CHAPTER 10

“We were wobbed,” said Chief when Sharon asked how the fight went.

“Never mind,” said Sharon.

“Alex is a loser,” Sam teased.

The words stung him. Alex chased Sam and put her in a headlock. He must have squeezed a bit too hard because her face turned red and when he let go she started crying.

“Mum!” she yelled.

Sharon sent Alex to his room. She followed him in. “I don’t care what Sam says or does to you,” she said. “Don’t ever hurt her. Don’t hurt anybody. Understand?”

He felt bad enough without a lecture from “Dr Mum”.

Sharon left him to “reflect” while she went shopping. Sam came and stood at the door of his room, waiting.

“I won’t eat you,” said Alex, after a minute.

Sam lay down beside him. “Sorry for calling you a loser.”

“Sorry for choking you.”

“Why did you get so mad?” said Sam. “I always call you names.”

Alex thought for a bit. “I s’pose ’cause this time you were telling the truth.”

“No, I wasn’t. You win lots of things.”

“Name one.”

She thought for awhile, then looked at the ceiling.

“See.”

“Got one,” said Sam. “You win at … being ugly.”

Alex got her in a headlock again, but instead of squeezing her neck he rubbed the top of her head with his knuckles — giving her a noogie.

Not long after, Sharon came back. “Get your shoes,” she said to Alex. “We’re going for a little drive.”

They went to, of all places, the Beeton Skatebowl. They sat on Alex’s favourite bench — overlooking the action. Casey was standing at the top of the vert ramp. Kids were crowded around, not believing he’d have the guts to try and drop in to such a deathtrap.

“You really wanted to win the fight, huh?” Sharon said to Alex.

“Guess so,” said Alex. Go for it, Casey, he thought.

“I see you’ve been studying a lot lately, too,” she said. “What’s that all about?”

“We’ve got a test coming up. Science.”

Casey walked over to the edge. It was two metres high and the first metre went straight down. That’s why they called it vert — short for vertical. He put his wheels over the coping.

“I want to tell you something,” said Sharon.

Casey hesitated; he was looking down.

“Your dad and I don’t care if you win a fight or get an A in a test,” Sharon continued. “We love you because you’re you. You don’t have to prove anything, to us or yourself. Do you know what I’m saying?”

“Look Mum,” said Alex, pointing at Casey. “He’s gonna do it, I know he is.”

Casey’s foot was on the tail of his board. All he had to do was smack his front foot on the nose and drop down at the speed of gravity, making sure he didn’t lean to one side or the other. That was a sure way to break something.

He went for it. The front wheels banged on the concrete, a sign of total commitment. Kids held their breath as they waited to see if he could stay on the board. He flew down and then up the other side, jumping off safely when he got to the top. Everyone let out a cheer. Even Sharon.

“Go check under the backseat,” she said.

Alex looked at her. He was going to say something but didn’t, instead he took the keys to the Corona. His hand reached underneath the worn seat and a smile lit up his face like a quarter-moon. It was an el-cheapo, probably from K-Mart, but Alex didn’t care. He finally had his own skateboard.