I looked at him like he was crazy, one brow cocked.
“How are you related to her?” I asked with skepticism.
“She’s my aunt.” He replied cautiously.
“Gotcha,” I said and went to work helping him finish putting away the rest of the lawn equipment.
When we finished I swept out the garage then closed and locked it. Tristin followed me inside to wash up.
“Did you finish already?” Ms. Grace asked from the kitchen sink. She had just finished cleaning up the kitchen when we walked in.
“Yeah, you need to fire Howie though. He is a nosey piece of work.” I reminded her. I had been telling her this for years.
She just rolled her eyes and ignored me.
“Where is your deck? I want to see what you did.” She said enthusiastically.
I watched as Tristin’s jaw dropped in shock. He obviously didn’t know his aunt at all. Or perhaps he knew a different side of her.
“Let me wash up and I’ll grab it,” I told her, heading to the bathroom.
Tristin was fresh on my heels.
“Why does my aunt want to see your new deck?” He asked confused.
“I show her all my decks. She is the one that helped me make my first one.” I confided.
I finished up and left him to wash up alone. I grabbed my new deck and proudly carried it to where Ms. Grace sat in her chair in the living room.
Her chair was a dusty pink and matched the cream and dusty rose colored theme that ran throughout her house. I had to laugh at the thought of Tristin sleeping in a bed with a bright red and pink comforter set.
“Check it out,” I said laying the board in her laptop ply down.
I watched in anticipation as her skilled hands ran along the spine of the board. Her eyes studied the design that came in stock. She knew that the board wouldn’t stay that way for long.
I could imagine the gears in her head turning as she tried to figure out what decals I would place on the board and how I would modify the look. She looked up and gave me a knowing smile.
“What do ya think?” I asked eagerly.
“I think it’s a good board. You are right, it is really lite. Have you tried any tricks with it?” She asked curiously.
I gave a small laugh.
“Yeah, I tried to do a backslide grab off the wall and had to bail,” I said.
Ms. Grace’s eyes grew wide with concern. Before she could ask I reassured her I had been fine. That seemed to calm her fears some. I knew she worried about me.
She had been the one by my side every time I ended up in the hospital, not my mother. Ms. Grace had held my hand through every broken bone, every sprain and every cut and scrape since I was eight, even before I got my first board.
“Aunt Grace, you know about skateboards?” Tristin asked nervously from the doorway of the hall.
“Yes, Haven and I have been working on her boards for almost ten years now.” She said with a fond smile.
I watched as a look of wonder washed over Tristin’s face. He was seeing his aunt in a whole new light now.
“Haven, why don’t you skip the Dillon’s today? Take Tristin out to the reservoir.” Ms. Grace suggested.
I scrunched up my face in distaste and groaned. I was rewarded with a stern look. I huffed out a breath but agreed.
“Hurry up and get ready,” I called to Tristin.
“I’m ready, let’s roll.” He said with a bright smile.
He wouldn’t be smiling long.
Chapter Five
Haven
“Did you not want to skate with me today?” Tristin asked concerned as he rode beside me on his board.
“Nah, that’s not it. I just don’t care for the reservoir.” I tried to reassure him.
The reservoir was where the other skaters hung out. Most of them were Rasta’s and spent the day smoking, drinking and hill bombing. I preferred to catch air and grind. I wanted to work on my moves so I could at least start signing up for demos when I moved to Huntington.
At least that was the story I kept telling myself. There was more to the whole not hanging out at the reservoir anymore situation but I didn’t know Tristin well enough to go into it with him.
I couldn’t sign up for any demos now because I had no way to get back and forth to the meets and the busses didn’t run as late or early as I needed. I really just needed all the practice I could get.
“Why don’t you like the res?” He asked intrigued.
“I’m trying to get out of this hell hole after I graduate. I need to keep working on my air if I have any hopes of being picked up at a demo.” I admitted.
He wouldn’t understand. He wasn’t from here. We rode in silence to the reservoir.
There was a chain length fence that ran along the concrete wall blocking anyone from entering. Luckily I knew the spot in which the fencing had been cut away. Though, any idiot could find it if they looked hard enough.
A beaten trail ran from the side of the road down along the fence, through the bushes. After you passed under the tall Cyprus there was a cut in the fence four feet tall.
Tristin followed me in. I swapped out my boards at the top of the wall. I wasn’t confident enough in my new board to bomb the hill just yet. I pulled out my helmet and attached it to my head.
The reservoir wall was thirty feet from the base with a steep pitch. It was one hell of a ride. There was a rope tied to the post of the fence which was used to climb back up.
Tristin pulled his helmet out of his bag and secured it on his head, following my lead.
“Are you sure about this?” He asked looking down the wall. I could hear the slight tinge of fear in his voice.
I laughed.
“I’ll go first,” I reassured him.
I grabbed my Darkstar and rolled in. I squatted down on my board, my knees bent and pressed out, my weight shifted slightly toward the back as I carved down the side of the concrete wall.
The wind blowing across my face from the speed I picked up during my descent was refreshing. I reached the base quicker than I wanted and popped my nose up enough to smooth my landing.
I hit the base perfectly. I pulled a full cab fakie and watched as Tristin barreled down the wall behind me.
He shouted with exhilaration as he flew down the wall. He carved a wide arc as he rode pulling off a pop shove-it and heel flip as he crested down. I had a good feeling that this was going to end up being one of his favorite places judging by the look on his face.
I watched as he pulled off a line of flips, linking a heelflip, kickflip, Ollie fakie, and a Manuel in succession of one another. I could tell he had mad ground skills. He came to a grinding halt in front of me. A smile radiated across his perfect face.
“What the fuck, dude, you were seriously going to keep this from me?” His excitement was contagious. I laughed and shook my head.
“Come on loser,” I rolled my eyes and skated off.
The real skating was done further down the reservoir. No one hung out at the opening in case the local police got bored and decided to drop in. Tristin followed along beside me.
“Skate play,” He called out to me.
“Sure,” I agreed.
Sam and I used to Skate play all the time. It was like playing horse. How it worked was one of us started and the person who starts does a trick. If they miss their turn is forfeited. The other person gets to go. If you land the trick everyone else playing has to try it. For every trick, you mess up on you get a letter. The winner is the person with the least amount of letters.
“You start,” I offered.
“I’ll take it easy on you.” Tristin shot me an arrogant wink.
He pulled off an Ollie. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, he was sexy doing it but still, this was child’s play. I followed and pulled off the Ollie.
“Armature.” I provoked him.
It was my turn so I upped the stakes a bit. I pulled off my Ollie and added a tail flip. Tristin chuckled and copied me. We continued on as we skated, Trist
in added a frontside flip. I countered him with a varial kickflip. The tie breaker was a 360 kickflip. All of the tricks alone were simple. It only got harder when you had to do them in a line. I tripped up the landing, doing a bailing run from my board.
Tristin ground to a halt to check on me.
“Are you okay?” He asked his voice laced with concern.
I laughed, running after my board.
“Chill, I’m a big girl.” I tossed back a flirtatious wink.
Embarrassed by my boldness I grabbed my board and skated off. Tristin was behind me within minutes.
“You ride really well.” Tristin complemented as he rode alongside me.
I shrugged him off. I really didn’t, but it was kind of him to say. We rounded the corner of the reservoir, a group of skaters along with their pro hoes were gathered doing tricks under an overpass.
I skated up to them with Tristin behind me.
“Haven, what’s up dude?” Jeremy, a guy from school called out to me. I have him a nod in greeting.
Jeremy was an attractive guy, he was average height with shaggy brown hair and he had a habit of flipping away from his face. He had pretty bright blue eyes that always sparkled with humor.
Jeremy was always friendly and often times flirty but that was a part of his charm. Sam has had a crush on him for ages, probably since elementary school.
Jeremy was wearing an oversized red Spitfire t-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts. His scuffed blue and white DC’s were a contrast to his solid black deck.
“Who’s your friend Haven?” Cindy asked.
Cindy was one of the pro hoes I went to school with. She slept with every guy that owned a set of wheels in hopes of riding them out of town.
I didn’t hate her for her choices. I knew that most of the girls I went to school with would be dependent on a man to support them. It didn’t mean I liked or agreed with it.
I actually felt bad for Cindy. Her father left, leaving her and her younger siblings with her drug addict mother. Cindy had a hard life.
She was wearing a pair of cut-off blue jean daisy dukes and a hot pink halter top with matching Chucks. Her long bleach blonde hair was piled high on her head in a bouncy ponytail. She had her makeup caked on, bright blue eyeshadow adorned her eyes causing her baby blues to pop and her pouty lips were the color of bubble gum. She really was a pretty girl. She reminded me of skater Barbie.
“This is Tristin. He is my neighbor for the summer.” I informed her motioning to Tristin.
A small twinge of jealousy tugged at my stomach. I hid it behind a smile as I introduced Tristen to everyone. Most of the people here skating were people I went to school with mix with a few that either dropped out or had already graduated.
“You skate much?” Jeremy asked Tristin.
Tristen gave a shrug in response.
“I skate some.” He offered vaguely.
Jeremy nodded accepting his answer.
“Hey Haven, You show your boy what you can do?” Jeremy asked.
Jeremy had always bragged about my skills. He was sweet like that. Sam had always claimed that Jeremy had a crush on me. I didn’t see it. I thought he was just being nice.
“I showed him how to bail if that’s what you mean.” I bit back a smile.
I knew what Jeremy was talking about, though. I hadn’t shown Tristin anything but a few tricks while we played horse. Tristin honestly had no clue what I could or couldn’t do.
“Come on let’s show him a little street.” Jeremy encouraged as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Tristin stiffen. A small smile pulled at the corner of my lips. Was that jealousy I saw?
“Tristin, have you seen your girl skate?” Jeremy called out to Tristin loudly.
Everyone in the group began to take notice. I didn’t understand what the big deal was. I skated down the wall, big deal.
The crowd started getting worked up. They loved to watch me and Jeremy skate together. We always had great sessions. We had spent years developing a routine for shits and giggles. Sam was more into doing his solos.
“Oh. My. Gawd. I can’t wait to post this shit online.” Cindy squealed in excitement, pulling her phone out of her pocket. I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, I have to warn you, I’m rusty,” I told Jeremy nervously.
“Babe, you can lie to the rest of them but you can’t lie to me.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
I playfully shoved him off me, laughing.
“Less mackin’ more skatin’ Romeo.” I took off for the rope that would carry us up the reservoir wall.
Chapter Six
Tristin
It seemed like Haven was taking me on a wild goose chase as we skated down the reservoir. After we played a short game of skate play and she bailed out she went radio silent.
It wasn’t until we rounded a long corner that I noticed the group of people with boards. They were all just hanging out and talking.
Haven seemed to know them all pretty well. As she introduced me I got the weird feeling of being an outsider. Sure I was new around here but I felt like I was being weighed, measured and most likely to be found lacking.
The girl Cindy kept making eyes at me like she wasn’t to eat me alive. It was a bit unnerving. I had never met someone so forward.
I felt the twinge of jealousy when Jeremy put his arms around Haven. When he referred to her as my girl there was something about it that felt so right. It was an odd feeling, one I wanted to investigate.
What I didn’t expect was the overwhelming feeling of anger and jealousy I felt when Jeremy wrapped his arm around my girl and kissed her on the top of her head.
Sure haven was insanely hot. I had met many hot chicks but I had never felt the overwhelming feeling to own the more possess them like I did with her. It was like she brought out the basic caveman in me. I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her back to my cave where I would make her submit to me and murder anyone that dared to look at her.
I don’t know what I was thinking by thinking of Haven as being my girl. But it just felt right, it felt solid.
I watched the retreating forms of Haven and Jeremy as they rode off toward the hanging rope under the overpass. My eye twitched in annoyance as I watched them goof off pushing and shoving one another as they rode toward the dangling rope.
“Is Haven your girlfriend?” Cindy asked from beside me.
I never noticed her come up. I shook my head my eyes remained trained on Haven.
“Nah, what’s up with her and Jeremy?” I asked Cindy hoping she could shed some light on the situation I was about to put myself into. That’s right I was totally digging Haven and wanted to make her mine.
Cindy laughed and linked her arm through mine. Her eyes remained on the retreating forms of Jeremy and Haven.
“You can relax, ya know,” She said.
I looked down at her. I exhaled through my nose and tried to force myself to relax.
“Jeremy and Haven have been friends their whole life. We all have, we grew up together. There is nothing going on between the two of them, so you can relax. Jeremy is a big flirt is all.” She said comfortingly.
Her baby blue eyes were trained on mine. She really was a pretty girl. If it wasn’t for Haven I might have made a pass at Cindy.
“So what’s the big deal about Jeremy and Haven riding down the wall? Everyone seems to be interested.” I asked curiously.
Once Jeremy proclaimed they were going to bomb the hill everyone seemed to snap to attention. People scattered about sweeping up the space between the walls and making sure a thick path between the two walls were clean and clear.
Cans were tipped on their side along with abandoned shopping carts forming a makeshift seating area that faced between the two walls.
The walls were narrower here. Where we first entered they were widely set apart. As we rounded the bank the walls seemed to close in on one another closing the gap between the two
.
“You just have a seat and enjoy the show. It will be over before you know it.” She said coyly.
Cindy along with the others in the group all pulled out their cell phones and prepared to record whatever was about to go down.
A tall black guy with long dreads wearing a bright blue shirt and baggy jeans called out to Jeremy and Haven on the wall, signaling that everything was clear for them to start.
I was intrigued by the display being made about the two riding down the hill. Haven and I just rode the hill in and she did a couple of small tricks but nothing major.
I took in her long lean muscular legs as she stood at the lip of the wall. I nearly had a heart attack when she stripped off her hoodie. She stood there in her tiny black shorts and a tight white tank top.
She tossed her hoodie onto the ground, Jeremy followed with his t-shirt leaving him in a white wife beater. His shirt followed Haven’s hoodie into the pile.
The suspense was killing me. The two of them on the wall began to stretch and shake out their limbs. I sighed in exasperation.
“Relax, trust me. They need to take their time.” Cindy said from beside me.
Cindy had climbed on top of one of the barrels that she placed upside down, making her twice as tall. She leaned her slim hip against my shoulder. I ignored the feeling of her skin pressed to mine.
I didn’t understand what was wrong with me. Any other time and I would have been all over Cindy like a cop on a doughnut. However, since I met Haven that all seemed to change. I had no clue what was happening to me.
I scrubbed my face with my hands. When I removed my hands I saw Jeremy running toward the lip of the wall then dropping in, Haven followed right behind him. Jeremy started with a low crouched wallie, Haven flying right on his tail.
Suddenly Jeremy Sprang up in a high jump 360 flip. As Jeremy went up Haven dropped so low her body was nearly on the ground as she went under him at lightning speed. Jeremy landed just missing her. Haven went into a high Kickflip as Jeremy skated under her. I was floored. The crowd was screaming and going wild as they jumped around yelling and pumping their fist into the air.
I watched as Jeremy and Haven did a nose hook impossible and swapped boards. I couldn’t believe my fucking eyes.
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