by Bob Blanton
“That’s a lot of money.”
“Yes, and that’s assuming they’re just taking the doctor recommended dosage. If some of them up the dose to three pills a day, then you’re talking over one hundred thousand per week.”
“And that assumes they stop at three. They’re going to become resistant, so they’ll be wanting more.”
“Right.”
“So where do the pills come from?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen how Cruz is getting the pills.”
“What about the money?”
“I don’t know that either, but it’s a lot of money. He can’t be keeping it, but I have no idea how he’s sending it on.”
“What’s his cut?”
“Must be pretty good. He makes six thousand a month, drives a new BMW, lives in a nice apartment by himself. He went out on Friday and Saturday nights last week and turned down a couple of dinner offers during the week, so he has an active social life.”
“That’s not unusual for someone his age.”
“No, but his friends seemed disappointed when he turned them down. Sounded like he was good for buying rounds for the table.”
“So he throws his money around.”
“Sounded like it.”
“You have to stay on him. You need to figure out where the money goes and how he gets the drugs.”
“Yes, Chief,” Matthew said, making it obvious that he was feeling put upon.
“Hey, I can’t surveil him. You have to do it. Besides, you’d think he’d do something to get rid of the money early in the week if he gets it all on the weekend.”
“I know, I know. But Brea’s back, and this surveillance takes a lot of time.”
“Just do the best you can. I bet he does something Monday morning. Check him out. What are you and Brea up to tonight?”
“We’re going to see a movie.” Matthew let out a deep sigh. “Emily, have you noticed that Brea is acting kind of weird?”
“What do you mean by weird?”
“She seems stressed out. She’s standoffish, I don’t feel like we’re very close right now.”
“Probably just still the effects of losing the tournament. I think she was really counting on it to boost her standings.”
“Yeah, I guess. I hope she starts relaxing. It’s kind of hard to be around her right now.”
“Just hang in there. She needs a rock like you to lean on while she figures it all out.”
◆ ◆ ◆
On Wednesday, Matthew biked over to the Winthrops. Their lit class had been assigned to write a short play and he and Jason were teaming up. Mrs. Winthrop had insisted that Jason partner with someone else besides Alex, since she didn’t think much homework got done when Alex and Jason were together.
Bouncing down the stairs he heard the voice of a woman yell. “Right there, you could have wrong-footed her!”
Matthew slowed and eased his way down the rest of the stairs. Brianna, Mrs. Winthrop, and another woman were sitting together watching the TV. Matthew was pretty sure it was Brianna’s final match at the U.S. Open.
“And see here. She could have returned that volley behind you for a winner, but she intentionally kept it in play.” The woman had paused the video.
“Why?”
“To wear you out.”
“What?”
“Tell me. How many points did you score off of her serve in the match?”
“Thirteen.”
“How many did she score off of you?”
“Four.”
“So, who was working harder, you or her?”
“We both were.”
“Come on. You know full well, that when you’ve got the serve, it’s the other player working their ass off to score a point.”
“So, you think she was wearing me down?”
“Yes, after your first service game, she knew you would be tough to break. So she took a few chances on her serve so you would have to run around more. It paid off in the tiebreakers. And she didn’t try all that hard on your serves except in the tiebreakers.”
“That’s cheating!”
“That’s strategy.”
“Ahem,” Matthew announced himself as he made his way into the room.
“Oh, hi, Matt. This is Karina, my new tennis coach. Karina, I’ve told you about Matt.”
“Hi, Matt,” Karina said extending her hand.
Matthew took it and started to shake it. Karina immediately bore down on it, demonstrating a crushing grip. Matthew was glad he worked on hand strength for his martial arts class, otherwise, he’d need splints for his fingers. Karina smiled, her white teeth glistening against her dark skin.
“Brianna told me that you do martial arts. You must be a pretty serious student.”
Matthew smiled back. “Yes. You never know when you might need to rely on your training.”
“Karina, you didn’t try to crush his hand, did you?”
“She has a pretty strong grip,” Matthew said.
Karina laughed. “You should show Brea some of your exercises. She could use a little more strength in her grip.”
“I will. When did you start coaching Brea?”
“Just last week. We discussed it at the Open, I guess that was an interview.”
Matthew looked at Mrs. Winthrop.
“I can’t travel with Brea to the tournaments. It wouldn’t be fair to Hanna. And she really needs a coach there to keep her tuned up.”
“Oh, so you’re going to do more tournaments?”
“If I get invited.”
“I’m sure you will. Where’s Jason?”
“He’s set up outside on the veranda,” Mrs. Winthrop said. “Are you going to stay for dinner?”
“Should I?”
“Definitely,” Brianna and Mrs. Winthrop said together.
“Then sure.”
Matthew headed out onto the veranda where Jason had set up a table.
“Hey, Matt. I guess you met the new coach.”
“Yes, what’s that all about?”
“Brianna wants to turn pro.”
“Already?”
“She was hoping to launch her career with a win at the Open. Now it’s not as clear cut.”
“So what does it mean for her to go pro?”
“More matches. But I’ll let her explain all that to you later.”
◆ ◆ ◆
After a bit of an awkward dinner where Mrs. Winthrop had declared there would be no work talk or tennis talk, Matthew and Brianna went out onto the veranda to talk before he headed home.
“So, Jason says that you’re planning to turn pro.”
“That’s been my goal. I was hoping that I could use a win at the Open to start me out.”
“And now?”
“I have to wait and see if I can get the right kinds of invitations.”
“Why didn’t you talk with me about it?” Matthew asked. It was obvious that he was feeling hurt by the exclusion.
“I didn’t want to say anything until it was a sure thing.”
“Why?”
“Because my going pro is going to make it hard on us. I’ll be traveling a lot.”
“So?”
“We would hardly see each other.”
“What about school?”
“Mommy’s hired a private tutor for me. She was with us in New York. After this semester, I’m going to homeschool.”
“Oh,” Matthew said as the realization of what she was saying finally sunk in.
“How much travel are we talking about?”
“I can play in ten pro tournaments between now and when I turn sixteen. Then I can play in thirteen the year after that.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of tournaments. You’ll be on the road all the time.”
“Most of the tournaments are only one week. But the big ones are two weeks.”
“So you expect to be gone most of next semester.”
“Yes. But, Matt, you’re going to college after the summer. That would make it
almost impossible to keep dating.”
“I guess.”
“We can still be friends. We can date, but we have to realize it’s just as friends. We both have different lives to lead.”
“I knew that. I just thought we had more time.”
“Maybe we do. I might not get any invitations. I might not make the cut on the tournaments I enter.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen. You’re too good. And I really do wish you the best. . . . I just need to think.”
Matthew gave Brianna a hug and a kiss before he went around the back way to get his bike and ride home.
Chapter 7
Crazy Bikers
“Remind me again why we’re here?” Matthew asked Emily.
“I’m here to report on how girls are breaking into the sport of stunt cycling. You’re here to report on who the top cyclists are and who wins.”
“I know that but why this event?”
“Because Ms. Honeycutt said we have to report on a non-mainstream sport. We flipped a coin to decide between stunt cycling and skateboarding. Quit complaining, it would be just as hot in Lakeside as it is here.”
“I guess. I’m still not ready to forgive you for tricking me into volunteering for the school paper.”
“It’ll look good on your college applications.”
“What about yours?”
“I’ve got tennis; besides, I’m more of a freelance kind of girl. Why didn’t Brea come?”
Matthew snorted. “She’s not interested in BMX biking; besides, she still has some work to catch up on.”
“I thought she was using a tutor to keep up.”
“So did Cara, but Brea managed to forget a paper. She’s writing it this weekend.”
“Lucky for you.”
“Yeah, right. I’ll see you later.” Matthew didn’t want to talk about the fact that he and Brianna had all but broken up.
Matthew moved out into the crowd. They’d gotten field passes since they were with the press. Matthew was amazed that they could transform the stadium so much and still have it ready for the Aztec football game the next Friday. The large bowl-like structure was huge, similar to what was at the skateboard park but on a grander scale.
“Hi,” Matthew greeted a young man who was wandering around the area like him.
“Hi, pretty cool isn’t it?”
“Yeah. This is my first time,” Matthew said.
“First time? How did you get field passes?”
“Press pass, student newspaper,” Matthew said.
“Sick!”
Matthew was pretty sure that was a good thing. “Yes, some benefits to taking journalism. And you?”
“Just a fan. I paid through the nose for my pass.”
“So, who do you think will win?”
“Travis, I guess. He seems to be the top dog right now. But there is this chick competing that might give him a run for his money.”
“A girl? I thought they had a separate division.”
“They do. But there weren’t enough entrants in the under eighteen group, so she made a stink and they’re letting her compete.”
“Good for her. So she’s pretty good?”
“Fearless.”
“I guess you’d have to be. Who else looks good?”
“Williams, Morris, the usual suspects.”
“By the way, I’m Matt.”
“Carlos.”
“So, Carlos, how many of these do you go to?”
“Four or five a year. I’m trying to catch on as a mechanic, but it’s tough. It’s a tight community.”
“What does it take to get picked up as a mechanic?”
“I think you have to be related to someone,” Carlos said. “I work at a bike shop up in L.A. and I hand my card out at every event, but nada.”
“Do you compete?”
“Nope, I like to fix bikes, not crash them.”
Matthew laughed, “I guess looking at the wreckage would make you a bit cautious.”
“Definitely. Hey, see you around.”
Matthew made his way over to the staging area for the competitors. They each had a small space around the edge of the stadium so the crowd could see them working on their bikes as well as preparing to ride up to the top of the bowl to begin their routine. He saw Emily talking to a girl, he assumed she was the one Carlos had mentioned. He checked his program. Annika Sorenson, from Tempe, Arizona.
After wandering a bit more, he spotted Travis checking his bike out. He had two young guys with him and an older man. They were all inspecting his bikes. There were two identical bikes, Matthew guessed one was a spare in case he crashed. There were three runs. The top twenty got a second run, then the top five a third. The best score from their three runs determined their standing for the final awards. Matthew zoomed in with his portal to see if he could catch some interesting comments on the competition.
“I felt a wobble in the handlebars,” Travis was saying.
“I checked it out, the bike is perfect,” one of the young guys said.
“I told you I felt something!”
“Maybe it was nerves,” joked the other guy.
“Billy, if you don’t want to get fired, you’d better wise up!” Travis said. “I don’t have nerves, there’s something wrong with the bike.”
“Do you want to try the backup?” the first guy asked.
“I guess I’ll have to since my mechanics can’t figure out what’s wrong with the first one!”
With that, Travis grabbed the other bike and headed off to the bowl to check it out.
“It’s nerves,” Billy said.
“We know. But you can’t say it,” the older guy said. “He’s got a lot riding on this competition. It’s the last one before he turns eighteen and has to go pro. He needs a big win to get his sponsors excited enough to up his funding.”
“Well, yelling at us isn’t going to help,” Billy said.
“Just shut up and tune the bike. Tell him you tightened up the wheels and lubed the headset.”
“Sure, whatever,” Billy said.
◆ ◆ ◆
Matthew wandered around checking out the other pit areas and competitors before meeting back up with Emily.
“Did you get an interview?” Matthew asked Emily.
“Yes, I talked to Annika and to a few of the younger girls who are doing a demo before today’s competition.”
“What did you think?”
“She’s tough. It’s a big risk to her ranking to push her way into this competition against the boys.”
“I heard she’s fearless,” Matthew said.
“Seems like it. We should go find our seats; the demo is going to start pretty soon.”
“Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you.” Matthew leaned against the wall and zoomed back over to Travis’s pit.
“How is it?” Billy asked.
“Solid,” Travis said.
“I tightened up the wheels and lubed the headset,” Billy said.
“Told you it wobbled.”
“I know, it was hard to detect,” Billy lied.
◆ ◆ ◆
The demonstration by the young girls was entertaining, they rode their bikes, riding on one wheel, hopping around on one wheel, making small jumps while riding forward or backward.
“I can’t believe they don’t crash,” Matthew said.
“And hopping the bike up onto that rail and riding along it. I don’t think I could pull that off on my feet much less on two wheels,” Emily added.
“They certainly made it all look easy. Now let’s see what the big kids can do.”
The riders were seeded according to their rankings, with the highest-ranked rider, Travis, going last. Annika was twentieth which surprised Matthew given her ranking. “What’s up with that?”
“Sexism,” Emily said. “They downgraded her ranking since it’s from the girls division. She said she expected it. She said it was punishment for daring to force her way into the competition.”
“Is it a big disadvantage?”
“Yes, the judges save the big scores for the later riders since they’re expecting them to be the best. But she just needs to break into the top twenty, preferably the top ten, with this first ride.”
Five of the first twenty riders crashed. They knew they had to do something big to make it into the second round, so they took big risks. Matthew thought that all of them looked rough. He wondered what Annika would look like compared to them.
“Here she comes!” Emily shouted.
Annika started her routine off with a forward flip of the bike.
“Wow! That was scary,” Matthew exclaimed as he watched her set up for her first run. This time she rotated the bike around the front wheel three times before landing.
“That’s called a triple tail whip,” Emily said.
Next Annika bounced the bike’s front wheel up, then the whole bike was in the air. While it was in the air, she rotated it once around the front wheel before landing on both tires.
“Bunny Hop 360,” Emily said.
She did a few other tricks, riding the bike like a pogo stick on its front wheel, then she finished off with a backflip. The crowd obviously loved her and roared their appreciation.
“That certainly made all the previous riders look like pretenders,” Matthew said.
“The judges agree with you,” Emily said, pointing to Annika’s score which had her in first place by a wide margin.
Annika held her wide lead until the last five riders were up. The first of them didn’t pass her but closed the gap considerably. The next one edged her out for first place.
“That’s bull!” Matthew hissed. “She was better than that guy.”
“We don’t know enough about the tricks to know what the judges are looking for, but I tend to agree with you,” Emily said.
The next rider came in behind Annika by a few points, leaving Travis to try to raise the bar. His routine was similar to Annika’s, and he added a trick where he completely let go of the bike, flaring his arms and legs out into a star before he grabbed the bike and landed.
“I don’t see how they can get their feet back on the pedals when they do things like that,” Matthew said.