Freerunner

by David Trifunov

  “These boxes are called vaults. When we jump over them, it’s also called a vault. That’s an easy vault to start. But there’re plenty of other ways to get over it. This one’s called a lazy vault. Then we will try the thief vault.”

  I looked up at him with wide eyes. I could feel my cheeks turning red. It made me think of how I got here.

  “Are you going to tell people about me?” I asked.

  “No, of course not,” he said. “Maybe we’ll just use the lazy vault. Here, you try it.”

  It didn’t look like much. He had just jumped over it. I tried it. I have to admit it made me nervous to run at it. I had too much time to think about what might go wrong.

  Coach Jack saw me having trouble. He broke down the movements into small sections. Then it felt a lot easier.

  So Coach Jack took me to another, higher box. He took a long run as I watched from beside the vault. He jumped. Wham! Both of Coach’s hands hit the vault like he was hitting a punching bag. He swung both legs underneath him as he flew through the air. He was over the vault before I knew what had happened. It looked amazing.

  He jogged back to me. “That’s a Kong vault,” he said. “Because you look like a monkey — or King Kong — when you do it. We will work up to that one. But I wanted you to see what you will be able to do.”

  We kept running through smaller movements: climbing, crawling and swinging on bars.

  Then they walked into the place. The girl’s dark hair was spiky and she was wearing hospital scrubs. I knew they were scrubs because my mom had about a hundred pairs for work.

  She had a bunch of metal bracelets on one arm. Her ears were pierced a bunch of times. Her T-shirt said “Sub-Pop.” She was amazing. There was a guy with her. He looked a little like a doll or a mannequin. He had perfect hair, expensive running shoes and matching gym clothes. Not that I was all that interested in looking at him.

  “Hey, Coach,” she said. “Can we have some free time?”

  “Yeah, but warm-up first, and meet Patrick. Patrick, this is Parker and Jayden. They’ll be in your class. Guys, you can call him Tricky.”

  Was he Parker, or was she?

  “I’m Parker, nice to meet you,” the girl said. “Yeah, I know. Parker and parkour. But that’s not why I’m here. It’s just a big, hilarious coincidence. I’ve heard all the jokes. They’re not funny.”

  “Hey,” I said. I wanted to say something about her name. I wanted to promise not to make any jokes. But then he spoke.

  “You done this before, Tricky?” Jayden asked. He said “Tricky” like it was painful for him.

  “No.”

  “Didn’t think so.”

  He walked away and did this spinning kick thing. It looked cool. But why was he was doing it before class?

  This guy is going to be trouble, I thought.

  4

  Dropping In

  From on top of a vault, I looked left and right. I was looking for Parker. I could see small groups of girls in the gymnastics area dancing and singing. They were all in pink, yellow or neon green and had their hair pulled back tight. The smallest kids crowded the open floor. They ran around in circles, with their parents chasing after them. They reminded me of the little kids at Teen Club back home.

  Parker wasn’t anywhere in the crowd, though. I decided it was the time to practise something new.

  Every weekday for the last two weeks had been the same for me. New school. New teachers. Sitting through boring classes. Trying to make friends. At least at parkour, I could talk to Parker. And I could get moving again.

  We had been working on our rolls, landings and vaults. We did exercises to get strong. I had even started coming two more times a week for open gyms. Parkour was not the worst thing in the world. But I didn’t feel like admitting it to my mom or Coach.

  I had been feeling pretty confident before class. And I was tired of watching Jayden show off. So I was going to jump off the vault into a parkour roll.

  All I had to remember was to land on the balls of my feet — that spot behind my toes. And I had to bend my knees just enough and keep my back and feet in the “ready” position.

  “You don’t want to land with your knees straight,” Coach Jack had said. “That will hurt your back. You don’t want to bend them too much, either. You gotta be somewhere in the middle.”

  I felt really good about my rolls. By now I could get over onto my back muscles every time.

  I was sure rolling after jumping from a vault would be easy. I had seen Parker practising the move, and I wanted to try it. But I didn’t want her to see me try it the first time.

  And I didn’t want Jayden to see me try it, either. Jayden would be beside her. He never left her alone. Every time I saw Parker, Jayden was trailing behind her like a lost puppy. I’m sure sometimes she didn’t even know he was there. I noticed she looked at him like she wasn’t really seeing him.

  Thinking about the two of them made me nervous. I had to practise before the gym filled up too much. So I jumped off the vault.

  It was a bad idea, I know that now. I jumped too straight. My knees locked. I bounced too high and couldn’t get my head out of the way for my roll. My shoulder dug into the mat. That had never happened before.

  Nobody needed to yell at me for trying it too soon. The pain in my wrists, neck and back yelled enough. My right cheek even had a bit of burn on it from the mat.

  I wanted to sit there and not be noticed. But I didn’t get the chance.

  “That was awesome, Tricky,” a laughing Jayden said.

  I turned my head and there they were, right behind me. There’s no way they didn’t see me. Somehow I had missed them coming into the gym.

  I stood quickly. At least Parker was cool. She looked concerned. But then her expression changed to disgust as Jayden kept taunting me.

  Coach’s voice cut through Jayden’s. “Let’s take three laps then try the ‘bear walks’ twice to warm up.” He was headed straight for us.

  Jayden raised his hand. “Coach, I really want to work on my rolls off the vault. I think Tricky is ready too.”

  Jayden was smirking. I felt like pushing him off the vault myself.

  “Okay, sure,” Coach said. He was clearly a little confused. “But after the warm-ups.”

  After our laps, we lined up behind the vault. I stood at the back.

  Jayden was first. He stepped onto the vault and steadied himself. Then he jumped off into his roll.

  “Yeah!” Coach said. “What we need to remember is this: don’t just step off the vault. You have to jump. Get some distance and lean forward a little. That way, your body is already ready to roll.”

  I watched student after student try it. Some were better than others. Some asked for an extra mat to cushion their fall. Parker’s was nearly perfect. She jumped far ahead, landed with her knees bent just right and then rolled. All in one quick motion.

  The vault was the smallest one we had at the gym. It was barely off the ground. But when I stepped on it, I could feel my back and neck tighten.

  “Just like you practised it,” Jayden yelled from somewhere.

  In my mind I could see the stupid grin on his face. I gritted my teeth and stepped off the vault. Again, I landed straight. I wasn’t going forward at all. I rolled after that. But landing and rolling felt like two parts instead of one. Coach met me as I went to the back of the line.

  “Go forward, not down,” he said. “Lean into the roll. And get your hands up so you’re ready for the roll.”

  I watched everyone else go through the line again. It seemed so simple as I watched everyone else leap forward and roll. This time, when it was my turn, I felt like I could do it. I stepped up on the vault and jumped forward quickly. I didn’t want to give myself time to think about what could go wrong.

  I reached out ahead of me, but my feet felt awkward on th
e landing. I bounced up from landing, too high again. But this time I tried hard to save the move. I dove into my roll. The pain in my shoulder and neck returned.

  My hands must have been too low, at my sides.

  “Yeah, you almost had it!”

  It was Jayden the jerk again. This time everyone else laughed along with him. I stood up and walked back toward the line. I wondered why I was even trying. For two weeks everything had come so easily. Now it was getting much tougher.

  5

  Painful Reminder

  I wasn’t even back in line before Jayden was hovering. He was like a wasp ready to strike. I could feel him lurking. He’d come into my view, then slip out of sight again.

  I didn’t need reminders of how badly I had bailed off the vault. But Jayden was reminding everyone. Coach met me at the back of the line again.

  “Better. But jump forward more,” he said. Then he turned to the group. “Okay, everyone. Take a break.”

  The class shifted to grab their phones or get water. Jayden grabbed his bottle. He drank it like it was champagne and he had just won a big race.

  “Hey, Tricky, I should get your number,” he shouted as he clicked on his phone. “We should train together.”

  All of Jayden’s buddies were laughing. They knew I didn’t have a phone.

  I needed to get away or I would swat him. So I wandered to the water fountains. I had to wait behind little kids who were more interested in pushing the button than in drinking. They’d hit the button and water would shoot up high. Then they’d let go of the button and the water would stop. Their mouths would hang open, dry. And they couldn’t figure out what had happened. Finally, I just reached over and held the button for them.

  “Can you lift me?” a little girl asked.

  I picked her up with one hand and pressed the button with the other. She stuck her mouth into the water so far I thought she might drown.

  “That’s enough,” I said. “Who’s next?”

  “I am.”

  It was Parker. I stepped out of the way. I could feel my face getting red.

  “Wait, aren’t you going to push the button for me?” she asked.

  I laughed. But just a little. “You’re a big girl.”

  She smiled. But I felt like a moron. I didn’t know what to say.

  “Do you have little sisters, Tricky?”

  “Nah,” I said. “We had Teen Club back home. I’d go there early and play floor hockey with the little kids’ group that met ahead of the club.”

  Parker smiled again. This time she showed off more teeth. “That’s so awesome. Were you like a camp counsellor?”

  “They asked me to be one. But I didn’t have the time.”

  Well, that was almost true. I had tried it a couple of times. But I didn’t want to always have to be there. I hadn’t even been paid once before I just stopped going. I felt bad about it after. It had been kind of fun to play with the kids.

  Parker bent to take a drink. She even made drinking from a water fountain look cool.

  “Your second roll was good,” she said. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  “You don’t say much, do you?”

  “I dunno.”

  She took another drink. She wiped away water running down her chin. “I think you’re a natural,” she said, looking at me. “When you have too much time to think about your moves, you hesitate. Maybe you just need to go for it. I think you’re more a traceur than a freerunner.”

  I had no idea what that meant. “A what?”

  “Oh, sorry. A traceur does parkour and doesn’t worry about fancy kicks. You know, like Jayden does,” she said. “Jayden probably does freerunning, not parkour.”

  “There’re two things?”

  “Freerunning has more moves — almost like dancing. Parkour is more, I don’t know, ‘serious,’ maybe. Traceurs want to get from here to there in the fastest way possible. Freerunning is more artistic. You can go back over something two or three times just for fun. But that’s just my definition. Some people say there’s no difference.”

  I still wasn’t sure I understood. It must have shown in my face.

  “Well, we better get back,” Parker said. “Jayden was telling everyone you’re lucky to be alive.”

  Why couldn’t Jayden shut up about my lousy rolls? My face was still red, but now it was from anger.

  “Hey, Parker,” Jayden shouted to us as we approached. “Have you tried this one?”

  He ran at the wall and planted his left foot against it, about a metre high. He jumped and latched onto a vault, pulling himself onto it. It was like he had springs for arms. He dove off it and landed a perfect roll in our direction.

  Then he stood up right in front of us.

  “We should try that next time at the Bank,” he said. “Those statues are perfect for it. Hey, Tricky, how’s your neck?” He said my name with a sneer.

  “It’s good.”

  We were nose to nose. I wanted to push him out of my face. But I knew Coach Jack was watching. I couldn’t figure out why Jayden wanted to bug me so much. It felt like a set-up. He seemed to have it all ready for when people were watching him, especially Parker. I’m not sure why I cared, but I did. It bothered me so much. I had to figure out some way to get back my pride.

  Coach called us to the mini-city. We gathered around him. Our class was shoulder to shoulder, and Coach patrolled us like we were an army unit ready for a mission.

  Without saying anything, he turned and ran at a wall. He planted his foot and lunged high for the ledge. It was three metres up, but he grabbed it with both hands. In one motion, he pulled himself onto it like he was pulling himself out of a swimming pool.

  His arm muscles rippled. He was fluid and fast.

  “It’s a wall climb. It looks impressive to your friends,” Coach said from up high. “But it’s not hard if you have the upper body strength and technique.” He sat down and let himself slide down the wall. “But three metres is too high for you. We’ll start here.”

  The wall in front of us was shorter. It was a little higher than I could stretch and touch with the tips of my fingers. It looked easy enough.

  Jayden was first, of course. He sprinted, planted his foot and leaped for the ledge. He whiffed. Instead of springing up, he pushed himself backward and landed back on the floor.

  Everyone laughed. Jayden threw his hands up and made a joke.

  Parker was next. She wasn’t running as fast. She planted her foot and jumped high. She grabbed the ledge, but she didn’t have a good grip. She had to slide back down.

  A few other kids tried after that. They either didn’t get high enough or didn’t have enough strength to pull themselves on top.

  I didn’t know what to expect on my first try. But I remembered what Parker had told me: “Don’t think too much.”

  When everyone cleared a path for my turn, I didn’t wait. I just bolted for the wall, planted my foot and jumped. I grabbed the ledge and felt my fingers burn under my weight. I wasn’t about to let go, though. I was stuck for half a second. But then I used my feet to keep kicking.

  Struggling under my weight, I finally pulled myself up and onto the block. I was the only one to make it on my first try. I stood up. I turned and looked down at the class. I felt like king of the castle. And Jayden was a rascal who could only look up at me.

  6

  Dropping In

  Everyone was cheering. Cheering me. I took two steps toward the end of the block. There was a huge foam mat underneath. I leaped into the air, did a flip, and landed in the foam. For just a second, it felt like I was flying.

  Everyone was bouncing in excitement after that. Someone had made it! One by one, they took turns sprinting for the wall. They looked like fighter jets taking off from a runway. One by one, they zoomed at the wa
ll and grabbed at the top ledge.

  I looked up and spotted Parker. She was watching from the other side of the lineup. We made eye contact. I thought I was going to burst when she smiled at me.

  She came walking over. “What’s the secret?” she asked.

  My hands were on my knees. My chest was still heaving and it was hard to breath. It took me a second to say anything.

  “Go fast,” I said. “Don’t just jog. You need a strong leg to shoot you high. But don’t overthink it.”

  She smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. I felt a buzz go through my body.

  “See?” she said. “I knew you were a natural.”

  She bumped back into the line. I stepped to the side to get a better view of her second try. This time she was a little bouncier, like everyone else. She started her run, planted her foot, and jumped for the top of the barrier. She caught it with her right hand. She just hung there for a couple of seconds. Then the muscles in her shoulder and back flexed enough for everyone to see.

  “Whoa!” someone said.

  It’s exactly what I was thinking.

  Finally, her second hand darted up. I could see she had a better hold. We all started cheering as she slowly pulled up and onto the wall. She scrambled to her feet and did a somersault back onto the mat.

  I was there to give her a high-five as she came past me in line. But instead of just slapping her hand, I grabbed it.

  “Where did you get those muscles?” I asked her.

  “I was in gymnastics for ten years,” she said. “Oh, and I was bitten by a radioactive spider.”

  “Then what took you so long to get up there?”

  She let out a big laugh.

  I was up next. Feeling light as a balloon, I cleared the wall just fine. I felt like I could have jumped as high as Coach. The cheering class behind me pushed me to the top.