Kelvin kept an eye on the street like he expected Tiffany to pull up. She called him twice while he was at the gas station. He didn’t answer, but he did text her back.
Yeah, Aliyah’s coming here. I don’t wanna say where, though. I’m sorry. I know this is serious, and I’m taking it seriously. She’ll be safe. I promise. We’re on the same side, always have been.
He put his phone on silent afterward. For some reason, he still felt the paparazzi were in the bushes.
Aliyah lounged in the grass beside him. She leaned back on her arms and stretched her legs. One of her hands came to rest by his.
“You seem nervous,” she said, bumping into him, “What’s up?”
“Nah, nothing. Still a big fan. That’s all.”
“Fair enough. This is pretty wild, isn’t it?”
“Oh my gosh, so wild. I never thought you’d meet my buddies.”
“Me neither.”
As they laughed, Miguel skated toward the stairs. His wheels clattered over the sidewalk. On the jump, he twisted and flipped his board, sliding the handrail backward. Oakey swiveled to follow him with the camera. The beginning of the trick went well, but he missed the landing. He was leaning too far back and fell onto his hands. His board shot into the parking lot.
Aliyah yelped, “Whoa, you alright?”
He got up with a grunt. “Yeah. It’s nothing.”
“Was that kickflip to nose-slide?” she asked.
All three guys turned to her in awe. She identified the trick better than Kelvin would’ve. He knew she learned a lot from Triple Flip, but he didn’t expect that.
Miguel wiped his nose on his shirt. “Yeah, but it was switch.”
“Switch? You’re goofy-footed?”
Oakey giggled behind the camera. Kelvin almost drooled.
“Yeah,” he mumbled, squinting at her.
“That’s cool. Me too.”
In skateboarding, the term goofy-footed referred to how a skater stood on their board. They either skated with their right foot back, which was called regular, or their left foot back, which was goofy. Like Aliyah, Miguel was left-handed and a left-footed skater. The term switch involved skating in the opposite stance, like a lefty writing with their right hand.
When his buddies began filming again, Kelvin nudged Aliyah with his elbow. “So that was awesome. I think you just got two more fans.”
“Good. I could always use more.”
A breeze picked up while they talked, rustling the hedges behind them. The scent of jasmine hung in the air.
Kelvin cleared his throat. “It wouldn’t be too much to say I missed you, would it?”
“Maybe. Let’s just keep it about the skating, okay?”
Miguel landed his trick a moment later. Aliyah celebrated as he rolled into the parking lot. Oakey avoided her with the camera, but the microphone still caught her cheering.
“Smooth, dude!”
He hopped off his board. “Yeah? I kinda leaned at the end.”
“Nah, that’s what made it look good.”
Miguel jogged back to check the footage. Oakey and Kelvin agreed: the shot looked good. He watched it, rewatched it, tracing his fingers over his goatee.
“Okay. Good enough.”
Oakey was stunned. So was Kelvin. Miguel never took his first try. The two gawked at Aliyah like she was a witch.
Afterward, the guys couldn’t decide what to film next. They bickered about it for a minute. Miguel had a staircase around the building he liked, but Oakey wanted another line in the drainage ditch. Before they decided, Aliyah nudged Kelvin.
“Hey, you should do something.”
“Okay? I mean, I could boardslide it.”
“Do it.”
Board-sliding was one of the easiest tricks to do on a handrail. He learned it last year but knew how to do it from snowboarding. It was his only trick. The biggest staircase he’d ever done was a nine. The staircase at the bank was a long seven.
Kelvin eventually agreed. He climbed to his feet then grabbed his skateboard.
“Should we film it?” Oakey asked.
“Yeah, probably a good idea, in case I fall.”
At the top of the steps, he stared down the rail and tucked his hair in his hat. Some bushes grew along the other side. He figured falling that way would be safest. Coming up short meant a tumble on the stairs. Ouch.
“You got this,” Miguel hollered, “It’s nothing.”
Oakey crouched in the grass beside Aliyah, holding the camera low. “Ready when you are.”
Kelvin told them he needed a couple run-ups. He skated to the rail to get a feel for the jump. He kept glancing at Aliyah.
“You alright?” she asked.
“Yeah. Just nervous.”
“Is it me?”
“Yep.”
She smirked. “You don’t seem to have a problem rapping.”
“Yeah, but I’m a lot better rapper than I am a skater.”
Aliyah climbed to her feet. “Well, I don’t want you doing it if it’s just for me, you know?”
“Nah, it’s not. I want to do it. And like Miguel said, it’s nothing.”
Once more, he backed up and tucked his hair in his hat. The camera dinged as Oakey pressed record. Aliyah fiddled with her disguise, retying her scarf.
After Kelvin gave the signal, he hopped on his board. The wheels clattered over the sidewalk. His back foot smacked the tail off the ground. His front foot dragged the nose over the rail. The metal hissed under him.
He landed cleanly, rolling into the parking lot. Aliyah cheered while Oakey zoomed in to follow him. He circled back and pumped his fist at his side.
“Not bad, yeah?”
“Nah, dude, it was smooth.”
At the bottom of the stairs, Miguel folded his arms and spit into the grass. He eyed the rail like it wasn’t big enough.
“Homie, you did that easy. We should go to the thirteen.”
Kelvin stepped off his board and stumbled.
“The thirteen?” Aliyah said, “That sounds big.”
“Nah, it’s nothing. He wanted to do it last summer, but we never got around to it.”
Kelvin zoned out for a second, picturing the staircase in his head. He remembered saying he wanted to do it. On snowboard, he could slide rails like that no problem.
The local scene called it the Regal Thirteen. It sat behind an abandoned strip mall just up the block. A set that big would definitely impress Aliyah.
“Okay,” he said with some reluctance, “Yeah, let me just warm up here first, then we’ll go there. Sound good?”
Miguel and Oakey bumped fists.
“You sure?” Aliyah asked.
“Absolutely. I mean, if there was gonna be a day to do it, right?”
She smiled. “That’s my boy.”
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