Snowboard Showdown (9 page)

“I can't believe you're doing something so incredibly stupid!” Eric Schwartz said, clapping his hands to
his head. “What is wrong with you? Have you totally, once and for all, lost your coconut?”

“I know,” Freddie said miserably, cradling his chin in his hands as they sat at the lunch table. “It really bites, but trust
me, it's too late. There's no way I can back out now.”

“I don't believe you,” Eric said, shaking his head. “There's got to be a way out. I know it's hard, but try to use your withered,
pathetic brain and come up with a solution, okay?”

“Hey, I've got an idea!” Freddie said, a little too brightly. “I can lose on purpose, admit Dondi's better than me at absolutely
every single thing in the entire universe, and for a bonus, I can be called a chicken by every single person I know for the
rest of my miserable life! Great idea!”

“Maybe you should consider it,” Eric replied, not smiling.

Freddie was caught up short. “Wait. You're not really suggesting I should do that, are you? Because, like, I thought you were
my friend.”

“I am your friend,” Eric said softly. “Look at me. I know what happens when your body gets hit by a hard, immovable object,
okay?”

Freddie looked down at the table and sat silently for a long moment. “I'm sorry, Eric,” he said. “I know you're trying to
help. But believe me, it's too far gone. There is no help. I'm just going to have to do this and hope I make it in one piece.”

He looked up and saw Clarissa standing by the stairway door. She was waving at him, motioning for him to come over. “Excuse
me a minute,” he told Eric. “I've got to go talk to somebody.”

Eric wheeled himself around so he could see who it was. “Oh,” he said, managing a smile. “Well, first things first, I guess.”

Clarissa grabbed Freddie firmly by the arm and led him into the stairwell. She waited until a group of kids went by, then
glared at him and said, “I am so mad at you, Freddie Ruiz. You know, I actually used to like you, can you believe it? Boy,
was I wrong about you.”

Freddie stood there frozen, unable to speak or move. Her sudden tirade had taken him completely by surprise.

“Why did you challenge Dondi to a race down Devil's Ravine?” she demanded. “Are you trying to
get him killed or something? Huh? Come on, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“I didn't!” Freddie said, his voice cracking embarrassingly. “It was Dondi who challenged me!”

“Yeah, right. I believe that,” she said with a derisive laugh. “You're the competitive one, not him. You challenged him on
the halfpipe, and now this! Why don't you just give it a rest before somebody gets hurt?”

“I'm telling you!” Freddie pleaded. “It was Dondi who challenged me to Devil's Ravine! I know what he tells you about me,
but you know what? It takes two to have a competition. And no matter what he told you, this was his idea.” He stared intently
at her. “I'm telling you the truth, Clarissa. Why don't you believe me? Can't you see I'm not lying?” He saw her gaze falter
for an instant. “He lied to you, Clarissa,” Freddie said. “I bet a lot of things he told you about me were lies.”

Clarissa's eyes were darting around now, as if weighing what Freddie was saying. “Look, whatever,” she finally said. “All
I care about is that nobody gets hurt. You know what happened to Frank
Ritchie and those other two guys from the high school.”

The two high school kids had broken their legs, and poor Frank Ritchie had spent six months in a coma. Freddie knew it, all
right, and so did Dondi.

“You're saying you're not the competitive one. Well then, why don't you be the mature one and just back down? You know he
never will.”

Freddie couldn't breathe. Here was the girl he really, really liked, telling him to back out! If he did, would she like him
better than Dondi?

She was right about one thing, anyway—Dondi would never back down. It showed Freddie that Clarissa had learned something about
Dondi. Maybe she'd noticed other things, too.

“Promise me you'll at least
try
to stop it!” she begged. “I'm really scared somebody's going to get hurt.”

Freddie swallowed hard. “I'll try,” he said in a near whisper. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving him a warm smile that gave Freddie goose bumps. He stood there frozen as she went up the stairs.

She'd said she was afraid someone would get hurt.
Someone—not necessarily Dondi. She'd even said she'd once liked him a lot!

He would have loved to stop the race, to please her. But how in the world was he going to do that without proving himself
a loser, once and forever?

I
t was a cold, gray morning, and snow was coming. “You boys sure you want to go boarding today?” Esteban asked as he pulled
the car into the parking lot at Snowshoe. “It's pretty miserable out.”

“That's okay, Papi,” Dondi said hurriedly. “Hey, Mami said you're up for a job, right?”

“Keep your fingers crossed,” Esteban said with a little smile. He crossed his own fingers and held them up. “It's looking
good so far. But nobody's offered me anything yet.”

“Well then, pretty soon you'll be able to pay for my new board, right?” Dondi asked playfully.

Esteban reached over and tousled Dondi's long hair. “You're a wise guy, you know that?” he said. “A real wise guy.” He turned
to glance at Freddie.
“Really? You sure you want to go boarding? It's cold and windy, and snow's coming any minute."

Freddie nodded, unsmiling. “Mm-hmm” was all he said.

“You two guys are really crazy. Okay, I'll pick you up at four!”

As the boys got out and the car pulled away, Freddie could barely contain his sense of dread. He looked around for Nate and
Brad. “Where are they?” he asked Dondi. “Maybe they decided not to come.”

“They'll be here, don't worry,” Dondi replied, avoiding his brother's eyes. A car turned in to the lot. “There they are. We're
doing this, squirt. You asked for it, you got it. I'm going to show you who's the man.”

“You're the one who asked for it!” Freddie argued. But Dondi wasn't listening. He was already slapping five with Nate and
Brad, who were getting out of the car.

“What'd you tell your dad?” Nate asked Dondi after the car had pulled away.

“That we were going on the intermediate slope,” Dondi replied.

“Good. Let's go.”

The four boys took the chair lift to the top of the intermediate slope. Then, when the staff wasn't looking, they shoved off
into the woods.

The ground was fairly level and they had no trouble making their way into the trees until they were out of sight and earshot.
“It's over this way,” Nate said. “Got to walk from here.” They all took off their boards and followed him deeper into the
woods.

Soon they came to a wooden hurricane fence that had a sign saying
NO TRESPASSING: STATE FOREST, DEVIL'S RAVINE PRESERVE.

“This is it,” Nate said. He and Brad bent the fence down and the four boys tramped over it, onto forbidden ground. “It's just
on the other side of that ridge there.”

“Man,” Brad said as they got closer. “I can't believe I'm doing this again. This is so cool!”

He and Nate cast sly glances at Freddie and Dondi, then grinned broadly. “You guys are as nuts as we are!” Nate said.

“Yeah,” Dondi said, managing a cocky grin. “Don't get your hopes up, though—the squirt here hasn't done anything yet.”

“Neither have you, you jerk,” Freddie said quickly.

Dondi turned and gave him a look. “Let's just go,” he said, his jaw set.

When they reached the top of the ridge and looked down, even Nate and Brad turned serious. Below them, Devil's Ravine slid
sharply away, twisting and turning, narrower than any ski slope Freddie had ever seen.

“Whoa,” Dondi breathed. “That is steep.”

“Wicked steep,” Nate agreed. “That's why it's so much fun, man. You still gonna do it?”

“Uh-huh,” Dondi said, his voice suddenly hesitant. “But maybe Freddie shouldn't…”

“What are you talking about?” Freddie muttered. “If anyone can't handle it, it's you. I'm way better than you, and you know
it.”

Dondi didn't say anything.

All four of them stared down the mouth of the ravine. To get to the bottom safely, they would have to run a narrow gauntlet
over three blind jumps and past several trees that jutted out right in their path. The steep slope meant they'd be doing all
this at top speed. Freddie swallowed hard. It was even worse than he'd imagined.

He thought of Frank Ritchie, who'd banged his head on one of those trees and wound up in a coma. Would the safety helmet he
wore protect him from something like that? He thought of Eric in his wheelchair. And then he looked at Dondi.

Suddenly, a wave of misery hit Freddie, rising up from somewhere in his stomach and threatening to overwhelm him. Long-forgotten
images of Dondi and himself, playing as toddlers and then as elementary schoolers, flooded his mind. He remembered that he
had loved Dondi so much… idolized him… and he remembered what that love felt like. He felt it right now.

He had to do something. Something to stop this madness. But what?

“Okay, who goes first?” Brad asked, fidgeting nervously. “Any volunteers?”

“You guys should go first,” Dondi said. “You know this slope. We'll watch you and learn from your mistakes.”

“We're not gonna make any, man,” Nate said, patting Dondi on the arm. “Okay, I'll go first. See you guys down there—one way
or another!” He winked, turned, and shoved off into his run.

Freddie held his breath as Nate gathered speed. Even as Nate threw himself into his turns, cutting his edges crisp and sharp
into the snow, Freddie was sure he was going to wipe out. From where they were standing, they could see Nate's first blind
jump. Nate screamed as he went airborne, lost his balance, and nearly fell landing it. He barely managed to right himself
in time to avoid a jutting tree limb in his path. Then he was out of sight for about thirty seconds, coming into view at the
very bottom. Freddie knew there'd been two other blind jumps during those thirty seconds.

Nate seemed okay, though he was windmilling his arms to keep his balance. He skidded to a stop, turned, and waved his cap
at them. Seconds later, they heard the triumphant whoop echoing up the mountainside.

“My turn,” Brad said. “Hey, if I die, give me a big funeral, okay?” He grinned—a little uncertainly, Freddie thought—and then
he too was gone.

Brad was as good a boarder as Nate and had had the benefit of watching Nate go first. Still, he too faltered during the first
blind jump, and actually slid out for a moment before managing to get up
again—and not a second too soon as he narrowly missed a tree branch.

Freddie doubted he could make it safely to the bottom. He knew Dondi couldn't.

“Y-you go first,” Dondi said. His face was white as a sheet.

Freddie didn't move.

“You going or not?” Dondi said. “Do I have to go first?”

“No!” Freddie shouted.

“So go, then,” Dondi said, motioning with his hand.

“You really want me to go?” Freddie asked.

Dondi stared at him, his face twitching. Freddie saw his own fear reflected in his brother's face. “I—I don't–”

“Come on, you wimps!” Nate's voice hollered up the ravine at them.

“Buck-buck-buck-caw!”
Brad called out in his best chicken voice. “Come on, it's nothing!”

“Get down here!”

Dondi's face tightened, and he blinked back the tears. “That's it,” he said. “I can't take this anymore. I'm going!”

“No, wait!” Freddie shouted. “Wait—I'll go first.”

Dondi stared deep into his eyes. “You sure?” he asked.

“I'm sure,” Freddie said.

“I don't know…”

“It's okay, Dondi. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay.”

The idea had come to him at the last minute, as they stood there listening to the taunts from below. Suddenly, Freddie had
seen a possible way out.

The only problem was, he was going to have to fall. And any fall here could be dangerous. But what had occurred to Freddie
was this: If he could fake a fall, right near the top of the ravine, before he'd gotten to top speed, he might be able to
escape injury and still stop this madness. Dondi would have to come help him, and then the two of them could safely leave
the ravine. It would be a blow to Freddie's boarding reputation, but it was better than copping out completely. It was his
only chance.

“Wish me luck, Dondi,” he said.

“I do. Good luck,” Dondi said, squeezing Freddie's shoulder.

And then Freddie was off and running. He kept
looking for a way to fall that looked real enough to fool the others. But this ravine was tricky, and before he knew it he
was at the first blind jump!

“Yaaaaaa!” Freddie screamed as he went airborne. In that moment, time seemed to stretch out in front of him. He was high in
the air, much higher than he'd ever been. There was the ground way beneath him, and he was still in perfect balance!

He knew in that moment that he could do this run, that he could get to the bottom safely. But could Dondi? He doubted it.
He had only one chance to save his brother.

As he landed, Freddie let his back leg buckle. He went into a skid, throwing snow into a cloud all around him. A jutting tree
limb zipped by him, and Freddie grabbed for it, using it to break his fall. It slowed him down enough that he came to a stop
against a boulder, facedown in the snow. Had he not caught hold of the limb, the boulder might have crushed his skull, helmet
or no helmet.

“Freddie!” he heard Dondi shouting from above him. “Are you all right?”

Freddie did his best acting job. “Aaaahhhhhh!
Owww! Help!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Dondi! Heeelllp! My leg…”

“I'm coming, little brother!” Dondi called. Looking from his prone position in the snow, Freddie could see Dondi coming, flailing
his way through the deep snow. His board was stuck in a drift behind him.

Soon he was there. Freddie moaned as if he were dying. Dondi knelt down beside him. “Are you hurt bad?” he asked.