PART 1:
NEW JERSEY
Peralta's Team
Chapter 1
Steve was in his room listening to music. He sang along with the words to that one Linkin Park song. His skateboard was lying on his desk. He layed on his bed, wondering when that one day would come where he'd get noticed and be sponsored. Soon it became annoying and he got up and went to repair his skateboard. The wheels were broken and the bolts were slightly loose. He pulled out his drawer and scrambled the pile of papers to find his screwdriver. He pulled it out and went to work. He took off the wheels and got new ones from his closet. After nearly an hour of repairing, he was done. He tossed his screwdriver onto his desk and it hit the wall and fell to the floor. He slumped down in his chair. He heard a knock on the window and looked around. It was his friend Eric knocking. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand. "Check it man, Muska's actually coming to this dump for a skate demo. Get dressed, let's go" he said. Steve put on his shoes and changed his clothes. He grabbed his skateboard, put it under his arm and walked out of his house.
"What up, Eric"? Steve said, approaching him. Eric was standing on the sidewalk and noticed that the drug dealers on the other side were laughing. The drug dealers hated skateboarders and always tormented them or hurt them whenever they came by them. "Hey, help me out here. I was skating, mind my own, and the dealers grabbed my board. They tore it up and threw the pieces up on the roofs" he said. Steve looked around saw a few pieces scattered all around the roofs. He didn't like where it was going. "After they were through with it, they starting hitting me a little. The busted up my knee. Could you grab the pieces for me"? He asked. Steve slouched and groaned "oh man" he said. Eric sighed and held out his hand, "here I'll hold your deck". Steve climbed through all the fences and the pipes and received all of Eric's pieces. Charles, one of the neighbor's dogs, nearly tore him to shreds. "Thanks man, come one let's go. We can still get a few minutes in before Muska gets here" Eric said. They skate over to the skate park by the school, doing kickflips and grinds on the way. When they got there, Shawn, one of the workers for the park, told Eric and Steve and that they had to put up signs for the demo before they skated. "Aww, come on man, we just wanna skate. Come on man it's us" Steve said. Shawn looked disappointed, "well, I guess you're not gonna skate then" he said. Eric looked at Steve and set his skateboard down. "Come on man, whatever it takes to skate" he said. Steve sighed and took the stack of papers Eric had when he came to his room. Shawn smiled a little slyly, "there you go. Now, hit all the telephone poles and wherever kids are skating" he said. Eric and Steve split the stack and went all over town to all the kids and put them on the phone poles. They returned back to Shawn. "You may enter" he said.
Eric and Steve skate through the half pipes and the bowls. Doing as much grinds and flips and grabs as they can. Eric gets out onto the pavement and kicks his board up and stares out into the town, not moving. Steve looks around for him and goes beside him, "what up"? He asked. Eric tilted his head up and Steve l saw a white car approaching. "Muska" Steve said. Their eyes became glued to the car that was held their destiny. They didn't move or speak as it approached the park. It stops to a halt and the door opens as the two spaced-out boys stare at it. They couldn't believe it: Chad Muska. Here, in person. Muska stepped out and entered the park. "Hey Chad, my man. How's it goin'?" Shawn said. "Well I just got back from this sick demo back in Maine" he said. "Well get ready man, there's a lot of fans waiting for ya' man" Shawn said. "A'ight" Muska said.
Steve and Eric stand behind the fence and watched a real pro at work. "Man he's really livin the life" Eric said. Muska continued to skate and grind as if he were by himself. After the demo, everyone gathered by Muska and his car forming a big mob circle. Steve stood outside while Eric caught all the action. "Yo, check this out" Muska said, taking out his keys. He pushed a button and his car began moving around like it was in an earthquake. The doors open and music begins blaring so loudly that everyone covered their ears. "It's louder than a Metallica concert in there. I also have 7 screens for my DVD player" Muska said at the top of his lungs. His phone rings and he turns his car and takes out his phone. "Muska, chillin chillin. What? Australia?" he said. Steve watched from outside the huddle around Muska. "See, that's how you hook it up. Look at him man. Nice car, famous, travelin' the world livin like a king" said his friend Joey. Steve nodded. "Man, Muska in Jersey. Unreal. I wonder if anyone could impress him" he said. Steve's eyes widened. He ran back to the park. "Man, what're you doin'"? Joey asked. Steve looked back and said simply, "doin' what it takes" he said. He set off on the bowl and made plenty sure that everyone could see him. "Damn" said Muska looking at Steve and got into his car. Everyone backed out and Muska sped away.
Steve saw his car and got enough air and went up and pulled a perfect Kickflip McTwist He saw Muska's car speeding up and forgot completely that he was skating. He fell to ground and scraped his knees through his baggy jeans. He got up and picked up his board and walked out of the park. He stopped when he saw Muska's car approach him and he stopped dead in his tracks. Muska pulled up next to him. "Hey man, that was a sick line you had back there" he said, with his arm hanging out the window and his music blaring loudly again. Steve's mouth dropped and lightly hit his head, "wow Chad Muska? I'm a huge fan" he said. Muska took off his sunglasses and looked at Daniel's board. "Dang man, but that's some ghetto ride you got rollin though" he said like it was the most pitiful thing he'd ever seen. Steve's looked down at it too, "yeah, but I'm kinda broke. I gotta make it last" he said shrugging. Muska put his sunglasses back on and laid back in his chair, "I hear you man. Back in Vegas, I had no money, nowhere to stay, nothin man. Until my first shot sponsor hooked me up, so why don't you go down to your shop and try to get hooked up" he said. He reaches to the passenger seat and pulls out a skateboard, "hey yo. Merry Christmas" he said and tossed it to Steve who caught it. "Wow, thanks" he said. He watched Muska as he sped away and out of town. Steve stared at his new gift. And held it close to his chest.
