by Pat Flynn
“You did well, Alex,” said Kim, blowing out a steady stream of smoke. “I bet that’s the first time you’ve ever been in trouble.”
“No, it’s not.”
“First time you’ve ever had to lie, then.”
He paused. “Are we going skating or what?”
CHAPTER 20
Initiation
The skateboarders with attitude were on a high as they cruised around Beeton that night. They all ollied the gap at Bob Jane T-Mart and Alex kick-flipped over a garden wall from the top of a five-stair.
At McDonald’s kids from St Joey’s asked them about the missing clock. “How’d you climb up so high?” a girl said. “I think what you did is cool,” said a Year 12 boy. “Stuff the school and stuff the police.”
No one in the group admitted to stealing anything. But it didn’t stop them basking in the glory.
“If the school stopped fearing us and listened to our needs then this wouldn’t happen,” said a pumped-up Goof.
“What do you want the school to do?” asked the girl.
He thought for a few seconds. “Umm, they could, like, play headbangin’ music at lunchtime. And build a half-pipe at the school. That’d kick!”
Kim took over. “They should treat us like human beings. All the teachers ever say to me is ‘pull your socks up’, ‘take your earrings out’. They should stop treating us like we’re little kids and give us the freedom to be individuals.”
“Go girl!” said Goof.
Over free fries, courtesy of Jemma, Steve told Alex what it meant to be a member of SWA. “We all look out for each other. I would spill blood for anyone in the gang, and they would do the same for me. You are either in or out — no in-between.”
This was sounding heavy. “And if you’re in SWA you have to skate your arse off,” Steve said, grinning. Alex knew he could do that.
They cruised down to Beeton State School — Alex’s old primary school. It brought back memories. He could see the window he once broke with a mis-timed kick of the soccer ball. There was the brick wall that he and Jimmy had waged legendary bashball battles on. They skated in the undercover area where Sarah Sceney once told the whole school assembly that she loved him.
Kim was having fun trying pop shove-its down a three-stair and Steve was grinding and sliding everything in sight. Goof, Nugget and Cookie were finishing off their burgers, and afterwards tossed the wrappers onto the ground. Alex remembered how his group of Year 7s would tell off the younger kids when they did this. Even though Beeton was a poor school, they were proud of it.
After an hour Steve suggested they head to the courthouse.
“Isn’t that risky?” Alex said.
Even Kim looked doubtful. “I don’t have much money, Steve. I can’t afford another 80 buck fine.”
“Then don’t get caught,” Steve said. “The courthouse is where Alex is having his initiation.”
Initiation?
Once they arrived Steve told Goof to keep a look-out for the police. His voice was soft and serious as he spoke to Alex.
“Whenever a new member is initiated into SWA, they have to face fear and kick it in the guts. Fear is what keeps you down. I’ve seen my brother do incredible things on a skateboard because he had no fear. I’ve climbed up walls, boardslided down rails because I don’t give a stuff. I want you to feel the same way. Ollie down the 15. Show us that last week wasn’t a fluke.”
“You can do it, Alex,” said Kim.
“Come on, grommet,” said Cookie, “show us what you’re made of.”
Alex took a look down the steps and felt his stomach tighten. It was a long way down. If he landed wrong he could snap an ankle. If he had to bail, it could be worse.
Don’t think.
He skated back to position. He wondered what Casey would say if he was here. If Casey was here would I be doing this?
Alex thought about whether he really wanted to join SWA. He still didn’t know what to make of Steve, though he had to admit Steve was a great boarder. The other guys were okay, though different from his usual friends. This gang stuff wasn’t like him, but for some reason he wanted to be here. He felt accepted, part of something. And there was something else, something he didn’t like to admit.
Don’t think.
He pushed off hard. He needed speed to clear the 15 and the last thing he wanted was to land on the stairs. The skateboard was loud against the slate tiles, but as he bent down to ollie he heard Kim’s voice. “You can do it!”
No I can’t. He did a backside cess at the last instant, skidding to a halt a centimetre from the top step.
“Just measuring my take-off,” he said to the others.
Kim came up to him. She put her hands on his shoulders. “You’re an awesome skater, Alex, maybe even better than Steve. I know you can make it.”
She ran down the steps and when she got to the bottom she stopped. She turned and gave Alex a smile, then lay down on the bottom step.
“Kim, you don’t have to do that,” Steve said.
She didn’t answer.
“Kim, move!”
She didn’t.
Alex was ready again and this time there was no chickening out. He made sure he got plenty of speed so he wouldn’t give Kim a facial on the way down. He popped the ollie hard, and grabbed the board with his right hand to keep it steady. Flying down those 15 steps seemed to take forever, yet in another way it was over before he knew it.
He caught just a glimpse, but even later he could see her clearly. Her eyes were closed but her face soft and peaceful. She looked like a child sleeping in the back of a car on a stormy night. Would Becky have had as much faith in him? Missing Kim’s nose by about 10 centimetres, he landed perfectly on the bitumen.
He heard Cookie scream “You the man!” and Kim draped her arms around him and squeezed.
“You did it!” she said.
“You said I would.”
“How do you feel?”
“Relieved. I thought I was going to land on your face.”
“Well you didn’t. Lucky for you I’m still beautiful.” She laughed and kissed his cheek.
Steve said he was going to ollie the 15 and he asked Kim to lie on the bottom step for him as well. She said she’d had enough excitement for one night.
“Don’t you trust me?” he said.
“I’ll do it,” said Nugget. “I trust you.”
Steve missed Nugget’s gut by a good 30 centimetres and landed nice. Alex couldn’t believe how relaxed Steve looked on the way down, like he was in total control.
“Let’s celebrate Alex joining SWA,” said Kim. “Suz bought some rum.”
“Soon,” said Steve. “Alex has to do one more thing. We knew he would clear the stairs. We saw him do it last week. To be initiated into SWA you have to do something that you’re really scared of.”
“Yeah, I had to let the air out of a cop car’s tyres,” said Goof. “I nearly crapped myself.”
“What else can I do?” asked Alex. “Run with the bulls?”
“Boardslide it,” he said, gesturing towards the rail that ran down the stairs.
“You’re crazy,” said Alex.
“Listen.” His voice became serious. “You’re a top skater. Nearly as good as me. I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I didn’t think you could. My brother did it when he was in Year 9. So did I. You can do it too. You just have to not be scared.”
“Have you really done it?” asked Alex. Board-sliding down 15 stairs was enough to get you a start on a skateboarding video, and even the pros sometimes slammed trying it.
“I’ll prove it,” he said.
“Steve, let’s go home,” said Kim. “We don’t need this tonight.”
“Kimmy, don’t be such a girl.”
Steve ran up the steps and flicked his baggy shirt up by the shoulders. His sagging pants were halfway down his bum, showing off his red boxers. And then he pushed off, before any of them had time to think about what a crazy thing he was doing. He did
n’t even look worried, like he was having a relaxing Sunday skate.
Is this bloke scared of anything?
Steve ollied up onto the rail and turned his hips 90 degrees backside, landing on the middle of his Hardcore deck. He was sliding down the rail fast but smooth when Alex noticed everything was flashing bright blue.
As Steve flew off he twisted his hips to straighten the board, but something stuffed up. Perhaps he twisted a fraction early, or maybe there was a bump in the rail, but the back wheel got caught. Steve flew at the bitumen without a board to land on and he bounced, rolled, and bounced again. Blood started streaming from about four parts of his body, but he got straight up and ran over to his board. He picked it up and chucked it as hard as he could. It landed smack on the bonnet of a cop car.
CHAPTER 21
Busted
By the time Alex arrived at her place, Kim was the only one of the gang still there. Goof felt bad about not noticing the police car and took off. Cookie went looking for him, and Nugget went to see Jemma. Steve, well, he hadn’t shown up. Probably still at the station.
“What happened?” Kim asked Alex.
“They arrested Steve. Put him in the back of the cop car and drove off.”
“Did he go sick?”
“Not at first. The policewoman asked him his name and he said, ‘Tony Hawk’, but the policeman knew who Steve was. Then he started saying all this stuff and Steve totally lost it.”
“Did the pig yell at him?”
“Nah, it was weird. He was acting real nice. He said he went to school with Steve’s brother, Ryan, and that he was a good bloke. He said he didn’t want the same thing to happen to Steve that happened to his brother. Then Steve started yelling at the cop, telling him to shut up. And then he started bawling. That’s when they drove Steve away.”
“Steve cried?”
“Yep.”
“I need a drink,” she said.
Alex followed Kim to her bedroom. The walls were packed with dark sketches and paintings. Becky was a talented artist, but comparing this art with Becky’s was like comparing KORN to Matchbox 20. Becky drew beautiful landscapes, Kim drew ... weird stuff. And lots of it.
One painting stood out. On one half everything was as you’d expect — a family portrait in the front yard. There were big smiles, a beautiful house and a friendly dog. The other half was a mirror image, except the mirror was demented. The windows were broken and the front door had an axe through it; the father had the face of a monster and the rest of the family looked terrified. And the dog was dead.
“That’s what won me the art competition,” she said. “It’s called ‘Illusion of the Family’.”
Alex took a closer look. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. “Has anyone ever told you you’ve got issues?”
She handed him a drink.
He shook his head. “I’m not 18.”
“Neither am I. It’ll calm you down.”
The rum was bitter in his mouth. It tasted bloody awful, actually, but after a few gulps his head relaxed and his throat felt hot.
“What’d the cops do to you?” she asked.
“They gave me this.” He held up a ticket for $80.
“Did you give ’em a fake name and address?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe I did it. I told ’em I was Billy Johnstone.”
“Good one.”
He looked at her. “Hey Kim, what did the policeman mean about Steve ending up like his brother?”
She looked down at her drink. “Why’d you stay with Steve, anyway?”
“I thought we’d all stay,” Alex said. “Steve said you’d spill blood for him.”
“Steve spilt enough blood for one night. There was nothing we could do.”
“I just thought someone should stay,” he mumbled.
She looked at him. “Tell me something. Would you have done it?”
“Done what?”
“Boardslided the 15.”
He shook his head. “Doubt it.”
She moved closer, pouring more rum into his glass. Their legs were touching. “I bet you would have, hey?”
“Dunno.”
“You would have. You’d have done it for me.”
It was different from his times with Becky. He was more relaxed, confident even, and he eased Kim back onto the bed as their lips met. At first the rhythm was slow but it became faster, more urgent. Alex’s head was swimming from the alcohol, or maybe it was something else. Kim slipped her hand underneath his shirt and rubbed his chest with her fingertips. He knew he was out of his depth but he didn’t want to stop. Her hand went down to his stomach, and in a rush he felt his desire slip away.
She smiled. “You’re not very experienced, are you?”
“At skateboarding, yes. Girls, no.”
He went to the bathroom and when he came back Kim had her arms around another boy. It was Steve. He pulled away when he saw Alex.
“Hey grommet,” he said. “I didn’t know you were …”
“Alex came to tell me what happened,” Kim said.
Steve looked tired and pale, his skin raw on his knees, elbow and the side of his face. “Thanks for hanging around,” he said to Alex. “More than I can say about some people.”
Kim looked away.
“They let you go?” said Alex.
“Mum came and got me. I’m charged with wilful damage of a police car. I didn’t even see the bloody thing.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“Nothin’ much. Go to court next month. I’m still 15, thank Christ.”
Alex looked down at his watch and saw that it was almost midnight. “I’ve gotta go,” he said.
He waited for Kim to give some sort of cue, but none came. “See ya, then.”
“Hey grommet,” said Steve, coming up to him. “You’re in.”
“In what?”
“SWA.”
He slapped Alex’s hand and looked him in the eye. “You did good tonight. Next week we’ll go back to the courthouse and boardslide the mother.”
Alex shook his head. “You are crazy.”
Kim squeezed in between them and put an arm around each of their shoulders. “I think you both are.”
This was the signal Alex was waiting for. He leant in and gave Kim a kiss goodnight. It was only after he did it that he realised she didn’t reciprocate. In fact, she had tried to pull away.
“Hey, you two haven’t …?” Steve raised his eyebrows. “You have, haven’t you? Well, you really are a member of the gang now, grommet.”
“Shut up, Steve,” said Kim.
* * *
Alex was still trying to figure out what Steve meant as he turned into Jimmy’s street. He stopped worrying, not because it no longer bothered him but because he suddenly had more important things on his mind. The red Sigma was parked in the Homan’s driveway and leaning against the boot was Chief.
Busted.
CHAPTER 22
Fighting Chief
“Out,” said Alex when Chief asked him where he’d been.
“Doing what?”
“Skateboarding.”
Chief looked at his watch. “Skateboarding at midnight?”
Alex shrugged.
“Who with?” said Chief.
“Kids from school.”
Chief stopped leaning on the car and stood up stiffly. “What else you been doing?”
“Nothin’.”
“You been drinking?”
“No.”
“Come here,” he said.
“What?”
Chief moved forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. He pulled him close. “I can smell it,” he said. “You taking drugs?”
“No!”
Grabbing him around the cheeks Chief looked into his eyes. Alex fought to get away but Chief ’s strong arms had him pinned. Alex lashed out, kicking him on the shin.
Chief pushed him away. His voice changed to the one he used at the gym when he had to keep the tough kids in
line. “You wanna fight your dad now, champ? Well, come on. You’re old enough to drink, stay out late. Let’s see if you can whip your old man.”
Alex was opening the car door when Chief stung him with a jab to the shoulder.
“You can lie to your mother, can’t you champ? You think you’re a man now? Well, prove it.”
Alex threw a straight right at Chief ’s face. Chief instinctively leant back and the blow grazed past his nose. Alex started flailing punches at the body. Chief covered himself up with his elbows, but he didn’t fight back. Alex kept punching, some of the shots getting through, but still Chief didn’t retaliate. Alex’s arms became heavier and heavier — the punches turning into slow motion — and then they gave out, hanging loosely by his sides. Instead of giving him a beating, Chief put his big arms around Alex and held him close.
“Talk to me, son.”
“What do you care? You spend more time with Ben than you do with me,” Alex said, the tears stinging his eyes. “I hope you stay in Russia forever.”
CHAPTER 23
Slammed
That night Sharon let him off the hook but made her intentions clear. “In the morning we talk. And I expect the truth.”
He nodded.
“Say it.”
“We’ll talk.”
“And ? ”
He sighed. “I’ll tell the truth.”
On his way to bed Alex couldn’t help but have a dig at Sam. “Thanks for spilling your guts.”
“You’re so stupid sometimes.”
She said it without the usual fire in her voice. Alex looked closer. Her shoulders were hunched and her chin sagged.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s been bad. Mum and Dad were yelling at each other.”
“What’d they say?”
“Mum was blaming Beeton, and Dad said it didn’t have anything to do with it. He said that you’re learning how to become a man or something. Then Mum said that you’d learn more if you had a better role model. After that Dad drove off.”
“At least they were talking.”
She looked at him. “What’s happened to you?” Alex could see the lines on her face from where she had been crying. “Are you going through puberty or something?”
