EJShaun.com

Yo, can we talk?

In person?

Kelvin waited to text his buddies until the weekend. They hadn’t seen each other in over a month, which was long during the summer. He paced in his bedroom, shuffling his feet across the carpet. The bristles darkened one way then lightened the other. He opened a new group chat to start fresh. Oakey replied first.

Yeah, dude. We’re just skating. We’ll be at Chapin if you want to meet there.

The doorknob shocked him on his way out. He scoured the house looking for his hat. Rip City gave him two, but he couldn’t find either. He forgot he left them in his car.

Last night, Aliyah encouraged him to reach out to his buddies. She wouldn’t have time to see him for a while, and she didn’t want him getting lonely without her. She sounded even more sarcastic over the phone. Despite the bad news, it was nice to hear her laugh.

He pulled up to Chapin Park around lunch. An ice cream truck sat in the parking lot with a long line behind it. He spotted Oakey walking away with a fudge bar. He was hard to miss with his gangly stride and bad posture.The sunscreen glistened on his bony arms. He tied his hair in a bun to keep it off his shoulders.

Miguel and Oakey liked to warm up here. The skatepark had a variety of ramps, rails, and staircases. The kids practiced on the smaller slopes. The older skaters gathered around the bigger sets. Many watched from the shade. Cheers erupted whenever somebody landed something big.

“You got this,” Kelvin whispered to himself, adjusting his hat in the mirror, “They owe you, remember? Aliyah said it herself. You did nothing wrong.”

He repeated that last part like a mantra. He kept saying it in his head after he climbed out.

Oakey lounged on a bench beside the park. He finished his fudge bar with chocolate streaming down his arm. A thick coat of sunscreen covered his nose.

Kelvin joined him and placed his skateboard between them. “What up, man?”

Oakey almost fell over. “Dude,” he said with his mouth full, “Can you believe it? You’re like famous now—”

“Not by choice! You guys had no right putting Aliyah in your video. Especially when you said you wouldn’t.”

He slumped, crumpling his wrapper in his lap. “Nah, you’re right. We didn’t mean to film her. It just sort of happened. We knew it was wrong, but once we had the shot… We just figured, with you going to that school, you’d be leaving us anyway.”

A cloud drifted overhead, casting a shadow over the park. The hedges rustled behind them.The scent of jasmine came and went with the breeze.

Kelvin felt the weight of his buddy’s shame like it was his own. He couldn’t help but see the similarities. They were sacrificing his friendship for their future. He knew that one, didn’t he? By moving to Colorado, wasn’t he doing the same thing?

“Dude, I’m so sorry. We didn’t want to hurt you. Or Aliyah. We’ve just been at this for so long, and we really needed a win.”

Kelvin swallowed his anger. The bile burned the back of his throat. “Well, did you get one?”

Oakey nodded, gesturing to his feet. He hiked up his pant leg to show him his new shoes. Black and yellow stripes ran along the sides. The logo resembled a bumblebee with three stingers.

“Oh snap, is that B-Three? You guys got sponsored?”

“Yeah, dude. We signed a contract and everything. They want another video by the end of summer.”

B-Three was a sports store that specialized in bikes, blades, and boards. They had outlets all along the west coast. Kelvin bought his last snowboard from them.

Miguel skated over as they talked. He stopped in front of them, spitting into the grass. “Yo, Oak, you good?”

His front wheels spun for a moment. He stood on the tail with the nose in the air. His shoes matched Oakey’s. The back of his shirt read, “B3,” like a jersey. He cut off the sleeves to make it a muscle shirt. Most of his shirts were muscle shirts. He wore a black and yellow bandana to complete the outfit. The colors agreed with him.

“Nice shoes,” Kelvin said, “Oakey said you guys got sponsored. B-Three? That’s huge.”

Miguel scowled, tracing his fingers over his goatee.

“Come on, man. Let’s bury this. Aliyah already has, and she got the worst of it.”

Oakey cut in, “Wait? You two are still together?”

“Hell yeah, we’re still together. If anything, that video just brought us closer. She actually got work out of it, so she’s good. I think I finally won her manager over, too.”

Miguel scoffed then spit into the grass again.

“Look.” Kelvin put his skateboard on his lap. “I ain’t taking any credit here. With all the years you guys have been skating, you deserve this. I’m happy for you, honestly. I just want an apology. What you guys did hurt, you know? Like, a lot.”

His buddies didn’t respond. They glanced at one another before staring at the ground. In the parking lot, the ice cream truck honked. The driver waved out his window while he drove away. The melody played down the block.

Kelvin kicked a pebble by his foot. “Oakey mentioned you guys don’t think I’m coming back next summer. You should know, though, I haven’t made that decision yet.”

Miguel jeered. “Yeah, but let’s be real. If you did, you’d only be coming back for her.”

“Man, shut up. Don’t put that on me. Aliyah might not even be here next summer. Hell, I don’t even know when I get to see her again this summer.”

Saying it out loud left a bad taste in his mouth. Up to that point, he’d only ever thought about it. The truth was, he had no idea when he’d get to see her next. And that sucked. She promised him a video call tonight, so at least he could see her then.

Kinda.

“We all had it rough growing up,” he continued, “A lot of that still hurts. I never really saw a future here because of it. I don’t really see one up there, either, but… If I do come back, it’d be for me, you know? Because I moved past it.”

Across the park, a group of rollerbladers cheered. Somebody must’ve landed something big.

As kids, the three of them had to grow up fast. They often leaned on one another for support. Oakey bounced around foster homes in his teens and ran away a lot. Miguel fought with his dad and older brothers. His family always had alcohol in the house. Kelvin helped when he could, going as far as letting them cheat off his tests. They got into skating as a way to escape. They called places like Chapin their second home.

Miguel took off his bandana and retied it. “I’m sorry,” he said afterward, “I shouldn’t have done it.”

The front of his board dropped, clacking against the concrete. He stepped on the tail to flick the nose into his hand. Underneath, the middle of his board was mostly scraped away, but a scribble of blue ink survived.

Aliyah’s autograph.

Kelvin smiled. “Thanks, man. We’re good now. Water under the bridge.”

Oakey slapped his arm. “Dude, you said Aliyah got work. What’d she get?”

“Oh my gosh.” He pointed to his hat. “It was so crazy. Rip City wanted her. She hosted their skate fest this year. Like, they wanted her to be the face of it. It was awesome.”

His buddies cursed. “Rip City? We were gonna go to that.”

“Oh snap… I’m glad you didn’t.”

They all laughed.

Kelvin skated more that day than any other that summer. The guys filmed him as much as he filmed them. He wanted to make a little video for Aliyah. He rolled his ankle once, but nothing he couldn’t walk off.

By the evening, they hit every street spot in the neighborhood. They even bombed a hill. He collapsed onto his bed when he got home. He barely had the energy to answer his phone. Aliyah called from the studio, dressed in her police uniform. That woke him up.