Chapter Five

Del Mar, California; April, 1975

The whole team had piled into a few booths and a few tables at a small restaurant. We talked and laughed and some of us just sat there, bored.

I sat next to Tony and across from Skip as Tony and Skip talked about the competition.

"Let it go, man…" I muttered, becoming annoyed of Tony's content rambling about the disqualification.

"Let it go-" Tony looked at me, eyebrows knitted in anger. "Let it go? How can I let it go? I could have won!"

I nodded. "Yeah, but you didn't," I said with a small laugh and a smug grin.

He punched me in the shoulder and I winced. "Ow…"

He exhaled loudly through his nose. "You didn't either," he said.

My jaw dropped and my eyes became wide. "What? Really?"

"Shut up," Jay said. He threw a fry at me and I dodged it.

Skip looked around at us, amused.

Tony rolled his eyes and we all looked over as we saw Stacy enter the restaurant with Kathy.

He looked around at us hopefully.

Then Skip spoke up. "Take a seat, man."

Stacy smiled and we all exchanged glances, then a few cheered quietly.

He sat down at the table, Kathy next to him.

Then Stecyk held up a navy blue t-shirt. "Peralta."

We all looked at Stecyk then to Stacy and saw Stacy smiling. He couldn't believe it.

Stecyk whistled and Stacy got up, grabbing the t-shirt.

We clapped and smiled.

"You earned it, bro," Skip said.

I stared at Skip, confused. Bro? He never called anybody bro!

"Dude, you're one of us, now!" Sid said, sitting next to Skip.

Jay looked down at Sid, and then looked up at Stacy. "That maggot's always been one of us."

Stacy looked at us again, a very happy grin on his face.

"Yeah, wear it with pride, man," Skip said.

"You know I will!" Stacy replied, holding the t-shirt up, looking it over.

Then Skip smiled a bit. "Oh, hey, Stacy, that t-shirt…will get you more titty than you ever dreamed of, man." He smiled wider and we all laughed a bit.

"I got my boy covered, Skip," Kathy replied smugly.

We laughed and cheered at that comment.

Skip lifted himself and sat up by Jay on the back of the booth. "Hey, you guys made a mess of that contest today," he said.

"Oh, yeah!" I said as others cheered.

"They look at you as the enemy, right?" Skip continued.

Stecyk stood up as well. "But it's good to have enemies."

"Yeah," Skip agreed

Stecyk then tapped his plastic glass with a fork and held it up. "A toast."

"A toast!" we all repeated, holding up our own glasses.

"To the boy kings!" Stecyk said poetically. Then the sophisticated attitude was lost as he said, "You're all a bunch of filthy pillow-biters!" He began to throw ice around us and we joined in, throwing ice at each other.

Tony shoved some ice down my shirt and I jumped a bit as the cold substance slid down my back. I returned the favor by pouring ice-water down his shirt.

Suddenly the manager came over. "Stop! Stop!" he ordered. "You can't act like that here! This is a family restaurant!"

"Oooh!" a few of us said, not threatened by the small man.

Then Sid yelled and threw some food at the manager.

The man grabbed him, dragging him across and off the table.

"Hey get off him!" Skip yelled. He jumped up and shoved the manager into another booth, but the man only punched Skip in the face.

Skip fell back onto the table and Stecyk held him back yelling, "Hey! Hey! It's a family restaurant!"

"Get him, Skip!" I yelled.

"Go Skip!" Jay said.

Skip turned around and lunged at the man again, still angry.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Skip had just given Jay a ride home. It was nine or ten 'o' clock, at least, at the moment. It was dark, but the headlights of cars and street-lamps lit the road.

"Bye, Jay," I said.

Jay opened the door and climbed out of Skip's car. "Bye, Heather."

I waved and Skip stopped Jay for a moment. "Jay-boy," he said. "You kicked ass, man." He grabbed Jay's hand and Jay smiled.

"See you, Skip," Jay said.

Skip nodded and Jay walked behind the car and out of sight.

He stuck his head out the rolled down window as he backed out. "Okay… Let's get you home, girlie-girl," he said to me.

I nodded.

"You could'a won today. You know that?" he said, looking at me for a minute.

I stared down at my skateboard in my lap in the front seat, my brown-blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Yeah, I know."

"Don't feel bad," he slurred. I knew he was supposed to make me feel better, but it just wasn't working. "You did your best."

"Thanks, Skip," I muttered with a small smile.

When we pulled into my driveway I looked up at him. "Bye, Skip. See you tomorrow."

He stopped me. "Hey, how's that new board working out for you?"

"It's great!" I replied.

He nodded. "Okay… See you tomorrow, Heather."

I stopped from getting out, once again confused by the puzzling mind of Skip Engblom. I nodded. "See you."

I shut the door and Skip drove away as I walked into the house.

Right as I walked in my mother embraced me in a hug.

"Mom…" I wheezed through her tight grip. "What the hell?"

Then I noticed her crying uncontrollably. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much.

I saw Julia and Patrick in the living room, Julia's head lying down on my brother's lap. Her eyes were red too, but it looked as if Patrick hadn't shed a tear.

"What's going on?" I asked.

My mother let go of me and looked my face over. She brushed back a few stray hairs and didn't answer. She only sauntered up the steps, still sobbing.

I walked over and stood in front of Patrick. "What's going on? Why's mom so upset?"

Patrick sighed and looked up at me, lifting Julia's head off of his lap. "Go up to bed," he whispered to her.

Julia nodded and walked up the steps.

"Patrick!" I said out of annoyance.

"Look…" he muttered pointing to the TV.

"This just in, the man has been identified," the reporter said.

I knitted my eyes in confusion. He stood in front of a car wreck, one car beat up just as bad as the other. A body lay on the ground, bloody and it seemed the man had quite a few broken bones. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Jack Shepherd is the name of the man who lost his life in the wreck'

My breath was caught in my throat. "What?" I croaked. "Dad's…dead?"

"Yeah…" Patrick muttered. He quickly got up and rushed to his room.

I fell down, sitting on the couch. I stared at the floor, eyes wide. I couldn't believe it. My dad was the safest driver I knew. He couldn't be gone. Could he?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The doorbell rang and my head shot up. I yawned and sighed, answering the door. I had fallen asleep on the couch after the shock last night.

Stacy stood before me. He smiled a bit and then laughed at my state.

My hair was falling out of my ponytail and my eyes were dark and tired-looking. I yawned again. "Shut up… I didn't get a lot of sleep," I muttered.

"Wanna go to the skate-park?" he asked.

Tony stood behind him, holding his skateboard. He waved at me.

I sighed. "Um… I don't know, Stace. I'm really tired right now, but maybe I'll catch up with you guys later. 'Kay?"

He nodded. "See you later, then."

He rushed off the porch and caught up with Tony as he started to skate down the street.

I closed the door and face-planted into a pillow on my couch.

I still couldn't believe it, but I couldn't lie on my couch for the rest of my life. So, reluctantly, I got up and rushed to my room. I took my hair down and brushed it out, leaving it down this time. I slipped into a clean pair of faded jeans and a red t-shirt. I put my navy-blue converse back on and ran back downstairs, taking my skateboard as I walked out the door.

Where was I going to go? I honestly didn't know. Wherever I ended up going, really…

Turns out I ended up going to Zephyr. As I walked in, I immediately regretted it. It's not like Skip would show…sympathy.

I raised a hand lazily in greeting to him and Sid.

Sid smiled. "Hey, Heather."

Skip didn't look up. He had another glass of orange juice and whiskey in his hand. "What's up, girlie?"

I shrugged. "Nothin'," I lied. "But…my dad kinda…died in a car crash last night."

Skip's eyes were lifted to me, although his sunglasses hid them. "Oh… Sorry…"

I nodded and put my right hand in the back pocket of my jeans, because my left hand held my skateboard. "I think I'll live, though."

"Yeah, well, you kicked the contest's ass last night, so you can kick this problem's ass, you know," Skip said, trying to cheer me up. It was working.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. Gotta go…"

I walked out of Zephyr and Skip and Sid waved bye to me. I got on my skateboard and started for the skate-park. It had been hours, but Skip's attitude towards me was still mind-boggling. He called me by my name, actually showed a bit of sympathy… It was all very, very puzzling…

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Author's Note: Sure it's a bit cliché that her dad died, but it has stuff to do with the plot… Maybe… I'm not actually sure…

So what'd you think? :D