When the song she chose to ride to began playing on her I-Pod she stood and pointed her board towards the pipe. A few loose strands of blond hair stuck out on both sides of her face. She dropped in and carved across the bottom of the pipe and up the front wall. She flew ten feet out of the pipe in a frontside air to fakie move, then back across to the other side. She was on fire pulling double backside nine’s, then a cab seven-twenty and a switch-frontside five-forty to end her run. She felt good about her run, it was solid, her lines were clean. She wasn’t at the top but she was in.
“That was sick.” Gordy said as she unstrapped her bindings and grabbed her board.
“Yeah, but backside nine’s aren’t going to win this thing, not this year. Amy and Desiree are on fire.”
“Amy and Desiree can’t throw down a ten-eighty.” He said.
She stopped in her tracks and smiled. “No girl has ever landed it in competition.”
“No, but you landed it in Breck and it was totally sick. You can do it here.” He patted her back. “This is your home pipe, you own this snow. Focus Adler. Believe it and you can do this shit. You’re one of the best snowboarders in the world male or female.”
“You know, for a midget you sure are philosophical sometimes.” She ran when he tried to smack her.
“Fuck you.” He laughed.
“You wish.” She smiled. He really was her best friend. Amy was cool and they spent a lot of time riding together, but Gordy was like a brother she never had. She knew he was right. She had to step her game up and she had the tricks to do it, she just had to believe it.
***
Cason was pissed that the qualifying wasn’t on TV. She wanted to see how Adler did. She was sure she qualified, and there was really no reason to ask about her head. An athlete of her caliber was healed and probably jumped back in it like nothing had happened. She grinned. Yeah, Adler was probably out somewhere celebrating qualifying first and gloating. She decided to call anyway, just a small friendly gesture. That’s all it was. She was glad she snooped in the hospital computer and got her cell number. At the time she said it was to check up on her, but really she knew then that she wanted to see her again.
Eleven
Cason loved the way the flood lights lit the mountain up for the night-time events. The icy pipe glistened and the blue definition lines made the whole thing look like it had a light blue hue. It was beautiful. She took her place next to the medic team at the base of the pipe close to the media. She was surprised to see the thousands of people next to her and behind her. Super Pipe had more spectators than any of other Winter X Games sport, except maybe the up and coming snowmobile events.
***
Adler stood in the warming tent at the top of the pipe with most of the other female competitors. Amy was next to her talking to one of the other riders. She looked down at the crowd at the base of the pipe. She knew they would go crazy cheering when it was her turn to ride. It was kind of cool being the hometown girl. She thought about the face in the back of her mind and wondered where she would be. She knew she was there, somewhere.
“This is it. Throw down or go home.” Amy said as she high-fived her. She was the number one qualifier and deserved it. She was damn good and Adler considered her to be her toughest competition. They always teased each other a little to try and one-up the other. It actually pushed them harder.
“I feel you.” Adler grinned. “You just bring it.”
Adler qualified fourth so she was at the bottom of the list of twelve girls. When her turn came up she said a silent prayer to herself while sitting in the snow. When she got the green light she stood up and angled the board down the mountain towards the pipe. She always dropped in on the backside wall which was technically on her right and the front side wall was on her left. She hit the frontside and flew into a cab nine, then a backside nine on the opposite wall. She carved across again to the front side wall with major air out of the pipe she pulled a cab seven-twenty followed by a switch-backside-five-forty and a backside air to fakie to finish her run. She was stoked.
The smile on her face faded quickly when she searched the crowd for the face in her mind and her eyes landed on Kevin. She unsnapped her boots and grabbed her helmet in goggles in one hand and her board in the other. Amy and Gordy both congratulated her. The score board said she qualified third. She couldn’t be excited, the very thing she tried so hard to push from her mind was standing five feet away.
“That was awesome babe.” He said when she walked past him.
She turned and raised an eyebrow. “You really want to do this here? All the media and everything Kevin, really?” She began walking again through the crowd of fans and media cameras. He was hot on her heels.
“I tried to call you like a hundred times.”
She spun around again and tossed her equipment in the snow. “You lying, cheating piece of shit. Did you think I didn’t hear you talking to her, pleading for her to get back in the shower with you? You disgust me!” She yelled.
“Look, Adler it’s not like that okay. It was a one-time thing. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” He pleaded as more spectators gathered around.
“I am so not doing this here Kevin.” She grabbed her equipment from the snow and walked through the crowd as it began parting like the red sea for her. She had to go back to the top for her second run and now she had an enormous amount of stress on her shoulders.
She finally saw the face she was looking for when she climbed onto the back of the snowboard to ride back up the mountain to the top of the pipe. She felt a tiny bit of the tension in her body release. She wondered how much of that she’d heard. Hell, most of the people standing anywhere near them heard their conversation. She was sure her dirty laundry was about to air on ESPN when the event aired. Thankfully, at least it wasn’t live.
***
Cason raised her eyebrows and stepped a little closer like the rest of the crowd. Adler was yelling at a tall guy in a dark blue ski jacket and matching cap. From the words she was using Cason figured this was her husband and apparently he had been caught cheating on her. Who in the hell would cheat when they had a beautiful girl like her at home? She wondered how the hell that happened. More importantly she wondered when it had happened. Was that the cause of Adler’s recent loss of concentration? Cason saw Adler’s eyes finally lock on hers in the crowd as she headed back up for her second run. She hoped this giant mishap didn’t turn her run into a disaster. This could be dangerous. Cason turned back towards the guy but he was long gone.
***
Adler couldn’t believe he had the balls to show up at her competition, and then to act like nothing had happened, she wanted to kill him. At least no one at the top of the pipe heard her conversation. She knew Gordy was down there somewhere. She hoped he’d understand why she didn’t talk about it. She kept her marriage separate from her career. She walked into the warming tent and took a seat. She’d have a little while before it was her turn to ride again and she needed to get her head in the game. She was four points out of first and sitting in third place. She knew Amy had a Mctwist in her bag of tricks and she would definitely throw it in her final run. If she wanted the gold she was going to have to do a lot more than attempt her new trick, she’d have to land it and she knew it.
Amy watched Adler sit down on the aluminum chair. She was quiet which wasn’t normal. They were usually razing each other at this point in the competition. Adler’s run was good, but typical and not signature Adler Troy. It was cautious just like her qualifying run.
“You okay?” Amy walked over and asked.
Adler forced a smile. “Yeah, just trying to figure out how to beat you.”
“Oh please. You have more in your bag of tricks than I ever thought about attempting. Don’t get me wrong, I would love the gold.” She grinned. “You just look a little spooked. How’s your head?”
“I’m fine.” Adler looked back out at the pipe. “Amy you have the run to beat me, you just need to throw it down. If
it’s not my day then it’s not my day.” She shrugged then realized she must sound like a figment of herself. She was usually pumping everyone up. “Maybe I am letting my head get to me a little bit. Hell, we probably all are after these last eighteen months.” She smiled. “If you want my gold you better step up. I’m not going down without a fight.” She said and they both laughed. It felt good to laugh, but nothing helped to clear her mind. Her nerves were razor sharp edges.
Adler pulled her chair over to the side and turned her I-Pod back on. She listened to a handful of motivating songs while she tried to get her focus back. She was visualizing her run in her mind and concentrating on the blue lines of the pipe when the official tapped her on the shoulder. It was her time. This was it. She was either going to throw down a hell of a ride, fall on her ass, or cruise through without a podium run. She strapped her boots into the bindings on her lime green board with pink, black, and white writing. It wasn’t exactly her choice of colors, but it had kick-ass graphics and her sponsor made the board especially for her ride at Winter X.
When the green light flashed Adler stood up and angled her board down the mountain towards the pipe. She hit the frontside wall with more speed than she anticipated, that caused her to get almost two more feet of air than any of the other riders so far. She threw a sick air to fakie, then went right into a backside nine and into her new trick the front side ten-eighty. She held her breath until the board landed smoothly. She carved back across the icy pipe and spun into a frontside ten-eighty and finished with a cab seven. She felt numb, but she was rode flawlessly. She threw her arms in the air and shredded to a stop at the base of the pipe. The cheers from the crowd were so loud she could barely hear the ESPN reporter talking to her. She unstrapped her board and picked it up. She kept her goggles and helmet on and scanned the crowd. Thankfully, she didn’t see Kevin. She didn’t see the face she wanted to see though.
“That was definitely signature Adler Troy. What a sick ride! You’re the first woman to not only land a ten-eighty, but you did triple nines I don’t think any woman has ever done that either.” The young guy shoved the microphone in her face and the other guy with the camera zoomed in.
She smiled brightly. “This is Winter X, you either go big or go home.” She shook her head. She couldn’t believe the run she laid down. She would definitely have to watch the replay.
“Here comes the replay.” He said as if he read her mind. She turned to watch the large flat screen.
“Watch this…” He was practically jumping up and down. “That grab was crazy right there.” He pointed out. “The whole ride was just totally sick. I wonder what Amy Laughlin is going to pull out of her trick bag.”
“I guess we will see in a minute won’t we.” She smiled.
“So you were seen having a heated argument with your husband, ESPNwriter, Kevin Dodson…”
She cut him off. “I’ll comment about snowboarding, that’s all.”
Alder felt like she was watching someone else on the screen when they showed her replay again. She just had probably the best run of her life and she was completely numb the entire time. She hated Kevin for taking the thrill of that ride away from her. She would never get that feeling back. Gordy was waiting on the side when she finished the interview. He picked her up in the air.
“You are fucking crazy girl!” He said low enough to not be heard. “I can’t believe you went for triple nines, that ten-eighty was sick enough! You have the biggest balls I have ever seen on a girl, man!”
She laughed. “The last time I checked I didn’t have balls.” She looked down at her crotch. “I just fucking landed a ten-eighty and three nines in a row!” She smacked him in the chest.
“You also just won another gold.” He said as Amy fell coming out of her landing on her second to last trick. “I guess we have to start calling you Goldilocks or something.” He joked and hugged her again.
“Oh how nice.” She rolled her eyes and ran over to Amy who had just come to a stop. She knew he had to know what went down with Kevin, she was glad he didn’t bring it up.
“Can you believe I fell on a goddamn five-forty?” She yelled in frustration and laughed. “You, damn girl, when you bring it, you fucking bring it!” She grabbed her friend and hugged her. “I’m so stoked for you. What a crazy run. I was cringing the entire time.”
“I said step up.” Adler teased. “Honestly I think I had my eyes closed the whole time.” They both laughed.
“Maybe I should ride with my eyes closed too if that’s the result.”
***
Cason watched the friendly exchange. Adler Troy was well-liked in the snowboard community. Several other riders grabbed her and put her up on their shoulders and paraded her through the crowd. This was her fourth Winter X Games gold medal. Judging by the way she just rode the pipe it was very well deserved. Cason wasn’t stupid, she knew that was the hardest run of her life, on a difficulty level yes, but also on a personal level. Her head couldn’t have been all in it, yet somehow she pulled it off. Maybe she was just lucky. One thing was for sure though, that beautiful blond standing at the top of the podium in the middle of the pipe base with the shiny gold medal around her neck was one hell of a snowboarder. If she didn’t make Cason nervous before she most definitely did now with the obvious straight baggage and fearless way she rode that board.
When the short ceremony was over and Adler finished what looked like her fifth interview Cason walked over to her.
Adler smiled. “There you are. I wondered if maybe you left.”
“No. I couldn’t leave without telling you how amazing I think you are.” Cason said as she watched Adler’s blue-green eyes dance in the bright flood lights that lit up the SuperPipe area. She had the most beautiful smile Cason had ever seen. When Adler Troy smiled it looked like she was smiling all for you and you alone.
“Thanks. To be honest with you I still can’t believe I didn’t crash. It was my best run on one of my worst nights.” Adler had no idea why she was telling this to her. Cason was practically a stranger. She just felt so safe with her, so open. She was usually a very private person and this threw her a little bit.
“Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry.” Cason said.
“It’s okay. Shit happens I guess.” She shrugged. “Isn’t there an old saying ‘what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger’ or something like that?”
Cason smiled. “Something like that.”
“Hey, I’m expected to go out and celebrate at this kick-ass party. You wanna go?” Adler bit her bottom lip.
Cason found it extremely difficult to say no to this girl. She watched as Adler shook her hair out and put her ski cap back on. She looked like a California surfer girl with the tanned skin, long curly blond hair, sexy eyes and slender lithe body. Oh she was in trouble here, big trouble. “Sure.” She said and swallowed the lump in her throat. What the hell would she have in common with a bunch of skiers and snowboarders? Not to mention she was probably ten years or more, older than all of them.
Twelve
Cason walked into the double-decker bar behind Adler. The room was full wall to wall with people and the second floor railing was packed with people looking down all the way around the room. A band was playing some kind of rock/punk mix on a small stage in the corner. People were congratulating Adler left and right and she was quickly swallowed up by the crowd. Cason noticed most of the other male and female snowboarders and some the skiers she recognized. She wondered what the hell she would have in common with a bunch of skiers and snowboarders. Not to mention she was probably ten years or more, older than all of them. She was alone in the middle of the room wondering if this was a bad idea. She had a feeling most of the Aspen Winter X Games population was in the bar. She pushed her way to the bar and ordered a beer. She was more of a bourbon drinker, but she figured that would really show her age.
“There you are.” A warm soft hand slid into hers and pulled her away from the bar. Adler was right at home with this crowd. She was laughin
g and smiling. Cason wondered how much of it was being faked at the moment because of what she was going through. They finally stopped upstairs in the corner above the band. “These are my friends, Gordy and Amy.” Adler said still holding her hand.
“I remember seeing them at the hospital I think.” Cason stuck her other hand out to shake both of theirs. She wasn’t letting go of the slightly smaller hand holding hers.
“This is Cason.” Adler said. “She’s a big shot doctor.” She smiled at the look on Cason’s face.
“Cool.” They both said in unison.
Everyone around them was dancing and it didn’t take long for them to start moving with the crowd. Adler finally let go of her hand and moved to the music careful not to spill the beer she was holding. There were so many people in the room is was impossible to move without bumping into someone or accidently grinding against someone else. This certainly wasn’t a scene Cason was use to. She hung with Warren occasionally and sometimes they would wind up at a dance club because he liked to dance. In fact, he taught her how to do the Soulja Boy dance from a popular rap song. They both had a little too much to drink and wound up doing that dance in the middle of the dance floor a few times. Alcohol made people grow courage they never dreamed of having. She shook her head thinking about the last time they had done that. She had so much fun that night and wound up going home with some brunette, Jana or Janet or something like that. She laughed.
“What’s funny?” Adler asked as she moved into Cason’s dance space. Less than an inch separated them. Cason was almost sorry that there wouldn’t be a slow song anytime soon, or at all for that matter.
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