CHAPTER 15

SWA

After school Alex rode to Kim’s house and watched a skating video while the Year 10s shared a coke and a smoke. Kim’s mum came in with a plate of lamingtons and the boys gobbled them up like poker machines. Alex found the way Kim and her mum talked to each other strange. It was like they were sisters, not mother and daughter.

“Did you buy some Bacardi today, Suz?” Kim asked.

“You’re too young for alcohol.”

“Yeah, and you’re too old for that skirt. Did you?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. We’ll have something to look forward to later.”

They took off at about 5 and went down to the shops, starting on a five stair behind Red Rooster. It was a nice-sized ollie and there were soft bags of rubbish just past the landing zone. Kim needed them, crashing big-time when she tried to kickflip the steps. Steve nailed a sweet hardflip, and Alex landed sketchy on a backside 180.

They got chased away by an irate manager so they cruised to Bob Jane T-mart, where there was a one-metre gap between a thick wall and the carpark. It was about a two-metre drop, so it took guts to roll along the wall and ollie over the gap onto the carpark. Steve did it without even thinking, but the rest of the kids were happy to watch.

“You gonna do it, Jackson?” said Steve.

Alex was a little worried, but he popped it hard and made the distance. Just.

By this time everyone was hungry so they went down to Maccas, where Nugget’s girlfriend, Jemma, worked. She snuck them free Fantas and fries and said she’d meet them at Kim’s later for Bacardi. The group seemed to know heaps of people, including kids from Beeton High. Alex saw a kid he knew from primary school. The kid asked if Sarah Sceney still liked Alex.

“She hates my guts,” Alex said.

“You must be stoked. That girl never left you alone. If I were you I would have used her then losed her. Hey, that’s what you did, didn’t ya?” the kid said, giving Alex a high five.

What’s this kid on?

They cruised to the library. It looked different at night. A red light flickered eerily above the front door. Alex could see the computers inside, shut down.

There could be a message from Becky. It was strange how one piece of information could mean so much. A week ago Alex was feeling great about his relationship with Becky, and now he felt terrible. One good message and it could all be okay.

There was a large “NO SKATEBOARDING” sign above the front door. It didn’t worry Kim, whose board smacked hard against the glass doors after she lost control of a frontside cess. Luckily, the glass didn’t break. The library was closed but there were cleaners inside, and the loud noise made them look up and try and wave the kids away. Everyone ignored them except for Goof; he gave them the finger.

I’m glad Anne isn’t inside.

There was a nice 3 flat 3 set of stairs and Steve ollied the whole six. He also pulled some nice 50–50s on the second marble stair. The marble was excellent for grinds, but grinds not so good for the marble. The entire edge of the bottom stair was chipped off. Maybe that’s how the “NO SKATEBOARDING” sign got there.

Alex did a 180 frontside flip down the first three stairs and then nollied the second three. He looked up but none of the guys saw it. Kim did, though, and she blew him a kiss.

Two of the boys found an old shopping trolley and with Nugget steering they attempted to jump it down 3 with Cookie inside. It landed on the front wheels and the trolley tipped forward, flipping Cookie onto the pavement. While everyone was laughing they heard an urgent call from Goof. “Cops!”

Everybody took off. Everybody except for Alex, who wasn’t sure what to do. He froze like a kangaroo in front of a spotlight. A flashing blue spotlight. Two policemen ran towards him. “Stop!” they yelled.

“Go!” screamed Kim. Alex hesitated, then jumped on his board and bolted. He was about 10 metres behind the rest of the group and he could hear the policemen’s footsteps as they ran up the marble steps. Alex followed the others as they skated past the library and then the courthouse. They were approaching a big set of stairs which led to the carpark. Past this were streets and alleys heading off in different directions.

The others had enough time to jump off their boards, run down the steps and jump back on in the carpark. Alex could still hear someone yelling behind him and he didn’t want to slow down. He decided to ollie the set. He had plenty of speed so distance wasn’t a problem, and luckily he landed it just right and skated off in a hurry.

Once they got beyond the carpark the police stopped chasing. Only when they rested behind the shops did Alex notice that his pulse was beating like an Uzi and his shirt was wet.

“Did you see that?” Kim said to the boys. “Alex popped it sweet down the courthouse steps!”

“How many are there again?” said Goof.

“Fifteen,” said Kim. “And he did it easy. We should let him in, Steve.”

“He was just skatin’ scared,” said Steve. “Next time we’ll try it again, see if it was beginner’s luck.”

Alex wasn’t sure he wanted there to be a next time.

“I say we let him in,” said Kim.

“In what?” asked Alex.

“Our gang. SWA.”

“What’s it mean?”

“Kim!” warned Steve.

“He’s all right, Steve.” She looked at Alex. “Skateboarders With Attitude.”

“No one gets in the first night,” said Steve. “But you never know, the grommet might just have what it takes.” He gave Alex a smile and Goof slapped him on the back.

“Good ollie, man.”

Alex grinned. For one of the first times in his life he felt what it was like to belong to a group. Not like the reject soccer team he’d once played for or even the boys down the gym who he trained with in spurts. This was different. It meant something, though he wasn’t sure why.

Kim smiled. “I’ll tell you one thing, he won’t forget tonight in a hurry.”