Dropping In (6 page)

As I head out the front door James yells from his house, ‘Hey Sticks, whatcha doing?'

‘I'm gunna see if Ranga wants to go to the skate park,' I say.

‘Can I come?' James asks.

‘Sure,' I say, ‘but what are you going to do down there?'

‘Just watch.'

Fair enough. I spend half my time watching Ranga do his stuff anyway, trying to figure out how he does it. I wait at the end of James' driveway while he tells his mum where he's going and then we head on down to Ranga's house. James' chair must be fully charged because it's a long way to the skate park. We have to go down a big hill and through an underpass and then it's still a fair way up to the shops and around behind them where the skate park is.

Ranga's mum opens the door. She looks tired but she gives us this big beaming smile. ‘Hi boys,' she says. She turns around and yells back into the house. ‘Warren, it's Ian and James.'

Ranga comes bounding up the passageway. It's the old Ranga back again. He's been inside too long and he's overcharged. Energy is sparking out of him. He's ready to go — now.

When we roll up to the skate park all the usual guys are sitting around watching while a couple of the older guys are flying all over the ramps doing tricks I can only dream about. Even if I had the guts I wouldn't be able to do that stuff, ever. It used to annoy me, but now I guess I've just got used to it. Ranga is a bit of a hero here. The older guys treat him like he's one of them, knuckles and stuff. I'm lucky to get a grunt.

James though, they're interested in him. What happened to you? Can you move your legs? Can I have a go of your chair? He handles it well, answering their questions and not getting angry, even when they grab the controls of his chair and make it jerk back and forth. He won't let them have a go on it though.

I'm just about to step in and try to stop them before they break something when Ranga speaks up. He tells
them to leave James alone, that James is his friend and they actually do leave him alone. I'm relieved because I'm scared; really scared. It doesn't take much for them to turn on you, and then one of them figures he needs to beat you up — especially if you're a small kid, or weak or a bit fat, or you're wearing green. It doesn't matter what it is, one of them will shove you around to prove how tough they are. All the others laugh like you're a waste of skin and you don't matter.

They might be leaving James alone, but this tall kid with long, greasy hair, who used to go to school a few years ago, decides that I need to be picked on. He walks across and sticks his face right next to mine. ‘What are you looking at?'

I know where this is heading. If I say, ‘Nothing,' then he'll get mad and say, ‘Who are you calling nothing?' Then he'll beat me up.

I don't want that to happen so I say, ‘My hero.'

He looks confused and all his mates laugh. That makes him embarrassed and mad — at me. He glares and I realise that I'm in deep trouble but then Ranga steps between us.

‘Leave him alone,' Ranga says. ‘He's just a kid. Pick on someone your own size.'

‘Yeah Luke, leave him alone. He's funny,' says one of the big guys.

He still wants to get me but his mates will think he's weak if he picks on me. I can see him trying to decide if it's worth it anyway. Then he gives this fake laugh and says, ‘Yeah, he's funny.' But his stare says, ‘Watch your back,' before he swaggers over to the other guys.

Ranga puts on a show that day. He's upside down in the air half the time, spinning like a top as well. I've seen him do the same moves before but now he's linking them together and each one seems to give him more speed into the next one. I almost feel like not skating myself because Ranga is so good and I'm so bad. I'm sitting down to watch when he flies up the wall, flips his board into his hand, and lands lightly on his feet next to James and me.

‘Come on, Sticks,' he says. ‘Get into it. Today's the day.'

I'm pulling my knee and elbow pads from my bag when I hear a hiss.

‘Sticks!'

It's Ranga. He's using his eyes to signal towards the others. ‘Don't put those on. Not with those guys here.'

I glance across. They're looking towards us. Ranga's right. If I put this stuff on I'll make myself a target, but I
know that if I don't I'll lose skin.

‘Just play safe, at least until they're gone,' Ranga whispers. ‘Don't do anything hard.'

It's easy for him to say. For me, everything is hard. Even on a slow hill I'll find a way to get speed wobbles and fall off. When I do, I land
hard.
Not like Ranga. The big guys are still watching. What's worse, getting picked on by those guys or skinning my elbows or knees? I can't win. I wish I'd never come!

I'm trying to decide when I hear wheels crunching loose stones on the cement next to me. It's James.

‘Do you reckon my chair would handle that section over there?'

There is absolutely no way his chair could handle even the first section of the ramp and, even if he somehow made it to the bottom, he'd stack it so badly that we'd have to call an ambulance. I look at him and I can't believe it. His eyes are shining and he's ready to give it a go.

‘You're nuts,' I say. ‘If you try you'll find out the true meaning of pain.'

‘I already know what pain is,' James says.

I glance at his legs. They're even more twisted up than they were at the start of the term. I guess he pretty much lives with pain, but why add to it?

‘You'll lose metres of skin for sure,' I tell him and for once he seems to listen.

He nods. ‘Yes, I guess so. I don't want to get injured before the operation.'

‘Operation? What operation?'

‘I'm having a pump implanted next week, to relax the muscles in my legs.'

‘You never said anything about this,' I say. I'm almost accusing him, like he has to tell me everything he's doing.

James just shrugs and goes back to watching Ranga getting pretty close to flying. It's probably five minutes before he says, ‘I've had operations before. They had to lengthen the tendons in my legs so I could straighten them a bit.'

‘How? Did they cut them?' It's such a horrible idea.

James nods. ‘But the last few years they've given me botox injections.'

He sees me smirking. ‘Yes,' he says. ‘I look young.'

‘So why don't they keep doing that?'

‘It only works for a while and the amount I need isn't good for me. The pump is supposed to be much better.'

‘Are you afraid?'

James shrugs. ‘I've got no choice.'

We sit a while and then he says, ‘You know what my
friend and I told the nurses at hospital once, when we were getting botox?'

‘What?' I ask. It could be anything.

‘We told them we wanted our legs cut off. They just cause pain and get in the way.'

I stare at him. I can't believe what he said. He's got this strange look on his face and then it disappears. He laughs. ‘Just joking, we were stirring up the nurses.'

I've got a horrible feeling he meant it and I can't handle the thought I'm having about what it would be like to be James so I just watch the Ranga show for a while.

After maybe five more minutes I decide to have a go at skateboarding myself, without the knee and elbow pads. I walk over to the edge of the ramp and put my foot on the back of my board with the front wheels hanging in the air just over the edge. I'm going to just step on the front and let gravity pull me down into the bowl. When I hit the bottom I should have lots of speed so I'll just turn off the top on the other side and slow up a bit before I try anything too tricky. I take a breath and step forward, the skateboard tips and I'm off.

The trouble is the skateboard doesn't come with me. The back wheels hook up on the edge of the ramp and I
fall head first down to the bottom. My right knee smacks into the ground and the ramp sandpapers my palms. As I roll my left elbow cracks into concrete. My shirt saves my back but it's burning when I stop sliding. I'm lying there, dazed, when I hear laughter.

It's the older guys, pointing at me, slapping each other on the back and banging their knuckles together like Americans on TV. I feel worthless. I hate them and their stupid little gang. They feel like big men here, but really they're just losers and bullies. I hate them but mostly I hate myself for letting them make me feel like this, like shrivelling up and disappearing.

‘Are you alright, Sticks?' It's Ranga. He's got my hand and he's checking it for grazes. ‘You really splattered yourself. Hey, your elbow's bleeding.' He rips out a scrunched up tissue. It looks used.

I pull my arm away. ‘You're not putting that on my graze,' I say. ‘I'll die of snot infection.'

‘Do you reckon my snot's dirtier than this concrete?' He's pointing at the ramp. It's dirty grey with a few red drops of my blood on it.

‘Hey Sticks!' It's James. He's got his chair right up to the edge of the ramp. One centimetre further and he'll fall over. ‘You okay?' He looks worried in between other
expressions that come and go on his face. He does that when he's upset.

Suddenly I'm feeling better. My two friends are there for me. But then the worst thing of all happens. I cry. Not a lot. My eyes just water up enough for some to run down my face.

‘There, there! Who's a little baby then?' It's the jerk with the long hair.

I pretend I haven't heard him. I just get my skateboard, climb out of the ramp and pick up my bag, but the crappiness of this rotten day hasn't finished yet. My bag doesn't jingle. I already know what it means, but I open it and check anyway. Yes, my allen keys are missing and I bet I know who took them. I look across at the long-haired kid. He smirks back.

I know I won't be able to prove he took them and if I try it will just give him a reason to beat me up. I shake my head and leave with Ranga and James beside me.

Jess is at it again. At least I think she is. All these girls keep pointing at me and whispering. I can't hear what they are saying which is really annoying. All the pointing and whispering goes on before school and then at recess too. By lunchtime I'm ready to go and ask Jess what's going on.

Then the weirdest thing happens. Lucy James, the most boy-mad girl in the school, comes up to me and says, ‘Ian, Jess wants me to tell you that you're dumped.'

Dumped? I didn't even know I was going out with her. Now I've broken up with her. How is that even possible? Ranga is laughing. He tries to put a sorry look on his face. ‘Hard luck man,' he says. ‘Don't forget we're here for you.' He gives James a big nudge. James is struggling not to laugh as well.

I can feel a smile pulling at the corners of my mouth.
The more I try to stop it the more a laugh tries to force its way out of my mouth. When it spurts out of my nose I give up and all three of us are laughing our faces off at how stupid the whole thing is.

Lucy stands there looking at us with her mouth hanging open. I get the feeling this is not what she expected. She stares at me for a second then she spins on the spot and stalks back to her mates. Jess is over there looking kind of unhappy which is strange because she's the one who is supposed to have dumped me.

I hear what Lucy says to them. It is only one word. Gay.

One of the other girls puts an arm around Jess like she's comforting her and they do that flock of birds thing, turning around all together and walking away.

I'm left standing there wondering what just happened and somewhere deep down I feel like I've lost something. It bothers me all afternoon and I make up my mind to try and catch Jess without her friends after school and actually talk to her. She might tell her friends I'm a stalker but I don't think so.

James, Ranga and I are walking home and we're just about to go in the deli for an ice-cream when someone shouts, ‘Hey losers!'

I know that voice. It's that long-haired guy from the
skate park. We turn around and he comes walking up to us. He's got a couple of his mates with him. They're like a gang and I just know they want to beat me up.

Ranga steps towards them. ‘Leave him alone, Luke. He hasn't done anything to you.'

Luke sneers. ‘Tell that to someone who cares.' He shoves Ranga hard. He must be strong because Ranga flies backwards and bangs into the wall. Then he turns to me. ‘Feeling funny now, are you?'

The other two guys are standing either side of me and Luke shoves his face right in front of mine. ‘Let's start again. What are you looking at?'

‘A pathetic little thug!' says a grown-up voice, and a huge hand grabs Luke's shoulder and spins him around. It's the deli owner.

Just for a second I see the look on Luke's face. He's nearly wetting himself with fear. Then I realise that he's seen me see how gutless he is. He's
really
going to hate me now.

The deli owner is like a body builder or something. Ranga once told me that he was a sailor before he bought the deli. Whatever he was, he's strong. He pushes Luke away like he's a toy. ‘Piss off, and take your weak mates with you.'

Luke almost looks like he's going to smart-mouth the deli owner but he doesn't. He just gives me a death stare and they strut off like they're tough guys. It would have been funny except they're much tougher than me and Luke will get me as soon as he has a chance.

‘Are you alright?' the deli owner asks, but it's not Ranga or me he's talking to. It's James.

James nods. ‘Thank you,' he says.

The deli owner smiles. ‘No worries. It was a pleasure. I've watched those punks throwing their weight around for a while now. It was good to be able to do something about it.'

There's the ding of a bell from inside the deli and the man spins around. ‘Customer,' he says. ‘See you boys.' And he's off, back into the shop.