Alex Jackson: SWA

by Pat Flynn

  Alex was shocked. “Where is he now?” he asked.

  “Billy? In office.”

  “No, where’s Jimmy?”

  “In hospital.”

  Sarah Sceney was nearby getting books out of her bag. For a second her eyes met Alex’s. She looked away.

  CHAPTER 14

  Jimmy Nose What He’s Doing. Does Alex?

  Jimmy was only at the Logan Hospital for a few hours. He had his nose packed to stop the bleeding and was examined by a doctor. “Plain as the nose in front of your face doesn’t apply to you, does it, son?” the doctor said. “It should be ‘plain as the nose sticking out the side of your face’.” He laughed at his own joke.

  Gently pushing and prodding, he waited until Jimmy started to relax then quickly snapped the nose back into place. Jimmy yelled. The doctor said it might remain slightly bent but not enough so that anyone would notice. Unless they looked real close, he said. He also said that Jimmy might feel woozy so it was best if he stayed home from school for a few days. Jimmy wasn’t sure about no one noticing the bent nose but agreed on the importance of rest rather than school. He made a mental note to remember the doctor’s name — Chris Flicker. He might have to sue him in a few years.

  Alex called Jimmy that night and asked what happened. Jimmy said he knew exactly what he was doing when he walked up to Billy and called him a low-life scumbag.

  “How do you work that out?” asked Alex.

  “I thought that getting flattened was the best way to find out how much Sarah cares.”

  “I can think of better ways. Like asking her.”

  “Yeah, well I s’pose I wasn’t thinking straight. But I got my answer.”

  “She’s visited you?”

  “Nah. Not even a phone call. But at least I can stop worrying about her.”

  “Jimmy Homan — a single man again.”

  “Girls had better watch out.”

  “And they knowse it, too.”

  “Shut up, Jackson.”

  The next day Peter Callaghan was telling kids that Jimmy’s face was so mangled he had to have plastic surgery, and that no one would recognise him when he returned to school. Adrian Dorry said Billy was let off with a warning, seeing as witnesses told the Year 9 coordinator that Jimmy had provoked him.

  The Year 9 coordinator isn’t as tough as Letch. Last year Alex and Billy were suspended for fighting by Mr Letcher — the Year 8 coordinator — no questions asked.

  Without Jimmy at school, Alex started hanging out with the SWA gang. They sat at the same picnic table, shooting the breeze and passing Year 8s with pea-shooters. Alex told them what had happened to Jimmy, and Cookie, Nugget and Goof offered to beat Billy Johnstone up. Alex was tempted but said no. He thought things would settle down now that Billy and Jimmy had publicly aired their differences.

  The group was certainly into their boarding. Kim had looked up some results on the Internet and saw that Casey came 10th in a vert competition in Switzerland. He won $1,000. They told Alex wicked stories about skateboarding on Friday nights down at Beeton. They had been chased by the police a few times, and last week a crazy shopowner got Steve in a headlock and sicked his dog onto him.

  “We had to chuck rocks until he let Steve go,” said Kim.

  “At the dog?” asked Alex.

  “Nah. The owner.”

  Alex wanted to check it out for himself. It sounded like there were great places to skate with lots of variety. Alex had boarded at the Beeton skatebowl so many times he could probably do it in his sleep. He actually did skate there in his sleep most nights, except when he dreamt about Becky. It would be good to try something new, even if it wasn’t entirely legal.

  He tried to think of ways he could convince his mum to let him go skateboarding with the group. He could think of only one: lie. Jimmy was back at school by the end of the week and agreed to help, though he thought Alex was crazy for wanting to skate downtown Beeton on a Friday night. “You want a nose like me?” he said.

  The plan was that Alex would tell his mum he was staying with Jimmy, which was true. But he would skate until about 9 before going to his house. Alex’s mum trusted him so there wasn’t much chance she’d check the details with Mrs Homan. If she did he’d be dead meat.

  “Don’t forget that your oral presentations are due on Monday,” said Mr Graham, “so now is a good time to do some last-minute preparations.”

  By period 6 on a Friday not many students are in the mood for last-minute preparations. “We’d better get this ready on Saturday,” said Jimmy to Alex. “John, you have to talk for one minute about how the media portrays skateboarders in Romania.”

  “What’s portrays?” he asked.

  “You know … shows,” said Jimmy.

  “I don’t know any skateboarders in Romania. Only gangsta rappers.’’

  The bell rang and Alex told Jimmy he’d see him tonight.

  “That’s if you’re not in hospital or jail,” said Jimmy.

  Alex felt nervous enough as it was. He didn’t need his best mate making it worse.

  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 som
e 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.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Bad Dreams

  Alex passed on Bacardi at Kim’s and went straight to Jimmy’s. They pulled out the old mattress from under Jimmy’s bed and Alex recounted the night’s excitement. Jimmy couldn’t believe that Alex had bolted from the police.

  “You know there are video cameras all over Beeton. You’d better hope they don’t go through the tapes,” said Jimmy.

  Alex started panicking at the thought of the police turning up at his house.

  “Don’t worry,” said Jimmy. “Unless there’s a camera at the library they can’t prove it was you. Unless they took a hair or something and genetically matched it to yours.”

  “Can they do that?”

  “Easy. But they’d only do it for something big. Like if you killed somebody.”

  Alex was exhausted, and he was almost asleep when Jimmy’s voice floated quietly down.

  “Why do you think she did it?”

  “Who?”

  “Sarah.”

  “Dunno. She’s gone weird.”

  “It’s like I’m not good enough for her anymore.”

  “You’re too good for her.”

  There was another gap in the conversation, and Alex started drifting to another place. He was lost in those pretty brown eyes. He reached across and took her hand, and she leant in towards him, tipping her head so their noses wouldn’t collide. Their lips met and she tasted different. More exciting, somehow. She felt different, too, and all of a sudden he knew why. It wasn’t her. He sat up.

  “You know, even though I hate his guts, I wouldn’t mind being Billy Johnstone for a day,” said Jimmy.

  Alex must have been asleep for only a minute. “Why would you want to be that fool?”

  “I don’t know. Get any girl I want. Punch any boy I hate. It’d be fun I reckon.”

  “It’s overrated.”

  “At least you know what it’s like. I never will.”

  “You’ll probably come up with a cure for cancer one day. Or invent a really cool computer game,” said Alex.

  “Yeah, but I’ll still be a red-headed geek.”

  “It could be worse,” said Alex.

  “How?”

  “You could be John Carson-Zanger.”

  They laughed. “You know, he’s a pretty good guy,” said Jimmy. “Weird, but okay.”

  “Why do you think the kids give him so much crap?”

  “Well, he’s Harry High Pants. And his English isn’t too flash. But I reckon calling him a poof makes ’em feel good about themselves. Like, if he’s getting it then they’re not.”

  “Strange, hey?”

  “Very.”

  “Night, He-man.”

  “Night, Michael.”

  It took Alex a long time to fall asleep. He wanted to see Becky clearly in his mind but he couldn’t. It was like his brain had changed frequencies.

  CHAPTER 17

  Bad News

  By the next morning Alex’s stomach was as hollow as a Crazy Clark’s Easter egg. At 9 o’clock Jimmy was still dead to the world so Alex left, buying himself a packet of Twisties on the way to the library. Anne was at the front desk.

  “Alex,” she said, “the cleaners have been complaining about skateboarders coming here at night. You wouldn’t happen to know who they are?”

  He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “Probably Beeton High kids.”

  He checked his email and there were two new messages from Becky.

  To: alexjackson@skunkmail.com.au

  From: beckyt13@hotmail.com

  Dearest Alex,

  Hello! Thanks for writing back so soon. You’re the best! But I probably shouldn’t tell you that. You might get cocky.

  I can’t believe Sarah cheated on Jimmy! She must have really changed. She used to be so nice. I’m going to email her and ask her what the hell is going on.

  I’m not sure whether you should tell Jimmy. Sometimes I think it is better not to find out if something like this happens. It would hurt too much. Especially if the person is really sorry and won’t do it again. Still, knowing Billy he’ll tell everyone, so maybe you should tell him. I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll do what is right.

  Guess what? My mum is going to take me to Trieste to watch Casey skate the weekend after next. (Trieste is a pretty Italian city on the border of Slovenia. It is on the Adriatic Sea, so it is a bit like the Gold Coast.)This weekend I am going skiing with my friend again, so I’m getting to travel heaps. Not much time for homework, but that’s okay.

  Sorry it sounded like I was down about us in my last email. I didn’t mean to be. Of course I don’t want us to break up. I just think we have to be realistic. There is a good chance that one or both of us will meet someone else. I know it is sad but it’s the truth. I just hope we can stay really good friends if it does happen. If you wrote and said you had met someone else I would want to keep being your friend and still write to you. Do y
ou feel the same way? I would be so sad if you said you never wanted to write or talk to me again if we broke up.

  Well enough of this sad stuff. Let me know how everything went with Sarah and Jimmy. How’s skateboarding? Remember not to get any scars. I want you to keep your good looks for the next time I see you.

  Love,

  Becky.

  XXXX

  PS. Say hi to Sam and Mandy for me. Tell them I haven’t found any Italian boys for them yet, but I’ll keep looking.

  To: alexjackson@skunkmail.com.au

  From: beckyt13@hotmail.com

  Dearest Alex,

  I went to check my email today and you haven’t written back. I think it is the first time ever! Are you just busy or is something wrong? I hope you’re not mad at what I wrote about the possibility of us breaking up. Don’t be. You know I like you heaps and heaps. More than that.

  Hope to hear from you (very) soon.

  Love always,

  Becky.

  Alex knew he had to reply. He sat at the computer for a long time, trying to figure out what to say. In the end he went for the direct approach.

  To: beckyt13@hotmail.com

  From: alexjackson@skunkmail.com.au

  Dearest Becky,

  Are you cheating on me with a bloke called Roberto?

  Alex

  PS. Don’t lie.

  On his way out of the library Alex checked for video cameras. He couldn’t see any. He also counted the courthouse steps. Kim was right, there were 15, and it was a humungous ollie. He wasn’t sure he’d have the guts to try it without some help from the boys in blue. There was a nice-height handrail beside the steps as well, and Alex could see that it was all scratched. Steve?

  He got home and Chief was on his way out to the car with his boxing gear. There were gloves, tape and a first aid kit.

  “Have a good night, champ?” Chief asked.

  Alex’s stomach tightened. “What?”

  “At the Homan’s place. Good night?”

  “Oh yeah. Not bad. Ben fighting today?”

  “Yep. He’s taking on the Queensland Champion from the weight division up. Should be a good fight.”