Rev Girl (16 page)

Cresting the hill, Clover's eyes fixed on the descent, on the gap between the two palm trees. Only just enough room to get her handlebars through, absolutely no margin for error. She and Ernie had talked when they were pre-walking the test about how she should slow down, weave the handlebars through the trees.

But now, there was no time.
Tick, tock, tick
went the clock in her mind.

Kerry's bike revved in front of her. Clover was catching up, gaining time. She felt good, invincible. Pumped and fast and above making a mistake. She was going to win. Dropping down the hill, the bike picked up speed Clover threw her weight back and squeezed on the front brake, felt the lever for the rear brake under the sole of her boot.

The trees sped towards her. The gap between them looked too small. She'd have to slow down. She slammed on both brakes and held her breath, keeping her elbows in, as if that would help her sneak through the tight space. In the corner of her eye, she saw the thick, brown trunks.

She was through. Safe.

Back on the gas, hard, to get back up to speed and shoot out into the straight away. To the finish line.

As soon as she felt the twitch, Clover knew she was in trouble. Her stomach sank. A rush of fear gripped her chest. Then she shot through the air so fast she didn't have time to react and roll. Her toes caught sand as she flung forward, her entire weight crunching over her boots.

Splitting pain.

On the ground, and the tears came instantly. Sobs. She was hollow with shock and despair and was shaking as if she were freezing. She tried to think about what to do next, but all she could see beyond her was the image of her body flinging through the air, like a rag doll. It played over and over in her mind. She couldn't recall seeing anything on the track. Obviously, something had snagged her rear wheel. But she couldn't see the point in thinking about it now. Her race was finished. Over. It was as if a towering tsunami had rolled over her. A killer wave in a black ocean, an ocean drowning her dreams of racing the World Championships.

The girl behind Clover stopped to see if she was okay. She only just managed to choke out, ‘medics.' Then wave the girl on. Her limbs were weak and shaky, but she was able to crawl off the track and out of the way of oncoming bikes. Her own bike was already off the trail, on its side, down at the base of the hill.

The paramedic team arrived minutes later. They made sure she was well away from the track then laid her down, immobilised her ankle and got her comfortable, moving the spectators away from the ‘casualty' as they called her. Bikes were still coming past. Loud. Annoying to her in a way she never thought the sound of a dirt bike could be.
All those girls,
she thought with despair.
Finishing
ahead of me!
The medics asked her questions like: ‘Can you tell us what happened?', ‘How did it happen?', ‘Did your bike land on you?' … ‘Would you like some pain relief ?'

She told them that she was flicked off, no, the bike didn't hit her, and she was certain she had broken her ankle. Not even the best boots on the market made up for such force, such a mistake. Her first ever broken bone.

‘Did you hear a snap?' one asked.

‘More like a crunch.'

‘Uh-huh,' he said. ‘And you sure there's no pain in your neck, or back?'

‘Just the ankle.'
And my hands and my heart.

The medic nodded knowingly and whipped out a two-way radio. ‘Rider down after marker six in test seven, stable, but suspected fracture to right ankle. Will secure and bring her out with the Rhino. Have ambulance ready for transport. Over and out.'

To Clover, the pain felt good. She deserved to be punished for her eagerness and stupidity. She was being punished, she was sure of it now, for leaving Silvertown, going against her best friend, not listening to the rare advice given by her mother, for trying to live two lives being here in Florida, when she should be supporting her boyfriend. Punished, for trying to find happiness.

She should have known better than to chase her dreams. All she ever found was failure. Clover let out a sob and allowed her head to fall back against the ground, smacked the sand with both hands, and cried.

Later, when the paramedics had managed to get her boot off, Clover forced herself to look at her foot and as she did, her stomach flipped and her head went dizzy. Her ankle, or what used to be her ankle, anyway, resembled a puffed up, discoloured blowfish, a blowfish that had eaten all her toes her pink toenails stuck out from its lips, her toes like round little sausages.

A short, green whistle appeared in front of her face. ‘Just suck on this,' the medic said.

She was about to grab the stick and chuck it into the scrub when she heard the soothing sound of a familiar voice.

‘Dad?'

‘Sorry, honey. I'm here.'

She looked over and saw, through the tears and grains of sand, the shape of her father hunched beside her. He laid a hand on her stomach.

‘Dad! I'm so sorry, I was so stupid.'

‘Don't say that. I'm very proud of you.' He lifted his sunglasses off his face. His eyes welled with tears.

‘Proud?' she said. ‘Of what?'

‘Of you trying so hard. It's my fault. It was too much to ask of you. It's too early in the year to come down here. It's my fault you weren't ready.'

‘I'm the fool who couldn't ride properly and who hit the stupid root.'

‘You haven't ridden on dirt for months. I promised to stop pushing you, and now I've gone and gotten you hurt. I'm sorry.' He put a hand on her shoulder, stroking her hair with the other. ‘Now, you tell these paramedics exactly where you hurt.'

‘It's just my ankle.'

Ernie looked at them. ‘No internal injuries?'

They shook their heads.

‘That is brilliant.' Ernie seemed to relax, but only a fraction. ‘Do you need a hand getting her onto the stretcher?'

‘That'd be great.'

‘Just relax, honey, you're going to be fine.' Ernie leant down so his head was next to hers. ‘I'm sorry, Clover.' He stroked her face.

‘It was my fault, Dad. Maybe next time, I'll finally be able to get through a race without crashing. I'll know for next time not to … ' But she had to replay what her father had just said.

I'm sorry.

He was apologising.
Does this mean I can still go to the World's?
At that moment, her mind was free, void of the black ocean which had consumed her like the sea had morphed back to blue and was parting down the middle, clearing a path for her dreams to sail back into possibility. Now she'd had a taste of the big time, she absolutely had to have more.

‘Hey, Dad?'

‘Yes, honey.'

‘There is one thing you could say that would make me feel better.'

Ernie studied her face. ‘What's that?'

‘That I can still go to the World's.'

‘You still want to go?'

‘You wouldn't give up, if you were me.'

He shook his head. ‘I was afraid you'd lost that drive.'

‘I think I've finally learned this lesson. Now I'll be stronger for it. It must only take, what, like a few months for a broken ankle to heal? I'll still have plenty of time to ride and prepare. I'll be ready.'

Ernie's face hardened. ‘I'm not comfortable talking about this right now. Let's just get that ankle in a cast, and then … '

‘I won't take no for an answer.'

Ernie raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘Let's just worry about getting you fixed for now, okay?' He sighed deeply. ‘You're always in such a hurry, when you get an idea in your head. Just like your mother.'

Clover gritted her teeth now was not the time to get Ernie off side. ‘Life's too fast to sit idle, Dad.'

But before she finished, a husky voice ripped through the scrub, making all of them jump.

‘Clover Canada! What have you done to yourself ?'

Clover raised her head to see Kerry bounding down the track, with her father, Earl, in tow. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of her first racing friend.

‘Well,' Clover said. ‘I liked the look of the medics, here figured this was the best way to say hello.'

Kerry, Earl and the medics all laughed.

‘Ankle, huh?' Kerry said.

Clover nodded.

‘That sucks, girl. Nasty little spot, that.' Kerry gave the two trees a dirty look, before kneeling in the sand beside Ernie. ‘Sucks you hurt yourself. We were havin' a good race.'

‘Oh, don't worry, Kerry,' Clover said, looking her in the eye. A zealous grin crept across her face. ‘We'll race again, soon. But not in this sand crap, in some sloppy, Czecho mud.'

Ernie opened his mouth to protest, but Clover was too quick, ‘Dad was just saying how good it's gonna be when we can race each other again, at the World's.'

‘Like hell I was!' Ernie said.

‘Oh, yeah,' Kerry said. ‘You'll be all better, well before then.'

‘Okay, guys,' the medic said as they rested the stretcher on the ground next to Clover. ‘Let's get this show on the road the ambulance is ready and waiting to take you to hospital. You'll see a doctor and get the x-ray and if it is broken, a nice fibreglass cast.' He smiled at Clover. ‘You can even get a pink one, if you'd like.'

‘Pink sounds great, thanks.' Clover was already feeling much better. ‘To match my other boot!'

Clover moved as swiftly as her aluminium crutches would allow along the school hallway, past the rows of lockers, towards Sydney. After spending spring break in her bedroom with her leg up on a pillow, even she was excited to be back at school.

Sydney slammed her locker door shut and was just about to thread the lock through its metal hoop, when Clover raised one of her crutches and poked the rubber end at the back pocket of her jeans.

‘Hey!' Sydney spun around. ‘Clove! Oh my God!' She batted the crutch away and threw her arms around Clover's neck.

‘How was Cali?' Clover asked. ‘Was it good to spend time with your dad?'

‘Yeah, it really was. And the surfing was insane! I can't believe I've never tried it before.'

‘I'm way too scared of sharks.'

Sydney shook her head, then laughed. ‘Those pics you put up on Facebook were crazy that place you stayed at was insane, and your ankle it looked so gross!'

‘I know, right?' Clover pulled away and rested against the lockers to give her arms a break, then shook out her hands. ‘Florida was crazy; the race was massive. I still can't believe how big it is down there. Just too bad it's so hard to get on a factory team for the nationals, but, never mind … '
Maybe I might find a
ride at the World's …

‘How does your ankle feel now?'

‘Oh, it hurts like a beatch! The doc said it was one of the more colourful ones he's seen. But at least I got this pretty cast ' She raised her right foot.

‘I can't believe how good you look,' Sydney said, staring into Clover's smiling face. ‘When you said you'd crashed, I was expecting you to be all beat up.'

‘No reason to be upset,' Clover said. ‘It's gonna be healed in like six weeks, and I've figured out these crutches pretty good, might even get a walking cast soon. It doesn't really matter that I'm off the bike; with this bloody terrible weather, all this snow, I couldn't ride anyway. Besides, by the time it's healed, it should be nice enough outside to get back on the bike and start training for the World Championships.'

‘The World's! But, what about your dad's proposition? And your ankle?'

‘Proposition, sopposition,' Clover said with a laugh. ‘It's okay, Dad's a big softy. Once the Doc cleared me, he was totally cool. Dad can't help himself, he's just as much of a revhead as I am.'

‘Right.'

‘Don't be worried. I'm tough.' Clover glanced at her watch. ‘We'd better get a move on. Bell goes in like twenty-five minutes and I've got that much crap to catch up on, it's insane. I only got like one assignment done while I was away, and isn't that English one due tomorrow?'

‘Think so, but … '

‘We'd better jet, I won't have time to do it tonight, Mom and Dad have finally given me the go ahead to spend a few hours at Dallas's after school. I think they've taken pity on me 'cos of my bung leg.'

Clover slid the crutches under her arms and hopped her way towards the table in front of the classroom where she and Sydney would be spending their first period.

‘C'mon, Syd,' Clover said. ‘Keep up, girl!' She shook her head and turned back to the table. ‘Hey, Little Miss Racing Star.' Sydney tapped Clover on the shoulder. ‘I know you probably don't wanna hear it, but I really need to talk to you about Sera.'

Regret and guilt pinched at Clover's heart, as it did whenever Sera's name was mentioned, which, when she thought about it, hadn't been for quite some time. This was a good thing, Clover considered, as the topic of Sera was just too hard to tackle. She needed all her forward momentum. All her strength.