Skateboard Sibby by Clare O'Connor

Author:Clare O'Connor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Second Story Press
Published: 2019-02-22T18:47:35+00:00

Chapter 11

Time for Talking

Nan puts pumpkin-chocolate muffins and lemonade on the kitchen table. Esther is telling her all about what happened at school today.

“…and then he left,” says Esther.

“That sounds like a very busy first day,” says Nan.

“They’re doing it again tomorrow,” says Esther. “Hey, we could come over again after school and tell you what happens.”

“It’s so nice to have kids around this table again,” says Nan. “You can come over anytime you want.” And then she looks at me and adds, “As long as it’s okay with Sibby.”

It’s not.

But Esther and Nan are both looking at me like they want me to say it’s okay. I stuff muffin inside my mouth and then point at it because I can’t talk with a mouth full of food.

Esther looks at me and points to her bottom lip. “Piece of chocolate right there.”

Charlie Parker Drysdale passes me a napkin.

I shake my head to tell him no, and then I lick the chocolate off my lip.

“Now, I’m going to leave you three to eat your muffins,” says Nan. “Pops and I will be going for a walk soon, so I have to change clothes.”

“Okay,” I say, but I don’t get why she can’t walk in the clothes she has on. She’s wearing jeans and a long-sleeve shirt with yellow and white stripes.

“Your nan is so cool,” says Esther. “My grandparents live in Vancouver. I’d totally love it if they were in Halifax and made muffins after school. I’d never leave.”

I decide not to tell her about the sour milk.

“I still don’t get why Freddie left,” I say.

“It’s like we told you,” says Esther. “It started right around that rock fake thing.”

“Rock to fakie,” I say.

“Yeah that,” says Esther. “My Vogue magazine has a whole section on skateboarding since it’s in the Olympics now. I didn’t read much about the jumps, just the clothes.”

“They’re called tricks,” says Charlie Parker Drysdale, but he says it just before he takes another drink of lemonade so it makes his voice sound deep when he talks into the glass.

“Tell me again,” I say. “Ms. Anderson just called his name and he ran?”

“Yep,” says Esther, “and then he told Jake to call it off and you’d go again tomorrow. You barely started that last trick. The slide one. And he was gone.”

“Backside bluntslide,” I say. “So, then he didn’t see me…” I am about to say “bail” but I remember what Hannah said and I say, “bail on purpose?”

“Nope,” says Charlie Parker Drysdale, “but Jake kept videoing it with his phone.”

“He did?” I say.

“He’s always taking skateboarding videos,” says Esther. “Hey, why aren’t you finishing your muffin?”

“I dunno. I guess thinking about losing my shoes makes me not hungry,” I say.

“Why are you thinking that?” asks Charlie Parker Drysdale. “This morning, you sure seemed like you thought you could win. What happened?”

I don’t know how to answer Charlie Parker Drysdale. All I know is I feel different.

“If you lose, just get a new pair,” says Esther. Then her eyes get big and she’s smiling.

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