach like choppy seas. A child’s life was going to be in his hands. He had to take drastic measures.

“Could you please pull over?”

“We’re not there yet.”

“I know. Please pull over.”

The cabbie did as instructed, giving Cameron major side-eye in the rearview mirror.

“I’ll just be one second.” Cameron got out of the cab, shoved his finger down his throat, and puked in the trash can at the corner of the street. He used whisper hands around his mouth to be polite to passersby. He did it again, emptying his stomach like a girl in a Very Special Episode.

“Better,” he said. Cameron did a set of pushups on the sidewalk to be safe.

He slid back into the cab.

The driver’s mouth hung open. He got back on the road. “I have gum.”

A few minutes later, they pulled up to the gymnastics center. Cameron looked himself over in the rearview mirror. He looked passable. He wasn’t 100 percent sober, but close enough. His hair was in place, and he didn’t get barf on his clothes. Nobody would be able to tell he was three sheets to the wind. Half a sheet, really.All I have to do is pick the kid up and get him back to the apartment. That barely requires full functionality of my motor skills.

“Keep the meter running!” Cameron said.

“Okay.”

He opened the door. “I don’t seem drunk to you, do I?”