Page 28 of Paint Eater
Logan wobbled uncertainly at first, and Jay couldfeelthe way he was tensing up, the way he wasn’t trusting the balance and fluidity of his own body. “Logan, let go a little. As in, you’re way too tense—relax. I’ll hold onto you.”
Before Logan could protest, Jay started to push him by his stiff, stuck-out elbow and shoulder, forcing Logan to push forwards to keep up.
Jay grinned as they moved steadily, feeling Logan’s body centre. “There you go. There, you can do it, you’re not gonna fall. Keep your body low, there you go. I’m going to let you go in five, four, three…”
At one, he released Logan, who made a little noise of protest but kept going, easy now.
“There you go,” Jay crowed, proud even though it was the most basic part of skateboarding. It was the part that was less about skill and more about trust in your own body, though—and that was a difficult thing to learn.
Despite Logan’s protests, he seemed determined not to be defeated, and they kept going until the sun was dipping low, both of them sweating.
“Fuck, I think I’ve had enough,” Logan said finally, stopping the skateboard without having it fly forward.
Jay grinned. “Sure. Fucking starving, though. Wanna get a slice?” he asked, gulping down water from his bottle and passing it to Logan.
“Sure. But I wanna see you skate first,” Logan challenged, nodding towards the bowl where some other kids were skating.
Jay raised his eyebrows and shrugged, laughing. “Sure.”
Jay wouldn’t exactly call himself ashow off, but he wouldn’t be able to deny that he tried to impress Logan, tapping the skateboard and hopping on it as it moved, crouching slightly to retain his balance as he dipped into the bowl.
He stayed there for a while, rolling up the sides and doing a couple of 180s, coming down from the last one and rotating his whole body in the air so that he landed facing the opposite way on the skateboard, pushing himself up the side again and leaving the bowl. There was an obstacle course above it, and Jay skated through it, grinding on a bar before dropping low and pushing himself onto a ramp, crouching and holding onto the side of the board as he lifted into the air.
By the time he returned to Logan, he was panting slightly, sweat dripping from his hairline, grinning at Logan.
“Eh? What’d you think?”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Show off,” he said, clearly trying to hide his smile. “Fuck, I reallyamshit at it, aren’t I?”
“Man, I’ve been doing this for years. Chill.”
Logan punched him in the arm, and Jay laughed, picking up the skateboard as Logan took the duffel.
They walked over to the pizza place, passing Logan’s car and dumping the skating stuff inside.
Jay shook his head. “How the fuck do you always manage to find parking nearby? Literally, how?”
Logan snorted. “You skateboard. I park.”
There was no respite from the heat as they entered the un-air-conditioned pizza place. Lucy, an old-school, fourth-generation Italian who had been a staple in the neighbourhood for decades, looked Jay up and down as they approached.
“Kid, what happened? It ain’t that hot out there,” she laughed, pointing at Jay’s sweaty appearance.
“I was at the park.”
“Skateboarding? You gonna break your neck,” she said with all the certainty of a mother. “And who’s this?” She pointed at Logan with her chin.
“This is my friend Logan.”
“Another skateboarder.”
“Nah, he actually sucks at it.” Jay grinned, throwing a teasing look at Logan, who rolled his eyes.
Lucy nodded. “Good. My son Marco broke his knee skateboarding.”
“Hescrapedhis knee. I was there.”
“Nearly broke it. Almost needed stitches.”
