by Pat Flynn
Probably because it was so painful. Chief kept coming at the Samoan, trying to get in close, but the Samoan skipped away and threw long, powerful jabs that hit their mark more often than not. As the fight went on, Chief’s left eye started puffing up. Then his right eye.
Alex winced whenever he saw his dad get hit, but Chief’s expression never changed.
“Don’t you feel bad, watching yourself lose?” said Alex.
“No,” said Chief.
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t lose.”
All of a sudden Chief got through the Samoan’s defences and landed a vicious uppercut. Chief hit the pause button.
“Look at that,” said Chief, moving right up close to the television. “Look at his eyes.”
They were glassy. The Samoan was hurt.
“Keep it going,” said Alex, eager to see what happened next.
Chief hit play. The final bell rang.
“I didn’t lose,” said Chief. “I just ran out of time.”
They sat for a bit.
“Come on, son,” said Chief. “I’ve heard you’re pretty handy on that skateboard thing of yours. I’ll take you to the park; you can show me a few tricks.”
“I’m not sure …” said Alex.
“You want to clean up your room instead?”
Alex went to find his shoes.
CHAPTER 16
Casey was there but Alex tried not to look at him. Instead Alex focused on his own skating, going up and down the banks, willing himself to go higher and higher before he turned, holding his nerve till he got back down.
Alex looked over at Chief; he was asleep on one of the benches. As Alex was shaking his head, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“G’day mate. I’m Casey.”
After a few seconds Alex remembered he should say something. “I know.”
Casey looked at him.
“I’m Alex,” added Alex.
“You gonna have another go at dropping-in?” Casey gestured over to the mini-ramp.
“Dunno.”
“I reckon you should. You almost had it yesterday.”
Casey took a look at Alex’s board. Alex winced; his board was a piece of rubbish. “You’re doing pretty good for a bloke who’s just got his first skater,” said Casey.
They went over to the mini-ramp. Casey dropped it and popped a noseblunt on the other side.
“How do you make it look so easy?” said Alex.
Casey thought for a bit. “I love it.”
He dropped in again, did a 360 rock’n’roll, and ended up back beside Alex.
Putting his wheels over the coping, Alex felt his insides churn like a cement-mixer.
“Let go,” said Casey. “Don’t worry about falling off, don’t worry about not falling off. Just skate.”
Alex felt like he was listening to Morpheus from the Matrix. Only this guy was no actor, he was the real thing.
Alex went to go but hesitated. Don’t stuff up in front of Casey.
“Don’t think,” Casey said.
Alex smacked his front foot down and though it wasn’t the prettiest drop-in ever, he landed on his board, not his backside.
Casey gave him a high-five. “You’re gonna be good, mate. Real good. I can feel it.”
Alex tried to act cool but his mouth wouldn’t stay straight on his face.
CHAPTER 17
The phone rang that night and Sam answered. Sarah didn’t even try an accent.
“I’ll get Alex,” said Sam. “I think he’s looking for something.”
Alex took the phone.
“Himself,” Sam said to no one in particular.
“Hey,” said Sarah.
“Hey,” said Alex.
“Sorry about the other night.”
“That’s okay.”
“I’ll try not to embarrass myself.”
“I reckon we’re both experts at that.”
They laughed, then there was a pause.
“You’re never serious,” said Sarah. “I think you should let your real feelings out. It’s not like we’re little kids anymore.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
“Can I ask you one thing?”
Alex got worried — his stomach felt like it did when he was about to drop-in.
“Do you like me, just a little bit?” said Sarah.
“Did you let me win on the science test?”
“I asked you first.”
“I asked you second.”
There was another pause.
“I’ll tell you,” Alex said, finally. “The answer is … yes. I do like you, a little bit.”
Alex could hear Sarah smiling.
“I didn’t let you beat me on the test. I just said it to make you feel bad,” she said.
There didn’t seem much else to say.
“Bye, Alex.”
“Bye, Sarah.”
“Hey,” she said, as he was about to hang up.
“What?”
“Did you find it?”
“What?”
“The thing you were looking for.”
Alex didn’t know what she was talking about.
But he had.
First published 2004 by University of Queensland Press
PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
www.uqp.com.au
© Pat Flynn
www.patlfynnwriter.com
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any foram or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
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Cataloguing in Publication Data
National Library of Australia
Flynn, Pat
Alex Jackson: Dropping In
For children aged 8-12 years.
1. Boys – Juvenile Fiction. I Rogers, Gregory 1967
II. Title.
A823.4
ISBN 978 0 7022 3443 8 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5675 2 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5676 9 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5677 6 (kindle)